---
title: 'I Tried the Best Fried Chicken in America'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=GfY4V-ubHjY'
video_id: 'GfY4V-ubHjY'
date: 2026-07-21
duration_sec: 1209
channel: 'Joshua Weissman'
---

# I Tried the Best Fried Chicken in America

> Source: [I Tried the Best Fried Chicken in America](https://youtube.com/watch?v=GfY4V-ubHjY)

## Summary

A food reviewer travels to five US cities to find the best fried chicken, sampling top-rated local spots voted by the audience. The journey includes Nashville, New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, with surprising contenders like a gas station chicken and a Thai fried chicken spot.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to the Fried Chicken Quest** [00:00] — The reviewer asks viewers to name America's top fried chicken cities and best spots, then visits five cities to try the top three picks in each.
- **Nashville: Hattie B's** [00:29] — Hattie B's on Broadway is the most voted spot in Nashville. The chicken is seasoned nicely with good breading, but the skin is slightly under-rendered and chewy. Flavor score: 7.5/10, texture: 8.5/10.
- **Nashville: SS Gai (Thai Fried Chicken)** [01:39] — SS Gai is a Thai fried chicken spot rated #1 on Yelp. The chicken has phenomenal crunch, perfect salt levels, and tender skin. Flavor score: 8.5/10, texture: 9/10. Total: 17.5, leading Nashville.
- **Nashville: Prince's Hot Chicken** [02:41] — Prince's is the OG inventor of Nashville hot chicken. Due to a fire, only wings were available. The wings were overcooked and chewy, with a simple cayenne flavor lacking depth. Texture: 6.8/10, flavor: 6/10.
- **New Orleans: Willie Mae's** [03:45] — Willie Mae's, praised by Anthony Bourdain, serves battered chicken with a tempura-like exterior. The chicken is juicy and well-seasoned, but the breading is oily. Flavor: 9/10, texture: 7.9/10.
- **New Orleans: Dooky Chase** [05:11] — Dooky Chase is a historical spot. The thigh is well-seasoned with black pepper and cayenne, but the breast is dry and underseasoned. Texture: 6.9/10, flavor: 6.8/10.
- **New Orleans: Gas Station Chicken (Keys)** [05:54] — A gas station (Keys) sells surprisingly excellent fried chicken. The chicken is perfectly seasoned with garlic, black pepper, and paprika, and the breast is moist. Flavor: 9/10, texture: 8.5/10. Total: 17.5, tying with SS Gai.
- **Chicago: Honey Butter Fried Chicken** [07:32] — Honey Butter Fried Chicken is average, with a lack of crunch and seasoning. The honey butter doesn't help. Flavor: 6.5/10, texture: 6.5/10.
- **Chicago: Uncle Remus vs. Harold's** [08:45] — Uncle Remus has a sweet mild sauce and crispy, juicy chicken. Flavor: 8/10, texture: 8/10. Harold's sauce is more acidic and less sweet, but the chicken seasoning is slightly lacking. Flavor: 7.5/10, texture: 8/10. Uncle Remus wins Chicago.
- **Los Angeles: Honey's Kettle** [10:57] — Honey's Kettle serves battered chicken that is oily and slimy. The breast is dry. Flavor: 8/10, texture: 7/10.
- **Los Angeles: Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles** [12:06] — Roscoe's has inconsistent breading (drumstick has none) but well-seasoned chicken. The waffle combination doesn't improve it. Texture: 7/10, flavor: 7.9/10.
- **Los Angeles: Howlin' Ray's** [13:24] — Howlin' Ray's serves Nashville hot chicken with a crispy, fully rendered skin and intense heat. The hot chicken is juicy and well-salted. Texture: 8.4/10, flavor: 9/10. Total: 17.4, just missing the lead.
- **Atlanta: Basto (Peruvian Chicken)** [15:01] — Basto is a Peruvian chicken spot with extremely crispy skin (possibly double-fried). The outside is well-seasoned, but the meat lacks salt and flavor. Texture: 10/10 for crunch, flavor: 7/10.
- **Atlanta: Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken** [16:38] — Gus's is a chain with juicy, spicy chicken. The breast is slightly dry but overall well-seasoned. Texture: 8/10, flavor: 8.7/10.
- **Atlanta: Busy Bee Cafe** [17:59] — Busy Bee Cafe is the most iconic spot in Atlanta. The chicken is moist, with a garlic and black pepper flavor. The breast is perfectly cooked. Flavor: 9/10, texture: 8.8/10. Total: 17.8, winning the competition.

### Conclusion

Busy Bee Cafe in Atlanta is crowned the best fried chicken in America, with a total score of 17.8 out of 20, beating out surprising contenders like a gas station chicken and Thai fried chicken.

## Transcript

fried chicken has become a religion in America  at this point every US city has their own beloved   local spot but some places are legendary and  stand out above the rest but today I want to   find the best i asked you to name America's top  fried chicken cities in the absolute best spots  
in each one thousands of votes later we have our  contenders we're hitting five cities trying our   top three picks in each to finally crown the fried  chicken champion starting in Nashville our number  
one most voted for city so we're at Hattie Bees on  Broadway this was the number one most voted for in   years that said it's a change it's grown a lot  so is it still good since the last time I came  
here wherever available we'll try to taste the  same pieces everywhere thigh breast leg cheers   immediately brought me back the first time I came  here that's why this place is such an institution   it's seasoned pretty nicely i remember there being  a little bit more to the flavor of it but it's  
still really delicious the breading itself crisp  i'm kind of surprised Hatty Bees with the amount   of locations usually quality tends to go down the  chicken's cooked well the skin I will say for some   reason it's a little under rendered so therefore  kind of chewy i don't hate it tastes great rating  
wise flavor I'm going to give it like a 7.5 out of  10 i think it's lacking a little bit like overall   it tastes good and then texture I give it a solid  8.5 but the question is with the popularization   of hot chicken this is not the only place has had  bees fallen behind moving on listen up america's  
fried chicken scene isn't made up because it's  America it's because America is a melting pot of   multiple cultures all across the globe that have  come here to make the greatest fried chicken ever   so don't expect to just see American style fried  chicken because we are at SS Guy where we've got  
be hot right nashville hot." No it's actually  this place it's been rated number one in all   fried chicken spots on Yelp so let's see how  it stacks up can you hear that the crunch is  
phenomenal the seasoning dare I say perfect i mean  the salt levels are like exactly where I want them   the skin isn't chewy it's crisp but tender it  melts as you chew there's whole fried shallots   on here you get little bits and pieces of like  sweet shallot caramelized goodness let's just  
cooked perfectly everything is tender the skin  is tender it's not under rendered the crunch   is present and it's not like dry in any part  i'm going to give a nine flavor I'm going to   it but I'm not picking up a ton of other layering  of flavors like garlic lemongrass or whatever you  
would put in this that's the flavor is great it's  very chicken forward it's seasoned nicely the salt   levels being so good makes a big difference and I  can tell that there are other things in here like   part of the component of flavor so I'm still going  to give the flavor an 8.5 i mean we're getting  
close to perfect scores this early on it's going  to take a real big dog to take this out moving on   we're at the original spot of the OG inventor of  Nashville hot chicken Princes now the fact that   had a huge grease fire had to completely shut down  the restaurant so we were supposed to get the bone  
in chicken thigh and the bone in chicken breast  those were lost in the fire but they still had   wings for us to fry fresh and honestly I think  those are just as good if not the best option   cuz they're the fattiest and they're easiest to  make delicious again the crunch really well done  
the cook a little too much i'm chewing a lot and  even for the wing being that overcooked that's   hard to do I will say but this place way spicier  than the previous two by far they do natural hot   like maybe 70% where I want it to be the wings  which are fattier kind of overcooked so texture I  
think a 6.8 flavor it's very much just cayenne  there's not a lot of depth to it it's missing   salt probably also a six i think they're OG and I  think this is a must try spot it's just not doing   it for me nashville done and dusted and Thai Fried  Chicken at SS Sky surprisingly leads with a 17.5  
but that could change very soon new Orleans is  up next with two absolute classic spots and one   you'd never expect first up Willie Maze now we  were supposed to go to the Scotch House which   unfortunately is recovering from a fire but they  do have a location Willie Maze Nola supposedly  
stated by Anthony Bourdain to be the greatest  fried chicken restaurant in the world is it   true i don't know it's also been recognized by  James Beard with the American Classic Award so   it's at least going to be good but the question is  does it live up to the standard that it did when  
Anthony Bourdain tasted it i've got the same  order we've had everywhere else a leg a thigh   a breast first we'll start with the thigh yeah  that's that's crispy this is totally different   than any fried chicken we've had it's clearly  battered rather than dredged in dry flour you  
can tell by this sort of almost like tempura  exterior super crisp wispy crunch i have mixed   feelings cuz it's seasoned really nicely the  salt levels are really nice the seasoning isn't   a little bit of spiciness in there that I do like  though texture-wise the crunch is really wonderful  
it's a little bit different of a crunch than  I normally want let's try the breast is it dry   it's perfectly cooked that is juicy we're having  a little bit of a problem where the breading is   just so oily it's really ruining the experience  cuz the crispiness is beautiful the chicken is  
want another bite flavor-wise I think it's  deserving of a nine texture crunch is there   it's cooked nicely but it's so oily that it's  bringing down the rest of the whole experience   i think it's like a 7.9 that said moving on we are  at a historical marker not just for chicken for  
America dookie Chase i'm going to go for the thigh  first cuz my favorite piece classic flour dredge   it's not a batter i mean it's crisp the seasoning  is really nice but there's a little bit of heat   from the black pepperc corn but some kicking pants  from cayenne not too much just enough to make it  
nice but the flavor of the chicken is prominent  it's not overwhelmed by the spice next up the   breast this is incredibly dry and comparatively  underseasoned the chicken thigh it's almost like   the breast is like completely missing in salt it's  like these were two different people made this  
texture the crunch is decent it's not crazy it's  clearly like quite dry only good one was the thigh   i'm going to give it a 6.9 out of 10 flavor-wise  I think I'm also going to give it a 6.8 i would   say it's worth hitting for a historical POV  but you're not getting anything above average  
you're getting an average plate of fried chicken  now here's the thing our next spot is unexpected   and it all starts at a place that also sells bongs  a gas station i don't understand how or why this   happened the third most voted for place in all  of New Orleans keys this place is iconic they're  
a big fan of places like this because it always  feels like a secret thing and honestly it's one   of the better looking chickens we've got holy this  is phenomenal what the it's seasoned perfectly  
dude i'll go for the thigh real quick just to  make sure it's consistent dude the crisp on the   chicken is excellent the skin is a little flaccid  in some parts but generally speaking overall it's   like relatively very crispy salt level is maxed  out the seasoning the spices are nice it's not  
that has so many spices on it all you taste are  the spices i want to taste the spices working   with the chicken marrying the chicken loving the  chicken this is the true test if this breast is  
moist we could no joke have a winner on our hands  guys it's moist as it's cooked perfectly honestly   the upfront flavor I'm getting is just tons  of chickeny umami but then you have all this   other fragrance from like garlic black pepper a  little bit of paprika but again it's not overly  
seasoned i taste the true flavor of the chicken  and that is the most remarkable thing to me here   i think the flavor is a nine the only thing  that would make this higher than a nine would   be higher quality chicken texture the parts that  were crunchy were absolutely perfect the parts  
an 8.5 if this gas station was near me I would go  to it all the time and a gas station is now tied   for the lead for best fried chicken in America  this is insane but with three cities to go this  
proves anything can happen next up Chicago with  a good friend Christopher Mr beef the man himself   at what some might call the best fried chicken in  Chicago honey butter fried chicken we applied the   namesake honey butter to our chicken and dug in  it was very average to me i grew up with some of  
the best fried chicken in the world made by my mom  herself and I'm not using that as a bias i'm just   saying I know where the bar is if I'm being honest  I'm just not feeling this place like it's good for   going to go frankly the honey butter also didn't  really help at all there's just a lack of crunch  
and seasoning overall the salt levels are almost  there they're like 80% of what I want them to be   seasoning i'm tasting some paprika some garlic  but it's just not prominent for me personally   my man Josh is an honest dude and that's why I  love him i actually thought it was not too bad  
he's got a higher bar see Chicago fried chicken is  different than South Fried Chicken if I had this   it wouldn't disappoint that's for sure all things  considered flavor I'm going to give a 6.5 slightly   above average texture I think it's deserving of  also a 6.5 both slightly above average what's  
fine is fine but ultimately we're looking for the  best in America i'm going to take this seriously   so I'm rating this a little harshly moving on up  next is a legendary showdown number three Uncle   Remis takes on Chicago's number one vote getter  Heralds both of which are known for a special  
sauce now we're not necessarily just going to  be judging this by the sauce of course this   hot but not in a way that it can get a leg up cuz  at the end of the day only great chicken can win   here so let's kick off with Uncle Remis this is a  variation of mouth sauce though her has their own  
mouth sauce which is pretty much like the staple  mouth sauce theirs taste totally different you're   only going to get this sauce at Uncle Remis this  is outstanding i believe my wife for this this   is Honestly I was iffy going into this because of  the sauce when I see sauce covering fried chicken  
my first thought is that's going to be soggy  whatever was going on that was once nice about   that is gone but this it's a non-issue like at  all this is the real Chicago Westside food this   is almost like the American version of Korean  fried chicken cuz Korean fried chicken is the  
nice the crunch is beautiful the chicken's cooked  perfectly it's juicy it's not dry and stringy the   skin is rendered out it's really sweet it's a  little too sweet for me but it's balanced by  
in all pretty good texture i'm going to give 88  eight flavor i think I'm going to give an eight   it's worth being nervous on theing stoplight to  go and get it's worth it heralds you're up against   something cuz I got clean bones good luck finally  the number one vote getter in Chicago Harolds can  
it beat its mild sauce rival Uncle Remis can you  taste the difference in the sauce it's similar but   this one's way less sweet it's more acidic which  I like a lot what I will say looking back is that   Uncle Remis' like your sugar diabetes almost in  a bottle but listen they're both huge staples in  
good acidity to balance out the sweetness it's not  just like here's a bunch of sugar you You get that   acidity you get that depth it cuts the richness  of the chicken so so so well flavor-wise I wish  
there was like a tiny bit more salt 5 to 10% more  i like the seasoning of Uncle Remis just a little   bit more flavor okay so let me explain myself the  sauce is better but the seasoning is not for me   so I would say 75 texture i wish there was a bit  more crispiness but at the same time it's cooked  
really nicely the last one was more chewy and this  was like more like cooked through and like tender   so I'm also going to give the texture an eight  still crisp succulent tender both great chicken   spots moving on so Uncle Remis steals the Chicago  chicken crown but still stands behind our current  
leaders SS guy and New Orleans gas station we now  move on to our next city Los Angeles where we're   kicking things off at our number three most voted  for spot Honey's Kettle i've heard this place is   great i've never been this is not a breading this  is another battered one let's start with the thigh  
it's so oily dude let's try the breast the breast  is super dry you saw dripping there was actually   not juice it was oil just to be clear but you know  the flavor isn't bad like the flavor it's really   honestly very chicken forward which I really like  salt levels are just about where I want them to be  
i would say they're 99% of the way there maybe 100  but there's not much like seasoning going on it's   just kind of like salty chicken which I don't hate  so flavor-wise I'm pretty happy with it texturally   like it's okay chicken's a little slimy honestly  this is the same problem as Willie Mays when you  
batter it it's in there for so long that batter  really soaks up oil quite a lot texture is good   but it's being drawn way down by that oiliness  and by that sliminess so all things considered   I'm going to give the flavor deserves an eight  it tastes pretty good texture seven the crunch is  
phenomenal but that oiliness I don't want to know  any more of this and by the way by my standard   still quite high but not a winner moving on we  are at possibly one of the most famous American   fried chicken spots in the world rosco's Chicken  and Waffles i think everyone somehow has heard  
this name and we're at the original location Los  Angeles Long Beach a lot of people on Reddit have   said this has fallen off and honestly looking at  this waffle I am concerned dude i'm going to try   everything individually and then if the chicken is  good I will try it with combinations it's pretty  
good seasoning is really nice for comparison  let's try this leg no breading on the drumstick   at all from a breading standpoint it's like a  2 out of 10 for the drumstick but the thigh is   almost perfectly breaded it's a little bit kind  of wonky but like it's crispy it's crunchy the  
salt level is perfect if I were to just rate salt  I might give it a 10 out of 10 seasoning's nice i   The flavor of the chicken really shines they're  not overwhelming it with seasoning the classic   like garlic powder paprika there's nothing too  special in there that's really making it stand  
on it at this point take a piece of chicken out  put a little syrup on there you put a little hot   sauce on it and make kind of a sandwich honestly  it made it worse completely took away from the  
chicken all I taste just is maple syrup and hot  sauce on a cinnamon waffle and the chicken's not   chicken's pretty damn good but we aren't rating  it for the waffles now are we time to rate the  
chicken so texture it's extremely inconsistent  i'm going to give the texture like a a 7 out of   10 flavor really quite nice honestly I am left  desiring more and I don't want to finish it so   I think I'm going to give it a 7.9 just almost  an eight still good i would come back just for  
the chicken i would not come back for the waffles  unfortunately moving on we're at Howland Rays the   number one voted for spot for fried chicken in  all of Los Angeles i know the chef here he's a   a beast he's basically the one that brought real  legit Nashville hot chicken to Los Angeles i still  
have to be honest we have two of their chicken  their country which is just plain fried chicken   what they're known for is their hot we'll try both  whatever we prefer is what we'll vote on cheers   this is insane that skin is like melts in your  mouth it's super chickeny seasoned perfectly with  
salt okay hot chicken oh my god dude i smell the  heat on this god damn that is spicy as But it's so   good though you have that immediate crispy crust  that skin is properly fully rendered it's just   crispy delicious melts into nothingness it's juicy  it's salted really nicely it's a little spicier  
than I want it to be personally for me this thing  was spicy vicram didn't believe me and try to bite wow oh man see what I mean yeah you're going to  poop your pants now i'm going to have the hot  
chicken be the one that enters this competition  i like it a little bit more than the country   soggy sitting on that bread i'm really looking for  intense crunch i think 8.4 is fair if you level  
that out flavor my mouth is atomic bombed right  now but right out the gate though in comparison   more i don't want any less it is exactly where  I want it to be the flavor of the spices the  
cayenne the paprika that peppery that rich just  anxious deep red chili flavor is so present in   this it's like perfuming your whole mouth and  your nasal passage that said I'm going to give   it a solid nine i might even give it higher  than a nine if it was so [ __ ] spicy moving on  
howen Rays just misses the three-way tie for first  place we now have four cities wrapped and we still   have a tie for the lead as we arrive to our very  final city Atlanta for some classic southern fried   chicken right well yes and no actually now you  come to Atlanta and you're probably thinking  
like southern style fried chicken buttermilk  OG right but this is getting a ton of buzz on   Reddit so we're here for Peruvian chicken basto  it looks great i mean I'm not going to lie i think   this might be the crispiest chicken we've had so  far and it's got acidity to it too how juicy the  
one which is the leg and thigh the thigh is juicy  it's cooked nicely i will say like this is clearly   fried longer to make it crispier maybe even double  fried but look at this the meat gets a little bit  
crispy too which I don't hate but it is adding  some chewiness that I don't know if I love this   is going to be the real test chicken breast it's  a little dry oh man and you know what the second   you get into the meat that seasoning goes this  is missing a lot of salt on the insides if this  
was seasoned properly this could be a genuine  contender the outside of this chicken almost a   perfect score flavor crunch texture and like it's  salty i think it's cuz they straight up put tahin   on the outside which is genius it goes super  good with this chicken but then as soon as you  
get into the meat like all that salt and flavor  is gone there's just no flavor in the meat at all   a 7 out of 10 cuz it's just it is delicious it is  really good i would finish this texture the crunch   is like a 10 out of 10 i [ __ ] you not this is  like as about as perfectly crispy as I've ever  
board that's the hard thing about fried chicken is  you want to achieve the crisp without losing the   out of 10 cuz it's so beautifully crunchy moving  on next up one of the most known fried chicken  
spots in America Gus's it was a high vote getter  for almost every city this originated in Memphis   but it didn't get any votes in Memphis matter of  fact it was number two on our highest voted for   Atlanta and I've actually never had it somehow  I've managed to avoid it everyone's told me "You  
got to go to Gus's." Question is is it really as  good as everybody says it is i will say it looks   a little clapped like it's not a very flaky fried  chicken but I guess that's because it's a batter   you're going to get a different look it's juicy  as it's cooked nicely the skin's rendered so you  
spicy it's got umami it's salted nicely this is  one of the first chickens I'm like tasting the   spice in it and by spice I mean spicy i mean  like the paprika the garlic the black pepper  
notes texture is great but how did they do on  the chicken breast for a chain not bad i will   say it is kind of dry there is a juiciness to it  too it's not all dry yeah I've definitely had far   drier that said crunch it's definitely crunchy  it's definitely crispy it's losing a little  
bit on the dryness factor i think the texture is  deserving of an eight it's pretty good flavor it's   up there salt levels are perfect it doesn't need  any more or less salt seasoning is nice i love   the spice level honestly I think flavor I'm going  to give an 8 seven not bad Gus not bad it doesn't  
put you in a first place hold but if you have a  Gus near you can maybe go check it out that said   not a winner moving on with one spot remaining  we still have a tie for first place between two   unlikely contenders new school tie fried chicken  in Nashville and chicken from a literal gas  
station in New Orleans either we're going to end  up seeing a gas station take the greatest fried   chicken crown in America or we're going to have  a big upset today we were in the parking lot of   probably the most iconic fried chicken spot in  America mlk has been here it is the number one  
voted for in Atlanta as well busy be I got to  say it does look pretty good i'm going to start   with the thigh phenomenal i will say as you chew  it's missing a little flavor but then boom then   the flavor starts to kick in a little bit you get  a little bit of that MSG the umami the richness  
of the spices and honestly it's not super pepper  forward it's a little bit more like garlic some of   the fried chickens we've had have been like more  paprika more peppery more cayenne this is more   like black pepperc corn garlic flavor-wise top  tier texture- wise I wish it was a bit more crunch  
i'm not mad let me try the breast is the breast  moist crazy moist when you go to a fried chicken   spot the first thing you'll commonly notice is  it's easy to make the legs and thighs succulent   and delicious and not dry but the breast has no  fat so it goes dry real fast this is moist it's  
literally perfectly cooked i got to say I'm kind  of shocked with how long this place has been here   it's crazy that they've maintained the standard  most places could not do that it all comes down to   this 15 chicken spots across five cities and the  best of the best voted by you the audience will  
this spot take the crown flavor-wise honestly  I think it's a nine texture Bizzy Bee needs an   8.6 or higher on texture to win it everything  is cooked perfectly if the crunch were better   an 8.8 and that's a 17.8 which means Atlanta's  Bizzy B is the best fried chicken in America i  
wish I had come here sooner i would even argue  eating this right away my first thought is this   is exactly what embodies a perfect American  fried chicken it's breaded nicely it's crispy   it's crunchy it's anxious umami rich but it's not  overpowering and it's this unassuming building you  
would never realize you could drive right by this  and have no idea you're driving past the greatest   fried chicken in America hey wow that's the end of  the video please subscribe we got some crazy stuff   coming uh some of the craziest stuff I've ever  done in my life love you so much all right [Music]