Gritty McDuff's Brew Pub

187 Lower Main Street
Freeport, ME 04032
(207) 865-4321
Website

Freeport Maine is known for their reasonably priced active outdoor-wear, and Gritty McDuff's (probably). This place is pretty well known in Maine, and so I generally make it a point to visit when I am in the Pine Tree State for some beers and decent bar food. Check out the bowl of Iggy Azalea below. Just kidding, it is actually lobster bisque, not clam chowder.

It was certainly creamy. And had lobster chunks. I would have loved some sherry swirled in, or some heat to it, but overall it was solid comfort food.

One of the more interesting things I tried was the barley battered fried chicken sandwich. The chicken was great, a nice hearty crunch, and the portion was huge. I would have liked the Swiss to be melted, however.

Honey mustard, bacon, lettuce, tomato. Good bar food.

A pair of lobster rolls (it IS Maine after all) were again pretty tasty, though obviously nothing gourmet about them. For about $14, it was a nice deal, and made for a tasty bar bite.

The lobster was fresh and well cooked, nothing rubbery here.

A bit of bib lettuce made this basically a salad.

I would certainly order all of the above again, but would love if they stepped it up JUST A BIT. Either way, when you have bought all of the plaid shirts and rubber boots you can carry, this place is the next stop for a pint and bite.

Taproom on 19th

2400 S 19th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19145
(267) 687-7817
Website

The Taproom on 19th has been around for a while, but given its location in deep South Philly, it maybe hasn't gotten the hysteria that many more accessible (but inferior) places have. But that is okay by me, as it means I don't have to wait in line behind some new Fishtown resident that I would hate anyway.

The menu here is perfectly sized, and pretty much everything on it is a win. A couple of stand-outs that I very much enjoyed recently were the fried cheese curds and the Japanese fried chicken sandwich. Don't overlook the burger or cheesesteak, however. If fried curds or chicken are on a menu, I am almost always ordering them. These two were no disappointment.

The curds, sourced from "The Cow and the Curd" are little gooey sticks of magic. The breading is a light cornmeal-ish coating, and the salty stringy cheese takes me back to Wisconsin when I discovered these regional delicacies over a decade ago (along with New Glarus beer). In both cases, beer + fried curds = happiness. I would venture to say these are better than anything I have had in the Badger State. A taste of the chipotle lime dipping sauce actually gave a sharp kick of acidity and late smokey burn. Too often these aiolis are bland town. Not here.

The Japanese fried chicken sandwich was just out of this world. The shishito pepper aioli and the ginger pickles were just icing on the cake.

The brioche, which I am generally not hugely into, was the perfect vessel for this fried manna from heaven.

The chicken thighs were battered with a slightly sweet, shatteringly crunchy shell. The flavor on its batter reminded me ever so slightly of eating a corn dog. Yes, a corn dog. The sweet cornmeal flavor was the perfect bit of sass to match the tender meat inside. This was the best fried chicken sandwich I have had in recent memory. Simple perfection.

The juicy thigh was just right for the application. And there was plenty of salt to get my taste buds dancing. I am pretty sure I contemplated having Uber drop me back off here towards the end of the night for a sequel.

Although they didn't look like much, the fries were addictive as well. Sure, they might have come out of a freezer but I'm not a hater of pre-cut fries, I quite like them! The inner potato was fluffy, while the outside was crunchy and salty. Not much else you could ask for. All around, the Taproom on 19th blew away expectations.

Boxcar Betty's

1922 Savannah Highway
Charleston, SC 29407
(843) 225-7470
Website

With fried chicken sandwiches all the rage in Philly, I sought out a worthy competitor on a recent trip to the low country. As could be expected, the results were spectacular. The design on the exterior of this place took it from a boring, non-nonchalant standalone building, to a funky, hip chicken spot. All it took was some pallets, reclaimed wood, and cool neon lights.

They specialize in fried chicken here, and it is basically a couple of sandwich options, a couple of salad options and some sides. Short and sweet; simplicity at its best.

I decided to take a trip around the menu with a "Boxcar" and a "Chicken & 'not so waffle'". Also, an order of pickled fried green tomatoes was obviously not to be missed. Man, do I love the low country.

They must have one heck of a designer on board because all of the packaging, along with the interior decor, was clean-lines and reminiscent of a timeless fast-food joint that I've always dreamed about. Like Chick-fil-A but really classy in all-around execution, with a casual side note of extra pep.

Up first, their classic namesake: the Boxcar.

Pimiento Cheese, Peach Slaw, House Pickles, Spicy Mayo. Everything was in perfect proportion, the flavors were incredible, and the light and crispy breading was heavily seasoned, something a lot of fried crusts lack. This was probably the best chicken sandwich I have ever eaten.

The balance of ingredients was on point, and why the hell doesn't every place in the country use pimento cheese on everything? I just don't understand. It is the pinnacle of processed cheese & mayo innovation. Tangy, creamy, a hint of spice, it goes well with everything.

The fried, pickled green tomatoes were such a brilliant retort to the fried pickle trend. They benefited from the same well seasoned batter, and the acidity punched through the heaviness typically associated with fried food (that I may or may not have been dipping in ranch dressing). The pickled tomatoes were still very crisp, a texture that's usually lost in the fryer.

The "not so waffle" (obviously because it is served on bread) came with: Bacon Jam, Maple Syrup, Pimiento Cheese, Tomato. Even though there wasn't any waffle, all of the necessary flavors were creatively applied, and then some.

Again, you can see the quality of the ingredients and the execution of the sandwich are both about perfect.

The version was sweeter than the Boxcar, and had a totally different flavor profile. Probably because it was made with mostly different ingredients. The bacon jam and maple syrup combined to form a sweet and salty one-two combo. Pimento cheese added all the richness you could handle, and the tomato helped to freshen up this potential gut bomb.

Like everything else, the fries were incredible. Perfectly cooked, hand cut fries just sealed the deal on this place. Coupled with some spicy mayo to dip, you were certainly not losing any weight here. But if you come to a fried chicken joint with the intention of dieting, you should just turn yourself right back around and beat it. God I wish they had one of these in Philly.

Treylor Park

115 E Bay Street
Savannah, GA 31401
(912) 495-5557
Website

I took a long weekend trip to Charleston and Savannah recently, and you will see some food from those trips coming up, because boy, did I EAT. Treylor Park was a hip bar that had a good beer selection, great prices, and some amazing waffle fries.

Even in February, you could sit outside (man I love The South), and they had a back alley entrance to an outdoor bar that was separate from their general dining area.

With a Fernet bike hanging, I knew what my after dinner drink of choice would be.

The Treylor Park Nachos Grande consisted of waffle fries, pickles, fried chicken, bacon, cheddar, chive ranch dressing and a balsamic gastrique. My god. These were some of the best nachos/smothered fries I have ever had. The ingredient list reads like my death row menu. And the fries were perfectly crispy, and made for perfect scooping vessels.

Bits of fried chicken, surrounded by ranch and bits of pickle? Heaven.

I was surprised with how well the balsamic went with the plate. It makes sense to have the vinegar cut the fat a bit, and I would not change a thing. It was indulgent perfection on a plate. The bartender said if he was only getting one thing, it had to be the Nachos (I was on my way to dinner). He was right. And then he bought me a shot of Fernet.

Next time I visit Savannah, I'll be hitting Treylor Park again for sure, maybe between lunch and dinner so I can take my time and really get deep into the other menu options. To be continued...

Prince's Hot Chicken Shack

123 Ewing Drive #3
Nashville, TN 37207
(615) 226-9442
Facebook

If you have ever seen any type of travel show about Nashville, they undoubtedly mention hot chicken. Hot chicken (along with meat and three) is one of the staples of this incredible area. Unfortunately one of the most famous hot chicken joints also happened to be one of my least favorites. The picture below screams everything I like about hole in the wall food spots. Cheap table clothes, amazing branding, and phone numbers with no area code.

When you walk into this place, the air is thick and warm, the crowd is large, and the service friendly. You order at the window and jockey for a table/seat. Luckily, the Southern friendliness did not hold up well against the Philadelphia attitude, and I was able to snake a table within ten minutes of ordering.

There are a variety of awards around the restaurant. I was getting very excited. This is one of my favorites.

And then you wait. And wait. And WAIT. It took about 45 minutes from ordering to getting your food. I got a half a chicken at the "hot" spice level, a lemonade, coleslaw, pickles, and potato salad. The counter lady said "you eating all that yourself?". I nodded and took my trays away in shame. Luckily for me, I don't care about my tendencies for gluttonous over-intake and soon was trying to pry the skin off of a thigh that was approximately the temperature of the sun. It took no less than ten minutes to get the chicken to a first degree burn temperature and shove it into my gullet.

Look at this line up. Fried chicken on a slice of white bread with some pickles. Perfection.

There was one problem, however. Now I am a HUGE fan of hot food. Love it. I DON'T love unbalanced heat that is just there to burn. There were still two levels of heat above the "hot" flavor I ordered, so I figured I was in the clear. Not so much. The only way I can describe the level of burn on this chicken is like this.

I could barely get the skin down. I was afraid I was going to vomit involuntarily from the level of spice hitting my throat. I was actually laughing hysterically as it was all going down, because I just couldn't understand the place. My god, some honey or sugar would have done wonders to this stuff. It was pure burn, nothing else. Literally brushing cayenne paste onto the chicken that has cayenne in the breading, and was perhaps soaked in Lucifer's sweat. The skin was crunchy but nearly inedible, the meat was hot but tolerable, and the temperature inside of this place did not help matters. I thought someone slipped me some hallucinogens.

While I am glad I went, I don't know that I would rush back. If so, I would likely get the medium or (gasp) mild. It was just not enjoyable in its hot form and that made me sad. So sad.