CLOSED: Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken is a Fried Feast
Review: Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken
Rating: Two forks out of four
Where: 5132 E. 21st St., 316-682-1302
Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Thu.; 11 a.m.-midnight Fri.-Sat.
Type of food: Fried chicken, fish, shrimp and more
Alcohol: No
Web site: www.louisianafriedchicken.com
Fried chicken fans in Wichita have been limited over the years to three main takeout options - Church's, Popeye's and The Colonel.
Now there's a fourth option - Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken at 5132 E. 21st St.
Like its competitors, the restaurant is part of a national chain, this one based in Los Angeles. But Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken has the feel of a family-run, neighborhood chicken stand.
The to-go-only restaurant started out at Ninth and Cleveland but relocated in February to a building with just a counter, a cash register and a kitchen.
ON THE MENU: Fried chicken - made with a signature spicy Cajun breading - as well as fried catfish, fried shrimp and fried ribs, an invention created by the local franchisee. The menu also includes a variety of chicken-friendly sides and desserts, such as dirty rice, mashed potatoes, coleslaw and banana pudding.
DON'T-MISS DISHES: On a recent Friday night, we asked the friendly counter staff to give us the works - a little bit of everything, and they were full of suggestions.
Unfortunately, they didn't have most of what they suggested. By 6 p.m., the restaurant was sold out of many menu items, including the signature fried ribs, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and chicken breasts.
We opted for the evening's special - a big sampler dinner that included three pieces of chicken, a mess of fried shrimp, several catfish strips and fries for $10.
The dinner looked good and smelled great as the grease soaked through the brown paper bag on the drive home. The flavor of the fried feast, though, was hit-and-miss.
The catfish was the highlight. Breaded in a nice cornmeal mix, the strips of fish were neither fishy nor greasy and were delicious when dipped in the accompanying Cajun tartar sauce.
The shrimp was decent, too, dredged in the signature Cajun coating before frying and especially palatable paired with the tartar sauce. (The shrimp probably would have been great in the spicy ranch dip the servers touted, too. Alas, they were out of it, too.)
We weren't as impressed with the fried chicken, though. Our sampler included a leg, wing and thigh, and although the breading was thick, crispy and attractively Cajun orange, it was decidedly flat and begging for salt.
The two sides we tried - dirty rice and coleslaw - were OK, though the slaw was rather sweet and soupy.
Another high point was a dish of banana pudding ($2.50), full of chunks of fresh banana and topped with the requisite vanilla wafers.
AMBIENCE: The restaurant consists of a long counter and a few chairs where patrons can sit and wait for their orders. It's clean, and it's kind of fun to watch the deep-fried activity in the kitchen.
PRICE RANGE: Louisiana Fried Chicken offers a wide variety of combo options, all inexpensive and most served with fries and a roll. A value pack of fried chicken, served with eight pieces, six rolls, fries and a side dish, is $11.49. A two-piece dinner, with fries, a roll and a canned soda, is $4.19.
Our entire dinner, which included the $10 special, another four-pack of chicken, an order of nuggets, the two sides and the pudding, was $20.
SERVICE: The counter worker was friendly, funny and full of suggestions. But the process of assembling orders seemed disorganized, and the wait was pretty long. Call-ahead diners seemed to get in and out with more expediency.
This story was originally published April 17, 2009 at 12:00 AM with the headline "CLOSED: Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken is a Fried Feast."