Drive-thru Gourmet

Church's pays homage to Lenten season with new Garlic Butter Shrimp

Observing Lent? Church's wants to help.

This week, I reached out for a Garlic Butter Shrimp Platter, new from the No. 3 bone-in chicken shack, Church's, with 1,700 righteous restaurants coast to coast, top and bottom.

It's become a tradition for chicken restaurants to wade in the water when Lenten season comes around, so here's Church's with three oceanic offerings. Garlic Butter Shrimp is the headliner in the rollout.

Here's the Garlic Butter Shrimp Platter breakdown: eight breaded and deep-fried shrimp, splattered with garlic-butter seasoning, fries, cole slaw and Church's heralded honey-butter biscuit.

Total calories: 320 (for the eight shrimp). Fat grams: 17. Sodium: 1,390 mg. Carbs: 31 g. Dietary fiber: 2 g. Protein: 12 g. Manufacturer's suggested retail price: $5. Does not include a soft drink.

When you add in and polish off the fries (210 calories, 9 fat grams), slaw (170 calories, 11 fat grams), and biscuit (230 calories, 17 fat grams), you've downed one heavy-duty, filler-up meal. That ridiculously yummy, honey-drippin' biscuit will get you every time. Be thankful that Church's includes only one biscuit in this bundle.

Most noteworthy about the Garlic Butter Shrimp … the powdered seasoning is sprinkled on after frying. The shrimp are breaded and golden brown. They're finger food. Ask for an extra napkin. The shrimp are butterflied so objects may be larger than they appear. This is not a shrimp scampi dish, with shrimp swimming in melted butter. So the garlic and butter flavors aren't as power-packed like a scampi. Here the garlic and butter are more subtle. You won't be stopping at the convenience store for a last-minute breath mint.

Church's fries are crinkle-cuts, standard issue. The cole slaw is, well, cole slaw. But ah, that biscuit is Hall of Fame material. You may drive away, rummage through the bag for the biscuit, and head back for a biscuit six-pack.

The other $5 platter deals are:

Crispy Fish: two white fish fillet, fries, slaw, and biscuit.
Shrimp 'n' Tenders: four shrimp, two chicken tenders, fries, slaw, and biscuit.

For families (wink, wink) there's a $20 Crispy Fish Fry meal with eight white fish fillets, three large sides, and six honey-butter biscuits.

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Ken Hoffman reviews a new fast food restaurant item every Wednesday. Have a suggestion or a drive-thru favorite? Let Ken know on Twitter.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”