• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    Food for Thought

    The best fried chicken in Houston: Think champagne, not fast food

    Marene Gustin
    Jun 28, 2011 | 11:05 am
    • National Fried Chicken Day is July 6.
    • Max's Wine Dive has T-shirts with the slogan “Fried chicken and champagne, whythe hell not?” Seriously, why the hell not indulge in their combo?
    • Ziggy Gruber's South Bronx Fried Chicken
      Photo by Marene Gustin

    I once wrote that when I was very young and we didn’t have a lot of money, we could only afford to eat meat once a week, when Mom would make crispy fried chicken for Sunday supper after church.

    I actually had to apologize to Dad for that because, technically, yes, sliced bologna is meat. Thanks for pointing that out Dad.

    Anyway, Mom got her recipe from Grandma, who probably got it from her mother. My Dad remembers his Ma (his step grandmother) killing a chicken in their backyard for special occasions and frying it up.

    “Fried chicken was a big deal,” he says.

     Fried chicken was a staple in the South, still is, but as I grew up I got away from eating it. First, because even though when I was a struggling twentysomething and loved me a cheap biscuit and a piece from Popeye’s, I eventually eschewed fast food because of the whole factory farm business and how it grew from the fast food industry to destroy the family farm, create Frankenstein animals that are horribly treated and slaughtered, and pollute our land and water.

     

      Good fried chicken is heaven on earth when it’s hot right out of the kitchen, but the true test is if it’s still wonderful served cold the next day. 

    Scuse me, I’ll climb down off my soapbox now, but if you want the facts check out Nicolette Hahn Niman’s Righteous Porkchop. Yes, that Niman.

    Anyhow, I quit eating fried chicken at fast food joints and didn’t make it myself because I’m not good with the whole hot oil thing. You know, burning yourself and setting off the smoke alarm.

    But in light of National Fried Chicken Day on July 6 (what, it’s not on your calendar?) I’ve decided to get back to my roots and luckily Houston has some great places to eat real fried chicken.

    First off, there’s the legendary Frenchy’s Chicken, not the franchises mind you, but the original one in the Third Ward. The spicy, Cajun, never greasy chicken here is worth the wait in the long lines. It’s a real Houston institution. I once attended a River Oaks dinner party where the host drove to the Third Ward and brought back a mess of Frenchy’s fried chicken and collard greens and served it on fine china with a chilled Pouilly-Fuissé. Best. Dinner. Party. Ever.

    That was a few years ago, but today more and more chef-driven restaurants are doing real Southern fried chicken.

    Phil Mitchell of Phil & Derek’s Restaurant and Wine Bar subscribes to the Cajun theory, using regular milk and flour and special Cajun spices to coat his birds, which turn up in Cobb salads and on the Sunday brunch buffet with waffles and syrup.

    Of course, if you’re into wings and waffles, The Breakfast Klub is a go-to must. The Klub is the first place I ever tasted wings and waffles and the blending of crispy chicken and sweet Belgian waffles with syrup was eye opening.

     Max’s Wine Dive, a forerunner of the gastro explosion on Washington Ave. that opened in 2006, made its reputation with gourmet down home fried chicken. Its house-made jalapeño and buttermilk-marinated chicken, deep-fried slow and low, is a delicious foodie tribute to childhood eats. It’s why they have T-shirts with the slogan “Fried chicken and champagne, why the hell not?” made up.

    Seriously, why the hell not indulge in that combo?

    Craving a fried chicken fix for lunch? Check out Randy Evans’ Haven on Thursday when the $10 Blue Plate Special offers a sublime old school fried chicken meal. No wings and waffles here, but for a different take on fried do try the amazing dish of fried chicken livers with andouille cream gravy atop buttermilk biscuits.

    While this is nothing like anything I ever ate growing up, it is truly a decadent comfort food. Maybe not the most heart and waist friendly dish on the menu but one should try at least once in your life.

    Least you think fried chicken is only an American Southern dish, note that fried foods have been prepared in Europe since the Middle Ages. Fried chicken was known as pollo fritto in Italy, as Ga Xao in Vietnam and the Scotts had a tradition of deep frying chicken in lard long before Scottish immigrants brought it to America.

    And look no further than Houston’s own Kenny & Ziggy’s Deli for some comfort-fried chicken that is decidedly not Southern. At least not south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

    Third-generation deli man Ziggy Gruber makes a special dish called South Bronx Fried Chicken that’s crunchy and juicy. He mixes matzo meal with flour for an extra crunchy crust. It’s a Jewish take on a Southern dish. But if you want to indulge in this tasty treat you need to get on the email list. Gruber only makes it occasionally and you’ll only know about it when he sends out an email blast.

    However you make it, the hallmark of good fried chicken is that it’s tasty, crunchy and not dried out on the inside. And not too greasy. If it takes an entire role of paper towels to eat a wing, it’s just not right.

    And good fried chicken is heaven on earth when it’s hot right out of the kitchen, but the true test is if it’s still wonderful served cold the next day.

    Which kinda makes me wonder why National Fried Chicken Day is July 6 and not July 3, so you can stuff your July Fourth picnic basket with cold fried chicken. And maybe a chilled bottle of Pouilly-Fuissé.

    unspecified
    news/restaurants-bars

    most read posts

    Houston will have vivid sunsets and air quality issues from Saharan dust

    This Houston suburb had the highest apartment rent prices in June

    Houston restaurant served Beyoncé a Southern feast for her first meal in H-Town

    hola, mayahuel

    Netflix chef's modern Mexican restaurant opens in Houston this month

    Eric Sandler
    Jul 7, 2025 | 6:45 pm
    Mayahuel restaurant
    Photo by Bethany Ochs
    Mayahuel's menu combines seasonal ingredients and heirloom corn.

    The countdown is on to Houston’s newest modern Mexican restaurant. Mayahuel will officially open for dinner on Friday, July 18.

    Located in the Autry Park mixed-use development, Mayahuel united Culinary Khancepts — the hospitality group behind Liberty Kitchen, State Fare, and Leo’s River Oaks (among others) — with star chef Luis Robledo Richards. Known locally for his short-lived taqueria Comalito, Richards is the pastry chef behind Mexico City’s celebrated Tout Chocolat. His resume includes serving as a judge on the Netflix series Sugar Rush: The Baking Point and being named the Best Pastry Chef in Latin America by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

    At Mayahuel, Richards will feature dishes made with seasonal ingredients and heirloom corn that’s imported from Mexico. At opening, it will be a tidy group of 16 savory dishes — divided into starters, “Tacos y Masa,” and entrees, as well as a separate tasting menu. The restaurant takes its name from the Mexica goddess of the maguey plant, which only blooms once, to emphasize its connection to Mexico’s land and culture.

    “At Mayahuel, we’re not just preparing food — we’re honoring time, place, and process,” Richards said in a statement. “Our ingredients are chosen only when they’re at their best. We don’t force nature to fit our schedule — we follow its lead.”

    Dinner at Mayahuel could begin with dishes such as bread and tortillas served with miso and salsa matcha butters, a bluefin tuna tostada with uni cream and yuzu aioli, salmon aguachile, or a beef carnitas croquette. The “Tacos y Masa” section includes beef cheek and shrimp tacos, a duck confit tamal, and a squash blossom tetela. Entree choices include filet mignon with mole negro, cochinita with black bean puree and tortillas, and sea bass with potatoes and salsa Veracruzana.

    Brunch is a more casual affair built around items such as chilaquiles, French toast, enfrijoladas, and a Mexican take on eggs Benedict topped with salsa roja hollandaise.

    Large format desserts each take inspiration from one of three ingredients — vanilla, coffee, or cacao. Priced at $28 each, the menu describes them as “a thoughtful, interactive finale that honors tradition through technique, seasonality, and imagination.”

    Pairings include cocktails made with agave spirits, fresh juices, and house made syrups. Notably, all tequilas will be additive-free, which means some prominent brands may not be featured behind Mayahuel’s bar.

    The restaurant occupies an approximately 5,100-square-foot space that’s divided into a 16-seat bar, a 40-seat dining room, an eight-seat chef’s table, a 36-seat, second floor dining room, and a 34-seat patio. It joins other concepts in Autry Park such as French restaurant Annabelle Brasserie, sushi spot Doko, fine dining steakhouse Turner’s Cut, Vietnamese restaurant Annam, and a still-unnamed concept from Austin’s Emmer & Rye Hospitality.

    “Mayahuel is about creating a sense of place and story,” Culinary Khancepts founder Omar Khan said. “It’s a natural evolution for our group — rooted in culture, crafted with care, and designed to be as memorable as it is welcoming.”

    Mayahuel will be open for happy hour and dinner Monday-Saturday and brunch on Saturday and Sunday. Reservations are available on OpenTable.

    Mayahuel restaurant
      

    Photo by Bethany Ochs

    Mayahuel's menu combines seasonal ingredients and heirloom corn.

    news-you-can-eatopeningsmayahuelchefs
    news/restaurants-bars
    CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
    Get Houston intel delivered daily.
    Loading...