top 5 fried chicken restaurants in new orleans

I have a fried chicken addiction. There, I said it. 

I also love New Orleans. And, I think New Orleans is one of the, if not the, best eating city in the United States. So, although there are plenty of things to eat there, I have taken pains to also eat a lot of fried chicken.

No, this post is not about Popeye's, that national fried chicken fast food chain founded in New Orleans. But, it's about all the other delicious fried chicken places in NOLA. And, there are plenty.

I have been visiting NOLA since 2000 and have been loving the fried chicken (amongst other things) there since then. These are my top five favorite fried chicken places in New Orleans:*


1.  Willie Mae's Scotch House (Treme) - I love eating the fried chicken at Willie Mae's. Each piece I have eaten (and there have been a few) were crisp outside and absolutely succulent inside. They were made to order and came to my table piping hot. The only downside were the lines to get a table. They were long. Be prepared to get there early or wait a while. 

Willie Mae's fried chicken.

The line outside Willie Mae's before opening hours.

2.  Dooky Chase (Treme) - The owner/chef, Leah Chase, is highly regarded in the New Orleans community. Although she is in her 90s, you may be lucky and see her in the restaurant. 

About half of the locals I have spoken to preferred the fried chicken at Dooky Chase over Willie Mae's. I must admit that while I would love to keep on eating the Dooky Chase fried chicken forever, I have a slight preference over Willie Mae's. The Dooky Chase batter, while crisp, was a tad bit thicker than the batter at Willie Mae's. 

The Dooky Chase fried chicken.

They served the fried chicken buffet style, but they were eaten almost immediately so they did not sit on the pan that long. They also served a really fantastic and tasty hot sausage made locally.

No line outside Dooky Chase before opening hours.

3.  Coop's Place (French Quarter) - I love eating dark meat fried chicken and I loved that, upon request, those were the only pieces I was served. All the pieces I ate were crisp and juicy inside. The fried chicken plate came with a side of a rabbit and sausage jambalaya, which I thought was just okay with tiny shreds of rabbit. But, the fried chicken alone was well worth the price.

Coop's Place fried chicken and rabbit jambalaya.

4.  Mena's Palace (French Quarter) - For fried chicken places in the quarter, I prefer Coop's Place. But, the fried chicken pieces I have tasted at Mena's were crisp and perfectly seasoned, albeit just a tad dry. 

Mena's Palace fried chicken.

5.  Coquette (Garden District/Uptown) - To eat fried chicken in a more "upscale" place, I recommend Coquette's fried chicken. I thought the chicken pieces I tried were crisp on the outside, tasty and nicely seasoned. They also came to the table piping hot. But, they were on the dry side (still good though). Note that the chicken cost more here than all the other places on this list. 

Coquette's fried chicken.

*Yes, I have omitted Mother's from my list. It's probably on the top 10.

I am sure that I will find more fried chicken places next time I visit. Where do you go to get your fried chicken fix when In New Orleans?