A fried chicken restaurant is a

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredie ...

restaurant, often a chain, that serves (mainly)

fried chicken Fried chicken, also known as Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating o ...

—usually chunks of chicken, battered or breaded and deep-fried.

United States

The concept of the fried chicken restaurant originated in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. These restaurants may also serve other food items, such as roast or grilled chicken,

seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

, or

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, ...

s. KFC (previously Kentucky Fried Chicken) is a well-known example. Others include: * Baes Fried Chicken * Bojangles' * Brown's Chicken & Pasta *

Bush's Chicken Bush's Chicken (stylized as Bush's Chicken!) is a fast food restaurant serving fried chicken. The company is headquartered in Waco, Texas and has over 75 franchise locations in Central, North, South, and West Texas. The chain serves fried chick ...

Chick-Fil-A Chick-fil-A ( , a play on the American English pronunciation of " filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in College Park, Georgia, Chick-fil-A op ...

Chicken Delight Chicken Delight is a chain of restaurants offering eat-in, take-out, and delivery service with a menu featuring chicken, pizza, and ribs. Based in Winnipeg, the chain mostly has outlets in that city and throughout Manitoba. Although as of 2019, s ...

Chicken Express Chicken Express is a regional chain of fast food restaurants concentrated in the Southern United States. History Chicken Express was established in 1988 by Richard and Nancy Stuart's Stuart Group Inc. The first restaurant opened in 1988 in Benbr ...

Church's Chicken Church's Texas Chicken is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The chain was founded as Church's Fried Chicken To-Go by George W. Church Sr. on April 17, 1952, in San ...

Crown Fried Chicken Kennedy Fried Chicken and Crown Fried Chicken are common restaurant names primarily in the New York–New Jersey, Philadelphia, Delaware and Baltimore areas of the United States, but also in nearby smaller cities or towns along the Northeastern U ...

* Golden Chick * Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken * Harold's Chicken Shack *

Jollibee Jollibee is a Filipino chain of fast food restaurants owned by Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC). As of December 2021, JFC had a total of about 1,500 Jollibee outlets worldwide, with restaurants in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, East Asia ...

Kennedy Fried Chicken Kennedy Fried Chicken and Crown Fried Chicken are common restaurant names primarily in the New York–New Jersey, Philadelphia, Delaware and Baltimore areas of the United States, but also in nearby smaller cities or towns along the Northeastern U ...

* KFC *

Krispy Krunchy Chicken Krispy Krunchy Chicken, also known as KKC, is an international fried chicken food chain founded in 1989 in Lafayette, Louisiana, by Neal Onebane. It has over 2,600 locations across 47 states in the U.S., American Samoa, Malaysia and Mexico and ...

Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken is a casual dining franchise founded in 1965 specializing in chicken, homestyle sides, and biscuits. History After the sale of KFC in 1962, Lee Cummings (the nephew of KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders) began dev ...

* Mrs. Winner's * Pollo Campero *

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., also known as Popeyes and formerly named Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits, is an American multinational chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants that was formed in 1972 ...

* Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers *

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q is a quick service restaurant chain in North Carolina serving fried chicken and Eastern North Carolina barbecue, with 39 locations country-wide, as of May 1, 2020. It has more than 39 locations in the state, as ...

Zaxby's Zaxby's is an American chain of fast casual restaurants offering chicken wings, chicken fingers, sandwiches, and salads. The chain operates primarily in the Southern United States and has more than 900 locations. Most Zaxby's restaurants are owne ...

Canada

Chains of fried chicken fast-food restaurants originating in Canada include

Dixie Lee Dixie Lee (born Wilma Winifred Wyatt; November 4, 1909 – November 1, 1952) was an American actress, dancer, and singer. She was the first wife of singer Bing Crosby. Biography She was born Wilma Winifred Wyatt in Harriman, Tennessee, on N ...

based in Napanee, Ontario and

Mary Brown's Mary Brown's Chicken, also known as Mary Brown's, is a Canadian fast food restaurant with approximately 200 locations coast-to-coast across Canada. The chain specializes in fried chicken and fried plant-based chicken substitute dinners, incl ...

based in

Markham, Ontario Markham () is a city in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in York Region, fourth largest ...

. Several US-based chains have also outlets in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, including KFC and Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits.

United Kingdom

Restaurants are commonplace in

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

areas of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. The United Kingdom has one of the largest, fastest growing and most diverse fried chicken markets in the world, with about 1,000 individual brands and 1,700 outlets. Shop signs are commonly designed in a red, white and blue colour scheme, and include a drawing or cartoon of a chicken, as well as a reference to the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Especially popular in poor and

ethnic minority The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

neighbourhoods, fried chicken restaurants have been criticised for contributing to

urban blight Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...

. For instance,

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...

David Lammy David Lindon Lammy (born 19 July 1972) is an English politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs since 2021. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliamen ...

has stated that the proliferation of chicken joints hampers prosperity in his constituency. Residents in

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...

see them as "eyesores that encourage anti-social behaviour", according to a poll. Chicken shops are nevertheless important cultural institutions in the UK, particular for black and Asian communities. As meeting places and providers of cheap meals, they play an important role in underserved neighbourhoods hit hard by the impacts of

austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

and other government policies. Other popular UK chicken brands include

Chicken Cottage Chicken Cottage Limited is a UK-based fast food chain. The company is the master franchisor and owner of the "Chicken Cottage" brand. Its taste is modelled on a blend of the Indian subcontinent and Southern United States flavours using halal ing ...

, Morley's, and Dixy Chicken.

Other countries

;Australia * Chooks Fresh & Tasty, originally named River Rooster, with, , 39 stores, mainly in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

. There is also Country Fried Chicken, Oporto and Red Rooster. ;Colombia * Pollo Campero, a

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

n fried chicken restaurant chain with over 200 locations in twelve countries, including 50 in the United States. ;Nigeria * Tastee Fried Chicken, a fast food fried chicken restaurant with eight locations, based in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. ;Philippines *

, a fast food chain with over 1500 branches worldwide. *

Max's Restaurant Max's Restaurant, sometimes known as Max's of Manila or simply Max's, is a Philippine-based multinational restaurant chain which serves fried chicken and other Filipino dishes. It is owned and operated by the Max's Group. History Max's Restaura ...

, with over 100 branches in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and several more in the United States. ;South Africa * Chicken Licken * Hungry Lion ;South Korea *

Bonchon Chicken Bonchon Chicken () is a Dallas-based South Korean international fried chicken restaurant franchise. According to the company, Bonchon is a Korean word meaning "My Hometown". History The Bonchon Chicken restaurant began in 2002 in Busan, South ...

, the most famous fried chicken chain of South Korea, with over 338 branches in the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and

. ;Taiwan * TKK Fried Chicken, most popular Taiwanese fried chicken restaurant in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

and overseas.

References

{{Establishments serving chicken Fried chicken

United States

Canada

United Kingdom

Other countries

See also

References