Golden Skillet 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 ingredient ...

chain that mainly sells

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 or ...

originating in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. The first Golden Skillet chicken was sold in 1963 at the

downtown Richmond Downtown Richmond is the central business district of Richmond, Virginia. It is generally defined as being bound by Belvidere Street to the west, I-95 to the north and east, and the James River to the south. The Fan district borders it to t ...

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

Thalhimer's Thalhimers was a department store in the Southern United States. Based in Richmond, Virginia, the venerable chain at its peak operated dozens of stores in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and one store in Memphis, Tennessee. Thalhimer's ...

. The fried chicken recipe was created by Clifton W. Guthrie, the original owner and founder of Golden Skillet. The slogan for the chain was "Tender as

Quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New Wor ...

! Tasty as

Pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family (biology), family Phasianidae in the order (biology), order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera na ...

!" While the recipe was not officially published, it is known that the

was cooked in special pressure-cookers and with specific breading.

History

In 1963, a vice president of a

Thalhimers Thalhimers was a department store in the Southern United States. Based in Richmond, Virginia, the venerable chain at its peak operated dozens of stores in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and one store in Memphis, Tennessee. Thalhimer's ...

grocery store tasted Guthrie's chicken at a banquet and shortly after, it was sold at the Thalhimers' restaurant. Eventually, in Richmond, the first freestanding location opened in 1968. By October 2, 1981, Guthrie's death, the chain had grown to 180 franchises worldwide and 16 places of operation. It had affiliate firms with Puerto Rico, Canada, and Japan. As of 2022, the chain is in decline as multiple locations have been closed permanently. Golden Skillet would be sold to American chain

Dairy Queen Dairy Queen (DQ) is an American chain of soft serve ice cream and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc. (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 1998) which also owns Orange Julius, and formerly owned Karmelkorn and G ...

sometime in the 1980s after Guthrie's death.

Locations

Some locations of the franchise include

Sandston, Virginia Sandston is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henrico County, Virginia, Henrico County, Virginia, United States, just outside the state capital of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond. The population as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 Census wa ...

Plymouth, North Carolina Plymouth is the largest town in Washington County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,878 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Washington County. Plymouth is located on the Roanoke River about seven miles (11 km) upr ...

Henderson, North Carolina Henderson is a city and the county seat of Vance County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,060 at the 2020 census. History The city was named in honor of former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonard Henderson, w ...

Ahoskie, North Carolina Ahoskie
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...

, and

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

References

* Restaurants in Virginia Restaurants established in 1968 Fast-food poultry restaurants 1968 establishments in Virginia {{retail-company-stub

History

Locations

See also

References