A fried chicken restaurant is a

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

restaurant that serves (mainly)

fried chicken Fried chicken, also called 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 ...

—usually chunks of chicken, battered or

breaded Breadcrumbs are a culinary ingredient consisting of flour or crumbled bread of varying dryness, sometimes with seasonings added. They are used for a variety of purposes, including breading or crumbing foods before frying (such as breaded cutlet ...

and deep-fried.

United States

The concept of the fried chicken restaurant originated in the United States. These restaurants may also serve other food items, such as roast or grilled chicken,

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

, or

hamburger A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...

KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

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

Chick-Fil-A Chick-fil-A, Inc. ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain and the largest chain specializing in Chicken burger, chicken sandwiches. Headquarter ...

* Chicken Delight * Chicken Express * Church's Texas Chicken * Crown Fried Chicken * Golden Chick *

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken is a fried chicken restaurant based in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It was founded in the town of Mason, Tennessee by Napoleon Vanderbilt an Afro American 62 years ago . It has been featured on Food Channel televi ...

* Harold's Chicken Shack * Kennedy Fried Chicken *

* Krispy Krunchy Chicken *

Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken is a quick service restaurant franchise founded in 1966 specializing in chicken, homestyle sides, and biscuits. History After the sale of KFC in 1964, Lee Cummings (the nephew of KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders) ...

* Mrs. Winner's * Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen * Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers *

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...

Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q is a fast food, quick service Restaurant chains, restaurant chain in North Carolina serving fried chicken and Barbecue in North Carolina, Eastern North Carolina barbecue, with 41 locations state-wide, as of March ...

* Zaxby's

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 Lee was born Wilma Winifred Wyatt in Harriman, Tennessee, on No ...

based in Napanee, Ontario and

Mary Brown's Mary Brown's Chicken is a Canadian fast food restaurant with approximately 300 locations across Canada. The chain specializes in fried chicken. History In 1969, Pat Tarrant and Cyril Fleming purchased rights to open up the first Canadian Golde ...

based in

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

. Several US-based chains have also outlets in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, including KFC, Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Chick-fil-A, which has been expanding in multiple Canadian cities, gaining popularity in provinces like Ontario and Alberta.

United Kingdom

Restaurants are commonplace in

inner city The term inner city (also called the hood) 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. Soc ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. 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, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

. Especially popular in poor and

ethnic minority The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

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 decay. ...

. For instance, the Labour MP for

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

David Lammy David Lindon Lammy FRSA (born 19 July 1972) is a British politician who has served as Foreign Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenham since 2000. Lammy previously held vario ...

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

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is an outer London borough formed in 1965 from the merger of the municipal boroughs of Leyton, Walthamstow and Chingford. The borough's administrative headquarters are at Waltham Forest Town Hall, wh ...

see them as "eyesores that encourage

anti-social behaviour Anti-social behaviours, sometimes called dissocial behaviours, are actions which are considered to violate the rights of or otherwise harm others by committing crime or nuisance, such as stealing and physical attack or noncriminal behaviours s ...

", according to a poll. Chicken shops are nevertheless regarded by some people as important cultural institutions in the UK, particular for black and Asian communities. A 2017 article in ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'' suggested that as meeting places and providers of cheap meals, they play an important role in neighbourhoods marred by the impacts of

austerity In economic policy, austerity is a set of Political economy, political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through Government spending, spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three prim ...

and other government policies. Other popular UK chicken brands include Chicken Cottage, Morley's, and Dixy Chicken.

Other countries

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

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. There is also Belles Hot Chicken, Country Fried Chicken,

Oporto Porto (), also known in English as Oporto, is the second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipalit ...

and

Red Rooster Red Rooster is an Australian fast food chain. It sells roast chicken alongside common fast food items, such as burgers, chips, salads, and beverages. Since 2021, it has offered fried chicken. In 1972, Peter and Theo Kailis opened the first R ...

. ;Guatemala * Pollo Campero, a fried chicken restaurant chain with over 200 locations in twelve countries, including 50 in the United States. ;Ireland * Hillbillys, a Cork based fried chicken restaurant with locations throughout Ireland * Chicken Hut, Limerick fried chicken outlet * John Grace Chicken, Cork City fried chicken outlet ;Indonesia * California Fried Chicken, an Indonesian fast food restaurant chain principally serving

. Its primary competitors are

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

, A&W, and Texas Chicken, and as of March 2019, it runs 269 locations across Indonesia. * There are types of Indonesia (only) fried chicken restaurant such as D'Besto, Sabana (fried chicken restaurant) , d'kriuk, etc ;Nigeria * Tastee Fried Chicken, a fast food fried chicken restaurant with eight locations, based in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. ;Philippines *

Jollibee Jollibee is a Filipino chain of fast food restaurants owned by Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) which serves as its flagship brand. Established in 1978 by Tony Tan Caktiong, it is the Philippines' top fast food restaurant and is among the ...

, a fast food chain with over 1500 branches worldwide. * Max's Restaurant, with over 100 branches in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and several more in the United States. ;South Africa * Chicken Licken * Hungry Lion ;South Korea * Bonchon Chicken, 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. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. ;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. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and overseas.

References

{{Establishments serving chicken Fried chicken

United States

Canada

United Kingdom

Other countries

See also

References