5 Top Fried Chicken in St. Louis, Chosen by Our Critic

Southern

Pappy's Smokehouse's sister concept Southern (3108 Olive Street, 314-531-4668) opened at the height of the hot chicken craze that made its way out of Nashville and into the hearts (and bellies) of the rest of the country. Eight years later, Southern has proven that it was no mere trend, its staying power the result of its exceptional take on the offering. Though the restaurant is known for its different styles ranging from mild, to a few sweet and spicy options to varying degrees of burn-your-face-off, its wonderfully crisp and juicy original shows that Southern knows how to nail the fundamentals.

Grace Meat + Three

Rick Lewis is St. Louis' reigning king of comfort food, and perhaps nowhere on his Grace Meat + Three (4270 Manchester Avenue, 314-533-2700) menu is this more obvious than his fried chicken. The breading is flawlessly seasoned — not spicy but flavor-packed — and that perfect texture of crisp without being overbearing so that it doesn't overwhelm the juicy meat underneath.

Sunday Best

After realizing that fried chicken made up roughly 80 percent of his sales at his late restaurant Juniper, John Perkins decided to run with it. In the summer of 2023, he closed Juniper and reopened as Sunday Best (4101 Laclede Avenue, 314-329-7696), a restaurant centered around his fried chicken genius. Perkins has been tinkering with his recipe for more than a decade, and though he'd never admit it, he's achieved perfection in the form of succulent, flavorful meat and a supremely crisp — but not overly hard — breading that is what you dream of when you dream of fried chicken.

Chicken Seven

There is a reason Korean fried chicken is considered to be one of the best examples of fried bird you can find, and no one in town does it better than Chicken Seven (6312 South Grand Boulevard, 314-354-6349). The restaurant, located deep in south St. Louis city, serves up a chicken with batter so crispy yet so delicate it's a marvel of texture. The dish is good on its own, but when gilded with Chicken Seven's soy honey garlic sauce, it becomes an absolute masterpiece.

Porter's

Porter's (3628 South Big Bend Boulevard, 314-781-2097) is a St. Louis institution thanks to its classic and deceptively simple take on golden fried bird with a delicate, perfectly cooked exterior that (when ordered spicy) packs a heat that builds with every bite. This is the closest to Grandma's fried chicken we have in town.