Chicken Joints The Newest Chicago Restaurant Craze

By Anthony Todd in Food on Jul 9, 2012 3:20PM

The proliferation (or more accurately, the anticipated proliferation) of chicken restaurants in Chicago is beginning to border on the ridiculous. We've been talking about one, Honey Butter Fried Chicken, for months, though they still don't have an opening date or a location. But three more have shown their faces in the last month, which confirms this as a genuine trend.

First, Pecking Order opened in June. This chicken restaurant, run by former Wave Chef Kristine Subido, boasts Filipino-inspired family recipes, including fried, grilled and roasted birds. We haven't stopped in yet, but Chicago Food Snob Joe Campagna went recently and wasn't all that impressed. However, they're still newish and we'll reserve judgement until we get a chance to visit later this month.

Then, we found out that Leghorn, another new restaurant from the Old Town Social/Nellcote/RM Lounge team, would be opening this fall. Not many details yet (they haven't even found a location) but they are focusing on chicken sandwiches, rather than fried chicken, and will work on the Doughnut Vault model—once the chicken is gone for the day, it's gone. It also promises to be the most unabashedly liberal restaurant ever to cross our inbox. Their release announces "We are open all day Sunday, We proudly and enthusiastically champion gay rights; 2% of our gross revenue is donated to organizations that support gay rights. We solely support local and sustainable farmers and artisans. Duh. We abhor corporate bullshit. We offer Leghorn branded birth control free at the counter. We are emphatically uninterested in your organized religion, secular religion, agnosticism, atheism or nontheism….whatever tickles your pickle." Chicken-branded condoms? We're in.

It gets better. The trendiest name in Chicago food, Chef Stephanie Izard, is also planning to open a chicken place of her own. It's worth noting that there is no information about this restaurant yet, but the Tribune reported last week that it definitely wouldn't be called "Girl and the Chicken." The first one will open in River North and, surprise surprise, she hopes to turn it into a chain.

All of these restaurants promise to use sustainable chicken, which will inevitably lead to more production from local farmers. Just as in the high-end burger rush of the past few years, creating reasonably-priced high-quality alternatives to mediocre fast food is a trend we'll always get behind.