Most people that know me know that I do not really “accept” my Southern roots and believe I am destined to live somewhere far from home. However, there is something Southern about me that I cannot deny: my taste buds. My grandparents were from Mississippi, meaning no family get together was short of fried chicken, fried okra, cornbread, turnip greens, sweet potato casserole and peanut brittle. If my grandma was still alive, I would actually just stop blogging about restaurants altogether and focus on all of her masterpieces. Thus, fried chicken and I go together like two peas in a pod. My college roommate actually used to say, “If you are what you eat, then Haley is fried chicken.”
When I saw the Food Network Special “Best Thing I Ever Ate: Fried Chicken”, I plopped down on my couch and thoroughly enjoyed the mouth watering 30 minutes of TV (judge me if you want). There were several restaurants featured, however the one that caught my eye was Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken in Mason, TN. Claire Robinson went on and on that this was hands down the best fried chicken she had ever had. She was adamant to try the original in Mason instead of the better known franchise in Memphis. Having planned a road trip to Bonnaroo this summer, I mapped out the location and saw that it was only about 20 miles out of the way and decided I had to take the plunge. After eating Willie Mae’s “best fried chicken in the nation” voted by the Travel Channel and Food Network (see earlier post), I had to see if it could measure up.
Mason, TN is the quintessential small town, if you can even call it that. There are about three sketchy looking gas stations, a car wash and a court room. Yes, a court room, as there is no need for a whole house. We arrived to Gus’s a bit early, it opens at 11am. We met another gentleman waiting outside for it to open as well. He stated that he was from Nashville and was in town on business. He said that he always stops by Gus’s when he can as it is “legit.” The storefront even claims, “If you haven’t eaten at Gus’s, you haven’t eaten fried chicken.”
We went into the small, old house of Gus’s. This is truly a family run business and the white board even paid homage to the original founder by saying “R.I.P Gus.” You could tell that this fried chicken was made from love. There are newspaper articles and pictures from magazines like “GQ” featuring this chicken. We each ordered a plate of three pieces of chicken that came with baked beans, white bread and coleslaw. I had a side of potato salad and Jarred tried the fried rice. The chicken at Gus’s is “spicy fried chicken” and considering my need of a spicy chicken biscuit intervention, I was excited to see what it was all about.
The chicken came out hot and fresh and rather quickly. We all started digging in. The chicken is good, really good. There is the right amount of spice in this chicken and the skin is golden and crunchy. The chicken itself is also very juicy. But I kept waiting for that life changing moment I had when I ate at Willie Mae’s. Unfortunately, it never happened. The sides were really delicious, the baked beans were my favorite and Jarred enjoyed the coleslaw. Jonathan and Jarred cleaned their plates, but I was stuffed after my 2 pieces. Jonathan stated that it was the best chicken he had ever had, and Jarred was still up in the air about how he felt. He found that the three pieces of chicken were all seasoned differently.
I would definitely recommend checking out Gus’s if you are ever in Tennessee. However, I think next time we will forego the detour and go to the one in Memphis. The one in Memphis has a greater amount of sides and it would be interesting to see how it compares to the original. Willie Mae’s Scotch House in New Orleans may still have my heart, but I may cheat on her from time to time with Gus’s spicy chicken whenever I’m in Tennessee.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-best-thing-i-ever-ate/the-best-thing-i-ever-atefried-chicken/index.htmlhttp://www.gussofms.com/
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