The best “chain restaurant” fried chicken in the Carolinas?

Me.

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What is your pick?

Rules:
1) Restaurant must have at least three locations in the Carolinas
2) They must be consistently good (you’ve gone multiple times and been impressed)


Optional.... you can vote for two places, if one has good bone-in chicken, but the other has good boneless.


Also, please don’t vote for a place based on “chicken wings covered in some sort of sauce”. Good fried chicken requires no sauce. Chicken wings aren’t an abomination, but they don’t get to play in this game.




Go!
 
I have always liked Popeyes as the best chain fried chicken, even before these new sandwiches. I have not tried the new
sandwich yet but I guess I have to go fully armed when I decide to try it.

A huge surprise to me is Golden Corral's fried chicken.
Whenever I go, the fried chicken is my main and first course.
Very good and that surprised me.
I did not expect that since most of their offerings are generically ok at best.
 
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Smithfield’s is good

Surprisingly Golden Corrals fried chicken is very good
 
My vote's in for Parkway House restaurant in Concord (2 locations) and Charlotte (1 location).
 
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Mrs Winners Chicken and Biscuits was always good, but I've heard they've gone downhill the last year or so. I haven't been since I left Kernersville.
 
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Bojangle's then Popeye's. Have not been to a KFC since 1990.
 
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Dame’s Chicken and Waffles (Durham, Cary, Greensboro).

Bonus points for the Cary location being next to Bass Pro Shop.
 
East Coast Wings on 311 in High Point.

I could live on wings alone anyway. Besides they have GREAT fresh made potato chips too.
 
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In the Burlington area, Smithfield has the best fried bird.
 
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Ok you guys, for me it's Chester's chicken. I've only seen a couple that were free standing but most are located in Love's truck stops. There chicken is crispy and juicy. They also sell pickled jalapeno peppers. I get two with the large breast pieces. Yummy! Jeppo loves their fried gizzards. The fried livers are good too! Church's Chicken is also good but the two locations in Durham are in questionable areas of town.
 
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Smithfield's I think is the best for chains overall...


And if wings don't count, boneless girly chicken shouldn't either...
Boneless wings are chicken nuggets


Change my mind :D
 
If you're going to do wings, we've found https://www.apexwings.com/ our favorite.
Pub atmosphere, a little pricey, they're the only wings I've liked, and my wife's a crazy fan. They're a bit crispy on the outside and that makes them more gooder.
Our favorite, Spicy Garlic Parmesan with the habanero sauce on the side to dip them in.
 
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Boneless wings are chicken nuggets


Change my mind :D
I like steak on the bone, also pork chops and especially chicken. It gives the meat a different taste,mo betta. Like someone else mentioned,boneless chicken is chicken nuggets
 
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I like steak on the bone, also pork chops and especially chicken. It gives the meat a different taste,mo betta

My FIL was a dairy farmer from central Wisconsin, and he always said; "the closer to the bone, the sweeter the meat".

He raised ALL his food and really appreciated that life!
 
Chain wise I like Smithfield’s, but there’s not one really close to me. It’s Bo time at my house when we want fried chicken.
 
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Whats wrong with KFC?
 
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Popeyes - although the chicken in the Carolinas tastes different than when you're sauced during Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
 
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KFC is nothing like it used to be. Now greasy and bland tasting
Totally agree.
Back in the 70s and 80s they were THE fried chicken chain.
Then either we got better choices or KFC changed something to where they are, as mentioned, greasy and bland.
Then they started putting clowns in their tv commercial for Colonel Sanders and ruined his name.
KFC just fell apart, kind of like Sears.
 
Down east there's Moore's - best fried chicken for a chain. They're a small chain but they are expanding. New Bern, Winterville (Greenville), Morehead City and now Swansboro.
Their BBQ is pretty good also, for a fast food joint.

The tender snack at Smithfiels's is hard to beat if you want tenders.

Bojangles over Pop-eyes but I eat at Pop-eyes in Jacksonville more than the Bojangles here due to location.

Can't comment on Churches due to the circumstances that I end up there is because I'm tired and hungry and just want something to eat.
 
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For honest-to-goodness chain restaurants (think fast food) for me it’s Smithfield then Bojangles for fried chicken. For a sit-down restaurant with multiple locations, Fred Chason’s Grandson’s is bodacious.
 
If it ain't pan fried it ain't fitting to eat. The before mentioned fast food places are all absolute last resort trash worthy gut fillers.
 
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