I saw this place getting ready to open, and being a fried chicken junkie, I was obviously stoked to finally get a chance to try it out.
I ordered a 3 piece combo, which came with a breast, 2 drumsticks, a side (I chose the Jalapeno Bombers), a Honey-Butter Biscuit, and a drink for $9.99 ($11.29 after tax). I waited a few minutes for my order, and had planned on taking it home to eat it, but once I got in the car, I changed my mind. I wanted to eat it while it was still hot, and at its freshest.
When the manager (maybe the owner) gave me my order, he said that there was only two pieces of chicken in the box, but he'd put my third piece in a separate bag with the rest of my food. I opened the box, and was surprised to see three pieces, so he accidentally gave me an extra piece (SCORE!).
I started off with the Honey-Butter Biscuit, and it was good, but maybe not quite as good as I had heard. The outside was crunchy, and the inside was warm and soft. The mild honey flavour is pleasing, and goes nicely with the taste and texture of the biscuit.
You've all heard the saying, "Everything is bigger in Texas," and it holds true for this chicken. There was a breast and two drumsticks in the box, and they were noticeably bigger pieces than any other fried chicken restaurants I've been to. I started with the breast, and it was delicious. The skin was super-crunchy, and the meat was hot, tender and juicy. The skin isn't as heavily seasoned as most other places, and the flavour was more subtle, but very enjoyable nonetheless. There was however, quite a bit of grease dripping down my fingers. I used three napkins while eating that first piece of chicken. Strangely though, when I ate the two drumsticks, then my bonus piece of chicken (another breast piece), there was virtually none. I'm treating that first piece as an anomaly, as the last three were not greasy at all.
After the chicken, I moved on to the Jalapeno Bombers. They're smaller than a jalapeno popper, so it must just be slices of jalapeno, as opposed to whole, hollowed out peppers. Also, while poppers traditionally use a cream cheese-type of filling, these appear to be more of a Velveeta sort of cheese inside the crunchy outer breading. I was happy to feel the appropriate amount of heat from the jalapeno, and that the spice level wasn't dialed down (McDonald's came out with a Jalapeno McChicken last year that was an absolute joke, and their Habanero McChicken and Ghost Pepper McChicken were a letdown, too). While the Bombers could've been hotter temperature-wise, the reality is that by the time I made my way through the biscuit and four pieces of chicken, there was no way they could still be piping hot.
Overall, I really enjoyed my first meal at Church's, and I'm looking forward to taking my kids here on our next "Boys' Night" (my wife hates fried chicken). Great food and good value means that I'll definitely be back! read more