There's an old joke in Kerrville. Whenever a new business is under construction and someone asks on…read moreour local social media site (NextDoor) if anyone knows what that business is, the answer is invariably one of three: a chicken place, a nail salon or a bank. For a town of just shy of 25,000, we are indeed endowed with more than our share of all three. Why? No one knows.
There are seven "chicken places" in our town as I write this. I've eaten at them all and hands down, IMHO, the best is Chicken Express. Now, I'm fully aware that it's the nature of the beast to change in quality from day to day, perhaps even hourly. So, I can only report for my visit on October 27, 2023.
I needed chicken tenders, lots of them, for a Potluck. There would be eight people and they would be bringing all the sides, desserts, etc. However, knowing that sometimes not enough food is brought, I opted for a 30-piece Family Dinner which included three sides. I called at 4:30pm for pick-up at 5:00pm. The manager explained that they were working short-handed but he would do his best to have my order ready by then.
I have a habit of arriving early, so it was 4:50pm when I pulled up; I chose to go in rather than drive-thru. Sure enough, I spied only three workers: the to-go window guy, another at the back of the store who appeared to be new and the manager. The manager greeted me almost immediately and asked me to please be patient; seeing that he was doing the work of three, that was no problem. It took about 10 minutes, which was an amazingly short time considering the situation. Although obviously frazzled, the manager remained polite, friendly and sincerely thanked me for my patience. Arriving at my destination, I found everyone else did indeed bring enough food, so I popped the sides in the fridge for Peg and me the next day. When we tucked into dinner, we all complimented the chicken tenders as moist and tender with an appropriately-crispy crust. They were not greasy and the seasoning was spot-on.
Afterwards, we moved everything to Peg's fridge until the next day. We had chicken left over, so that with the sides made for a nice meal. By the way, the sides were gravy, cole slaw, mac and cheese and green beans, any of which could have been a fast-food disaster. Even reheated, the mac and cheese had a sharp cheddar flavor and was far better than some I've had at sit-down restaurants. The green beans (broad beans, actually) although "wilted" due to their incarceration in the fridge, remained very tasty with no off-putting overtones. The slaw was the classic Southern chopped variety; not too sweet, not too tart and a perfect companion for the other sides. And the gravy--ah, the gravy. Classic cream gravy, perfect thickness and strong chicken flavor that held up overnight and did not break when heated. Good enough to make any Southern boy cry, "Honey-Hush, Sweet Lips!"
Finally, you may ask why I gave a chicken shack five stars. Shouldn't that be reserved for high-toned sit-down restaurants? When I review, I consider the genre of the establishment, and my ratings reflect that. So, out of all the chicken shacks in Greater Metropolitan Kerrville, Chicken Express merits my rating. Excellent food, excellent manager--doesn't get much better than that.
