The sad thing about The Commons Mall is that its run down, semi-derelict, and not really the place…read morethat you head out of your way to. And when you walk through the food court, its pretty evident from the lack of options and what's available.
Chili Fries looks like they belonged on the food court from the third season of Stranger Things right next to Scoops Ahoy. Its got that super cheesy 80's vibe, and the photos on the menu are 100% stock that you could just Google and assemble. I wanted chicken before heading into a movie because my stomach was a little unsettled, and my wife agreed that we'd try them. Something compelled me to get the tenders and not the nuggets from the menu.
While standing, I watched Showkat, the owner, prepare burgers for another customer and could tell that while it was prepared in house, it was mostly pre-prepared foods. Not bad at all, but not like I was getting a homemade burger that was seasoned. It was a frozen patty. And the fries were dumped into the frier straight from a bag.
So why would I want to write a review, and why would I head back? Because what started to pique my interest was watching a little metal bowl be brought out and something sitting in the bowl that looked almost like grits or some other weird colored doughy object. Then he walked back to the side room, and I heard the sound of something cutting/slicing, and he walked back out with a skewer and a whole potato that had been spiralled. When my food came out, I had tots and my wife had the tornado fry skewer alongside this beautifully very uneven and different sized chicken pieces. There was something about the chicken that didn't look like the frozen patties I just watched be put on the grille.
First bite into the chicken and it had a perfectly browned and peppered crust, was cooked fully through, and very moist and tender. It didn't dry out in the fryer, and the flavor was in every bite. Yes, its just chicken, but come on now. There's good chicken and there's GOOD chicken. And every bite had just as much flavor, even when there was no crust on it. My tots were okay, they were salted/peppered well, but the tornado fry that my wife had was another item of beauty: still soft, but lightly fried as you'd want it. There was just the right amount of seasoning to transform this ordinary potato into a fry, without it being overbearing.
Showkat confirmed it for me. The chicken? Hand cut, hand trimmed, marinated, and then hand breaded until cooked. Same went for the tornado fries. Yup, most of what he prepared was re-prepared in his kitchen, and I'm not knocking that, but there's a hidden beauty here in these two items that are hand prepared. Luckily we happened to randomly order them our first time there! If we had ordered the nuggets or a burger? I don't know if I'd be raving this much or wanting to head back.
Seriously. I haven't tried anything other than the tenders, but I won't. I don't need to. The man is a chicken genius, and that's all I need. I'd say that his chicken is the best fried chicken I've ever had. Better than Popeyes, KFC, Church's, and yes, even Ezell's. Oprah needs to get her hands on this stuff, because she's missing out.
Matter of fact, no she doesn't. I don't need him selling out before I can get more.