This week, Jonathan Gold heads to the border of Mid-City and Arlington Heights to review Gus’s Fried Chicken, the other fried chicken specialist (we’re looking at you, Howlin’ Ray’s) that has probably popped up on your Instagram feed. The Mason, Tennessee-based chain took over a former Korean bar with its outstanding fried poultry:
Because it’s pretty remarkable stuff, even in chicken-obsessed Los Angeles: a burnished red-gold, pieces bigger than they are small, whose peppery heat at first seems mild, even nonexistent, until it starts creeping up a few bites in, a heat that makes you glad you have a pint of sweet ice tea by your side. [LAT]
J. Gold then goes on to describe the entire experience using his signature second person:
You’re probably going to want some of the garlicky fried pickles to start, cut into spears before they are battered and fried, which are probably the best I’ve ever had — fried spears are so obviously superior to fried pickle chips that I am surprised that they are not standard. The fried green tomatoes and the slimy-crisp fried okra are good too. Of the side orders, the baked beans and tart slaw are pretty standard, but the meaty stewed collard greens are delicious, and the mac ’n’ cheese is pretty much up to grandmother standard: gooey, sharp cheddar taste, slightly grainy in a way that indicates nobody bothered too much with the béchamel.
The chicken shows up garnished only with a few slices of white bread, its sides flanking it on a massive tray that dwarfs even the table, too hot in its first seconds to either touch or eat. But you do anyway. You double up on sweet tea. And you finish with a cut of chess pie. [LAT]
Ultimately, Gus’s sounds like the ideal spot to satisfy comfort food cravings.