Readers nominated 76 spots as the best restaurant in the city for fried chicken. We whittled that list down to the top 32 best places?in the New Orleans area, and after weeks of voting and more than 136,000 votes, the people have spoken.
With 54,350 votes in the final round, Picnic Provisions & Whiskey?has been dubbed the winner. Chicken's Kitchen?was the runner-up, with 50,982 votes.?
The fried chicken bracket had five rounds, with 136,802 total votes cast. Picnic Provisions & Whiskey held a top four spot in every round of the bracket.
Picnic Provisions & Whiskey is an Uptown restaurant built around fried chicken, comfort food and cocktails. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
This Uptown spot is a stylish and casual neighborhood restaurant with a chef’s eye to comfort food, and a full bar for cocktails. But there’s no doubt fried chicken is the focus.
Today it's run by Ti Martin, co-owner of Commander’s Palace, and Darryl Reginelli, founder of his namesake pizzeria, who originally developed it with Tory McPhail in 2018 when he was executive chef at Commander’s Palace.
The combination of a serious kitchen and a fun setting is familiar from Commander's, here in anytime-casual mode. There's a retro vibe inside, with a vintage jukebox and a revolving rack of sweets as if from a penny candy emporium. Befitting the name, there’s a picnic-like setting outside on a turf-lined patio with yard games.
There’s live music outside on Wednesdays (5-7 p.m.), and a happy hour (Tue.-Fri., from 2-6 p.m.), with deals on drinks and snacks (including a basket of chicken nuggets and a Champagne split for $10).
Rouses wins grocery store fried chicken bracket
We also asked Times-Picayune readers to vote for the New Orleans area grocery store with the best fried chicken. Rouses Markets was the winner. Their fried chicken is available in the deli at all stores across Louisiana and Mississippi.
