Stranger: Nice to meet you, Clare. So where are you from?
Me: Kentucky.
Stranger: Oh, so you like love fried chicken, right?
Despite the fact that I’m (mistakenly) seen as somewhat of a fried chicken connoisseur among my friends up North, I had still been committing one of the cardinal Northeastern sins until earlier this year: I had never eaten at Chicken Lou’s. Of course I had smelled the delicious scent of carbs, fat, and hot sauce coming from the small free-standing kitchen on Forsyth Street every day around lunchtime and I had seen people endure rain and snow while waiting outside of the shack for someone in the kitchen to toss them their brown paper bags of food; but, I had never wanted to be so dependent on a sandwich that I was willing to stay outside longer than necessary.
One of my friends finally decided that the time had come for me to lose my Chicken Lou virginity. After hearing so much hype about the place since a campus tour during my senior year of high school, I was afraid that I would be disappointed by the campus legend. Fortunately, I loved the greasy mess of chicken, bread, and cheese on my paper plate and I’ve been a fan ever since.
Chicken Lou’s serves the famous TKO (a chicken, bacon, swiss cheese and honey mustard sandwich) and spicy French fries, but they also specialize in breakfast sandwiches, such as the SEX (sausage, egg and cheese on a bagel) and the Cholesterol (bacon, egg, and cheese.) I’ve also heard they make good salads, but I’ve never heard of anyone actually ordering them. If you’re on a diet, this isn’t the place for you.
Of course the Northeastern institution has its critics, (according to one yelp review, “the [owners] kiss the feet of Northeastern athletes and seasoned patrons that eat there for every meal, but no one else”) but it’s so beloved by most students, they voted it the number one eatery on campus in the Huntington News’ annual poll 12 years in a row. The main complaint from students seems to be that it isn’t open past 7 p.m. – forcing students to go elsewhere for their drunken meals at 1 a.m.
So if you’re like I was and haven’t yet gone through the Northeastern tradition of eating at Chicken Lou’s (be it because you fear weight gain or a heavy poultry dependency) just give in to the fried, greasy mess that will have you coming back for seconds.
Photos: Facebook, Farm4, Jayden’s Corner