The search is over.  This is the BEST fried chicken in The Bay Area, and believe me, I’ve done PLENTY of research.  If you are looking for the real deal, amazing fried chicken that’s got a bit of a spicy kick to it, you will find it at Southern Café.

Seriously, I’ve tried them all, and this is the only one that satisfies my jones for real, southern-style fried chicken.  It’s crispy, it’s spicy, it’s meaty, it’s authentic.  Other spots comes close, but there can be only one winner, and that’s Southern Café.

Are they better than Home of Chicken and Waffles?  YES

Hard Knox Café?  YES.

Gussie’s?  Oh HELL YES.

Brenda’s?  Better and Bigger, thank you.

Frisco Fried?  Yup.

Auntie April’s?  I love Auntie April’s, but unequivocably, Southern Café is better.

“What about Casa Orinda, which The Chronicle crowned the best fried chicken in The Bay Area back in 2008?”  My friend, if you enjoy no zest, no zing, if you’re craving a bland “white-bread/Betty Crocker” version of fried chicken, then Casa Orinda is your spot.  But if you want something authentically southern, if you want to be the only whiteboy in the restaurant, then head over to Southern Café and taste what real fried chicken tastes like.

“Okay, but what about those fancy places, like Farmerbrown, or The Front Porch?  Surely their fried chicken beats these guys, right?”

Don’t get me wrong, those places make a nice plate for you.  But, it’s not the same as this.  Southern Café makes authentic, down home style food.  Front Porch serves a nice meal, but panko-crusted fried chicken ain’t the same thing as southern style, you feel me?  Farmerbrown is good, but they’re more expensive, you don’t get as large of a serving, and I personally take issue when someone tries to “gussy up” something that’s as basic as fried chicken.  Let’s not see “gourmet” and “Fried Chicken” in the same sentence.  Let’s keep fried chicken simple and pure:  of the people, by the people, for the people.

Homes, it’s ALL GOOD here.  The mac’n’cheese is southern style: sloppy, with clumps of cheese, not all smoothed out and velveeta-y like Hard Knox Café’s.  The collards are great, the fricken’ RICE AND GRAVY is great.  I mean, if you can take something as basic and rice and gravy and make my mouth water, make me crave it even as I type this, then you have really done something special.

Bottom line: you cannot go wrong with anything on their menu.  The meatloaf, the catfish, the red beans and rice, the collard greens, the cornbread dressing – DAMN, this place is good.  They are the genuine article, complete with surly unhelpful staff, but who cares?  So what if walk through the door and everyone is too busy cooking or bussing tables to greet you?  You come here for the FOOD, not the ambiance.

If that wasn’t enough, they do an all-you-can-eat buffet on Sundays, with bottomless mimosas, AT DINNER TIME.  Mimosas at dinner, yes.  You can sample everything they make at the buffet, all their sides, all their entrees.  Not for the faint of heart, trust me.

Go hungry, leave happy.  Go!

 

Southern Cafe

2000 MacArthur Blvd

Oakland, CA 94602