Is Baton Rouge a fried chicken town?
You bet. 
Alongside its obvious Cajun and Creole foodways, there’s a powerful fried chicken throughline in the Capital City, demonstrated by bedrock brands that have made the dish a local staple.
Emblematic establishments like Chicken Shack, Blue Store and, of course, Raising Cane’s have permanently anchored fried chicken as a signature dish in the Red Stick. Meanwhile, new and trendy fried chicken concepts continue to open across the region.
We crave it as a lunch special and an Easter Sunday main course. We expect it at parties, and we need it on weeknights. It’s a citywide unbreakable habit. Let’s dig in.
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The enduring influence of Chicken Shack, Blue Store Chicken and Raising Cane’s
Newcomers have brought tasty, fresh takes to the fried chicken scene in recent years, from hot chicken to wings
Does fried chicken go with everything? Here’s how local eateries are riffing on the Capital City classic
Fried chicken is a language every country speaks
Soul food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations are often gems for fried chicken
Sidebars by Maggie Heyn Richardson
Sidebar sources: Bitter Southerner, Chicken Shack, Eater, Green Book (2018), McDonald’s, Prince’s Hot Chicken, Raising Cane’s and The Smithsonian National Museum of American History
This article was originally published in the April 2024 issue of 225 magazine.