As if we needed another excuse to eat one of our favorite foods, it just so happens to be National Fried Chicken Day on Monday, July 6. Here, our top places in Vegas to enjoy the Southern-style bird.
The newest addition to Downtown Summerlin, Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken offers all of the New York restaurant’s most popular dishes, including crispy fried wings, thighs, and tenders, traditional Southern sides, and a variety of fried chicken sandwiches, like The Pit (cheddar cheese, bacon, and barbecue sauce) and the Firebird (pickled peppers and chipotle mayo). And even if you’re not going to be in Summerlin anytime soon, Blue Ribbon’s chicken is also served at The Linq’s Brooklyn Bowl. 1770 Festival Plaza Dr., Ste. 200, 702-329-9300
Ordering multiple small plates is a must at Downtown’s Carson Kitchen, but it’s important that you make sure at least one of them is the crispy fried chicken skins with smoked honey. Still hungry? The restaurant’s Secret Sunday Chicken Sandwich is a Chick-fil-A sandwich on steroids, with house-made pickle aioli complementing battered morsels of chicken and a side of spicy tater tots. 124 S. 6th St., 702-473-9523
Some people rave that the fried chicken at Culinary Dropout is the best they’ve ever had. Need more convincing? The plates piled high with the stuff, plus buttermilk biscuits and mashed potatoes and gravy—and all of it drizzled with honey—should do the trick. The chicken takes a while to cook, so make sure to order it as soon as you’re seated. 4455 Paradise Rd., 702-522-8100
One of the most underrated breakfast spots in Vegas, Della’s Kitchen serves up a morning entrée that has us chucking our summer diets out the window on an almost weekly basis. Meet your newest guilty pleasure: the Delano restaurant’s buttermilk-fried chicken and waffles with maple pepper bacon and pure maple syrup (and for later-in-the-day snacking, there’s also a fried chicken sandwich topped with house-made pickles). 3940 S. Las Vegas Blvd., 702-632-9444
M&M Soul Food Cafe is the kind of place where a plate of chicken wings and two waffles is a side, not an entrée. Browse the menu even further and you’ll find several dishes that make fried chicken their foundation, smothering it in gravy or serving it whole with M&M’s signature seasoning. 3923 W. Charleston Blvd., 702-453-7685; 2211 S. Las Vegas Blvd., 702-478-5767
Yardbird offers the bird in a variety of styles, brining it for 27 hours and serving it with garnishes like spiced watermelon and honey hot sauce. We’re partial to the Mama’s Chicken Biscuits entrée, which sees the famous chicken served on freshly baked buttermilk biscuits and topped with a barely-there pepper jelly. Yardbird’s lunch menu, meanwhile, features a fried chicken sandwich topped with hot sauce and house-made bacon. 3355 S. Las Vegas Blvd., 702-297-6541