Fried Chicken Southern appears as a signature dish in 1 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Southern fried chicken · Richmond
Richmond's fried chicken canon runs from Mama J's family-recipe drumsticks in Jackson Ward to Croaker's Spot fried plates across the river. Buttermilk-brined, dredged and pan-fried.
Fried chicken is a foundational dish of African American Southern cooking, refined and codified across generations of Black women cooks. Edna Lewis (born in Freetown, west of Richmond) recorded the canonical Southern version in The Taste of Country Cooking (1976). Velma Johnson's Mama J's Kitchen in Jackson Ward has run the city's standard plate since 2009; Croaker's Spot on Hull Street in Manchester adds fried whiting alongside the chicken. Leah Branch at The Roosevelt frames her fried chicken in conversation with Virginia African American culinarians.
Where to eat in Richmond:
- Mama J's Kitchen
- Croaker's Spot
- The Roosevelt