Hill Country Chicken

Last Thursday, my coworker and I walked to Hill Country Chicken to try out the new restaurant:

Hill Country Chicken serves their chicken two ways – classic and Mama El’s. Aaron’s friend was at the restaurant the night before for the press preview and said that both of the fried chicken options were good, but the Mama El’s fried chicken was definitely better. We got in line and thought about sharing the large order (basically two pieces of each piece plus four biscuits) but decided it was too much food:

You stand in line and wait for someone to take your order – the fried chicken is continuously being taken out and we had to wait in line for about 15 minutes, but the wait wasn’t too bad. The original still has the skin on and is double battered and fried; Mama El’s removes the skin, has a saltine crust, and is fried:

I ordered a Mama El’s breast and drumstick and a side of cheesy potatoes and walked down the cafeteria-style line to wait to pay. While I was waiting, the food was still behind the counter (and getting cold) because the cashier was talking to all of the customers to see whether or not they enjoyed their lunch! AH! I hate when food gets cold because it’s been sitting out! Before you get to the actual cash register, they also have a bunch of other sides you can choose from:

Aaron actually ordered a side of the cole slaw (which was very good) and we just stared at the carrots with raisins:

After another couple of minutes of waiting, I was finally face to face with my chicken:

The Mama El’s fried chicken had a crispy exterior, very moist meat, and was surprisingly very flavorful. Aaron ordered some of the original recipe and agreed with his friend – the Mama El’s was A LOT better. I’m looking forward to returning so I can try their pies (they looked delicious and definitely had single portions) and their shakes!