WOW! Yelp Review Brings Tears to Our Eyes
When we get a YelpElite review like this, we have to smile and share!
“Remember, the mind is your best muscle. Big arms can move rocks, but big words can move mountains.” – Rocky Balboa
Listen, I’m not going rouse you with cumbersome jargon, that has never been me. But to Rocky’s sentiment, what I’m about to share may move you to stop here on your next road trip , truuuust me!
Fluff
I’m southern bred and love everything the south has to offer. Fried chicken (not stereotypical), greens, Mac & cheese (not everyone knows how to do it the correct way), okra & tomatoes and cornbread, just to name a few staples. There’s a spot back in Jacksonville that knows how to do southern cooking like your grandmama did it and what a bistro it is. My wife and I had no plans to stop but to make it to our destination. I got a text from a friend of mine, shout-out to Bobby, to try this spot off exit 44. We figured, why not and we’re halfway in our journey anyway. I glanced over the menu and saw Nashville hot chicken, say less as my sister would say.
Concept
There are several spice levels that are offered. The list starts with Plain Traditional, Honey Style, Mild, Honey Mild, Medium, Hot, Rocky’s Hot, Extra Hot. From what I was told, their medium is everyone else’s HOT! Now, think about that for just a second, there’s many establishments claiming they have spicy chicken this, that and the third but c’mon, really? I was skeptical but I listened. I listened because I had another five and a half hours to go and didn’t want to feel miserable on the road, if you know what I mean. There are rules when eating this chicken: have wet naps (plenty), don’t rub your eyes (DO NOT, DO NOT), the pickle (balances out the heat) and the bread (soaks up all the spice lava).
Food
I ordered the 1pc breast with medium spice and two sides. My wife ordered the two legs with honey mild and two sides. The sides between the both of us were a homemade biscuit (southern style), mac & cheese and sweet potato casserole.
Chicken
The undisputed heavyweight champ, pound for pound…
whatever you thought you knew about fried chicken, you haven’t had a proper introduction to it. When I say moist, I don’t say it in the negative connotation it gets now but truly moist! I’m going to assume they do a brine of more than 48hrs, they have to! It’s a cardinal sin how moist it is! It came straight out of the grease! I’m not boushy but I had to it with a fork, I don’t feel any remorse for doing so either.
Their medium spice was indeed the next establishments version of spicy. You could see every seasoning speck on the skin, nothing was left uncovered. My wife’s honey mild spice was beautifully engineered , a unique balance of sweet and spicy. I liked her spice soo much, I went back to order chicken tenders to go, which I ended up eating in the parking lot (gluttony alert).
Sides
A round of applause to whomever makes the sides, a sincere thank you. I didn’t think the Mac & cheese would be THAT good. Often times you hear, “Oh, you can’t go wrong with any of our sides. They’re all very good, I order two servings when I’m not working”, yea, yea, yea.. I’m here to say, take them at their word! That sweet potato casserole with the pecan and brown sugar crust, a must have. I’m simply jealous I don’t live closer to become the Duke.
Overall
If I didn’t persuade you to bookmark this spot to try, perfect, I’ll keep coming back with no expectations of a crowd. With two locations, we happened to choose the south, it felt like home! I see a return in the near, near future for sure. K.O. *ding ding.