America's best fried chicken restaurants REVEALED: California chain claims top spot with eateries in New Orleans and Dallas also on the list

Forget KFC! 

These are the restaurants with the best fried chicken in America, according to a new list compiled by food experts Eat This, Not That!  

From California to Louisiana and even a spot in pizza-famous New York, here are the winners. 

1. Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles - California 

Herb Hudson founded the Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles in 1975 and some of its restaurants have been visited by celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Stevie Wonder

Herb Hudson founded the Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles in 1975 and some of its restaurants have been visited by celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Stevie Wonder

California chain Roscoe's claimed the top spot with its non-greasy options like chicken and waffles. 

Business Insider gave the franchise high praise. 

'Even though the chicken was far from dry, it wasn't greasy at all. It was perfect,' she wrote. 

Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder, and former US President Barack Obama are all fans. 

2. Willie Mae's Scotch House - New Orleans & L.A. 

Willie Mae's Scotch House started out as a bar in New Orleans before transforming into a restaurant based on customer demand in the 1970s

President Barack Obama talks with young men during a lunch stop with them at Willie Mae's Scotch House August 27, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana

Willie Mae's menu offers classic sides like grits and cornbread 

Originally intended to be a bar, New Orleans-based Willie Mae's Scotch House became a restaurant based in the 1970s amid high demand. 

According to the restaurant's website, both the Food Network and the Travel Channel have recognized it as 'America's Best Fried Chicken.'

Willie Mae's Scotch House is primarily known for its fried chicken platters.

Now, the restaurant another location in Los Angeles. 

Both the original and the Californian outpost are run by Mae's granddaughter, Kerry Seaton Stewart. 

3. Honey Butter Fried Chicken - Illinois

Honey Butter Fried Chicken serves menu items like sweet chili barbecue fried chicken sandwiches and a fried chicken sandwich with honey butter

Co-owners and chefs Josh Kulp and Christine Cikowski opened the first Honey Butter Fried Chicken restaurant in 2013.

Today, it has three Illinois locations that are known for its unique fried chicken menu items.

According to Eat This, Not That!, all three of the restaurants only serve antibiotic-free and humanely raised chicken. 

4. The Jerk Shack - San Antonio

The only city The Jerk Shack is located in is San Antonio, but it was featured in an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives

The Jerk Shack received positive attention right after Nicola Blaque opened the Texas restaurant in 2018.

The Jamaican-inspired restaurant is 20 minutes away from downtown San Antonio, and it offers a variety of chicken dishes.

Its only restaurant location is the one in San Antonio, but Guy Fieri once stopped by for a meal during an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  

5. Prince's Hot Chicken - Tennessee

There are currently more than five Prince's Hot Chicken restaurants in Tennessee and there is also one in South Carolina

This fried chicken restaurant has more than five locations in Tennessee and was founded by Thorton Prince.

Prince's Hot Chicken website refers to Prince as 'the father of Nashville’s hot chicken' who founded the restaurant after he ate a plate of spicy fried chicken.

The small restaurant chain in the south has since gained recognition for its spicy chicken, and its 8 locations are being run by Prince's great-niece, Andre Prince Jeffries.

6. Le Chick Miami - Florida

Le Chick Miami prides itself on having an 'up-scale, yet inviting dining atmosphere.' The restaurant serves one of their chicken dishes with maple syrup and roasted honey mustard

Le Chick Miami's website reads that the restaurant is an 'up-scale, yet inviting dining atmosphere.'

Le Chick Miami uses high-quality ingredients to create its seemingly delicious fried chicken dishes.

One of the restaurant's fried chicken dishes is covered in spicy maple syrup, ranch dressing, and roasted honey mustard.

More than 1,000 guests who ate at Le Chick Miami reviewed the restaurant, and some of them only wrote about the place's fried chicken.

'The fried chicken was surprisingly so good, and it's a nice plate to share,' a Florida woman wrote on Yelp in January 2024. 

7. Howlin' Ray's - California

Johnny Ray Zone, the restaurant's founder, worked as a chef under Thomas Keller, Gordon Ramsay, and Nobu Matsuhisa

Howlin' Ray's, another California chain, is known for offering customers a spicy scale to choose from. 

Six heat levels are available at the restaurant. Founder Johnny Ray Zone previously worked with Thomas Keller, Gordon Ramsay, and Nobu Matsuhisa, and started the business as a food truck. 

8. Mike's Chicken - Dallas Fort Worth

The first Mike's Chicken restaurant launched 10 years ago in a laundromat, and its second store opened in North Dallas 8 years later

Mike's Chicken is 'a family-run chicken joint based in the Dallas Fort Worth area. 

Its first restaurant launched 10 years ago in a laundromat, and its second store opened in North Dallas eight years later.

9. Wagner's Village Inn - Indiana

Wagner's Village Inn has been owned and operated by the same family since the 1960s

Located in Oldenburg, Indiana, Wagner's Village Inn has been owned and operated by the same family since the 1960s.

The restaurant also has a long list of appetizers, including pretzel bites, pickle fries, and mac & cheese bites. 

10. Pies 'n' Thighs - New York 

Pies 'n' Thighs in New York offers a chicken & waffles meal, which includes cinnamon butter and baked apple toppings

Pies 'n' Thighs is the only restaurant in the Northeast to have made the top 10 of this list.

The New York restaurant was founded almost 20 years ago in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood.

One of its main menu items is the fried chicken box that comes with a side and a buttermilk biscuit.

The restaurant also offers a chicken & waffles meal, which includes cinnamon butter and baked apple toppings.

There is only one location, but a Yelp reviewer from Los Angeles wrote that the chicken at Pies 'n Thighs can compete with the meat at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.