The Wednesday before my husband's birthday, the Rochester City Newspaper's wonderful Chow Hound column ran a round-up of overlooked Webster restaurants. BC's Chicken Coop was among them, and I thought, "Mmm, birthday fried chicken." So, taking note of the suggestion to call ahead, I did: ordering a "hen house"--fried chicken, cornbread muffins, and sides--and (when ribs weren't available) a dozen wings.
We set off for Webster and found the Coop in a blue siding'd hole in the wall. It was a very chilly Saturday, but once we stepped inside the small shop, the temperature rose dramatically (in fact, the windows were foggy!). The Chicken Coop is quite charming inside, though I would not advise eating there. It offers only a couple tiny tables (stacked a bit incongruously with National Geographics). So, we took our order to go.
The chicken is fried to order, so it is fresh, crispy, moist and definitely hot. It had a perfect crunchy crust, liberally seasoned with salt, pepper and (I'm guessing) paprika and a bit of cayenne. The chicken meat was tender and flavored by (again, a guess) a solid salt/pepper/buttermilk brine. The wings were prepared just as the chicken, and we picked a medium hot sauce (more medium-hot and super wonderful) to go with these. The proof of the deliciousness of the chicken is in its rapid disappearance: we had barely enough left over for lunch the next day! Truly the some of the best fried chicken I've had.
As for the sides: the cornbread and tomato/bacon/garlic green beans were wonderful; the mashed potatoes were fine; the mac and cheese left a lot to be desired. But, then again, who cares? I can make my own sides, but I'll guarantee that I cannot make this chicken. Yum!!
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