Gus's Fried Chicken

photo - Yelp, Gary S.

Gus's Fried Chicken, Dinner, Little Rock
July 28, 2016

P:
2 piece: Thigh and Leg
Some unknown side (greens?  baked beans?)

J:
2 piece: Breast and Wing
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy


Notes:
We arrived in Little Rock late on a Thursday evening.  (Well, late enough that our food options were limited.)  Gus's Fried Chicken is a "hot and spicy" chicken place (that's a thing), a growing chain born out of Mason, Tennessee.  After having some of New Orleans' best, we decided it couldn't hurt to give some Tennessee chicken a try.

We weren't impressed.  Well, okay, the fried chicken was pretty good.  The coating was crispy with an excellent just-spicy flavor, the chicken was well seasoned and moist.  Patrick preferred this over Willie Mae's, though I couldn't agree; he did concede that the preference was largely guided by the fact that it wasn't at all greasy.  And, yes, the chicken was indeed tasty and amazingly greaseless, but it wasn't fresh, and that was my problem with it.  Barely warm when we got it, it didn't get any better as we ate.

The sides weren't anything special, either.  Patrick's side was so unmemorable, we have no idea what he ordered.  My mashed potatoes and gravy were of the instant variety, and just like the chicken, barely warm.  Now, don't misunderstand, I LOVE instant mashed potatoes and gravy*.  I grew up with TV dinners, and I've loved instant mashed potatoes and gravy ever since.  I still eat them from time to time (though sadly, it's been a while).  So, I didn't dislike these because of what they were, I disliked them because they were just plain bad.

We weren't too excited to have started our stay in Little Rock with a trip to Gus's, and if presented with another opportunity to visit (I hear they've opened an Austin location), I'm not sure we'd go back.

*We ate a reasonable amount of TV dinners in my family when I was growing up.  I was especially partial to the fried chicken dinners as a kid, and when I got a little older, Salisbury steak was my often my choice.  I eventually worked my way to the single-tray dinners where everything touched and dessert wasn't part of the deal.  This, I thought, was a sign I was maturing.  I remember asking my Mom what kind of potatoes were used in TV dinners and whether we might be able to find them.  She described to me the instant mashed potato in a disparaging tone.  I had no idea such a thing existed, the instant mashed potato, and I'm not sure I fully grasped the concept.  I also remember being shocked on the day I learned Salisbury steak was not, in fact, steak (it's ground beef).  While my love for Salisbury steak was never quite the same after that, I never eschewed the instant mashed potato.  When I first moved out of the house, just after high school, it was one of the first things I stocked in my pantry.