Missouri’s Best Fried Chicken Is In Kansas City!

The website Love Food recently put out a list of Every State's Best Fried Chicken Joint, and their choice for Missouri won't disappoint fried chicken lovers or anyone who loves southern cuisine. That said, you might get sticker shock at how much a 1/2 fried chicken with all the fixins costs.

So, where in Missouri will you find the best-fried chicken? LULA Southern Cookhouse in Kansas City.

According to the LULA website, the restaurant strongly reflects owner and chef Bradley Gilmore's North Carolina roots. The restaurant serves up lunch, supper, and brunch, featuring southern classics and adding a twist to create bold flavors that are cravable. Add a dash of Southern hospitality; there you have LULA Southern Cookhouse.

Love Food acknowledges the Southern cooking with bold flavors and says the restaurant delivers on that, yet they feel the fried chicken is the restaurant's star.

"There's a great menu to choose from, but the crispy and juicy fried chicken here is the star of the show. Try it with waffles and chili syrup, or with smashed potatoes, gumbo gravy, and ham-glazed green beans. There's also a delicious platter available on the dinner menu, consisting of fried chicken pieces, pickles, hot sauce, biscuits, and gumbo gravy. When it comes to sides, customers rave about the mac 'n' cheese and fried green tomatoes."

I spotted two chicken dishes on LULA's supper menu: Creole Chicken Spaghetti, which seems like a spicy Chicken Parm dish, which is a chicken breast cutlet, herbed breadcrumbs, creole tomato sauce, and provolone, and a Southern Fried Chicken Platter, which I'll get back to.

LULA offers a chicken and waffle dish and a two-piece Southern-fried chicken meal on the lunch and brunch menu. The Creole Chicken Spaghetti is also on the lunch menu.

The Southern Fried Chicken platter offered at dinner includes either a half chicken or a whole chicken, house-made pickles, hot sauce, biscuits, and two fixins with the half chicken or three fixins with the whole chicken.

Fixins include ham glazed green beans, bacon braised collard greens, brown sugar sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, butter bean hoppin' john, Eastern N.C. potatoes, grits, and for an upcharge 1/2 pound of crab legs.

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The only thing that might give someone pause before ordering the fried chicken platter is the cost. Half a chicken costs $40, while a whole chicken costs $75. Granted, it comes with the ups and extras, and I would assume a couple might be able to split the whole chicken platter, but it is not an inexpensive meal.

The Southern Fried Chicken offered for lunch and brunch might be more affordable at $18. This meal includes two pieces of chicken, smashed potatoes with gumbo gravy, and ham-glazed green beans.

For those who aren't fans of fried chicken, there's plenty on the menu to satisfy even the most finicky and un-adventurous eaters. There's something for everyone: steak, lamb, pork, fish, shrimp. They also offer a variety of cocktails, beer, and wine.

LULA Southern Cookhouse is at 1617 Main Street in Kansas City, 64108. They accept reservations at 816-648-0808.

LULA serves lunch Tuesday through Friday from 11:00 AM—2:00 PM CDT, Happy Hour runs from 3:00 PM—6:00 PM, and Supper is served from 2:00 PM—9:00 PM CDT Tuesday through Thursday and until 10:00 PM on Friday and Saturday. Brunch is offered Saturday from 10:00 AM—2:00 PM and Sunday from 10:00 AM—3:00 PM CDT. The restaurant closes at 3:00 PM after brunch on Sunday. The restaurant is closed on Monday.