Austin: Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken

I enjoyed my lunch at Gus's. It's an Austin outpost of a small chain out of Memphis. The location is new but has the feel of an old-fashioned place. There was a line on the day I visited but I managed to score a seat at the counter to sit down right away. My chicken took 30 minutes to arrive, the good news being that it hit the fryer only after I made my order. My server was very apologetic about the delay; the service was both friendly and efficient.

This is the two-piece white meat plate. My wing and breast were cooked to different levels of crispness for some reason. The wing's crust was a little soft. The breast, however, was the perfect crunchiness that I expected. Although the crust is dry, they manage to work in some heat into the crust. It's a good kind of heat that doesn't hit you immediately, then grows on you, and tails off to a pleasant, slow burn. It's never so spicy as to make you cry and I think it's a great touch. The chicken meat was perfectly cooked and succulent. The greens were quite good with visible pieces of pig. The beans were OK but nothing special.

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