Audio By Carbonatix
Q:I went to Caldonia’s recently just for their fried chicken, and they’ve quit serving it. Any other suggestions?
A:This past June, Caldonia’s (2252 South Parker Road in Aurora, 303-752-3829) won our Best Fried Chicken award; unfortunately, the popular sports bar didn’t sell enough of the town’s best fried chicken, so when Caldonia’s menu was updated recently, the bird flew the coop.
These days, not many places make true fried chicken — that’s deep-fried or pan-fried to order, as opposed to flash-fried and then baked and reheated — because it’s labor-intensive, takes some time and, to be honest, is messy as heck. But you can always count on the fried fowl at Kapre Lounge & Fried Chicken #1 (2729 Welton Street, 303-295-9207), which is coated in a spicy batter and fried in canola oil. Rocky Mountain Diner (800 18th Street, 303-293-8383) just started serving the same fabulous pan-fried chicken that’s cooked up at the diner’s sister restaurant, the Castle Cafe (403 Wilcox Street in Castle Rock, 303-814-2233). The new Smacks Cafe (15445 East Iliff Avenue in Aurora, 303-632-0224) deep-fries its chicken to order, which means your dinner will take anywhere from fifteen minutes to half an hour, but it’s oh-so-worth the wait. And finally, Dazzle (930 Lincoln Street, 303-839-5100) features fried chicken every Wednesday, on Retro Night, deep-frying half a bird and dropping it on a mountain of great mashed potatoes.
