Mission Impossible? In Search of Good Fried Chicken in LA - Part II

Last weekend I had a little problem: I had to find some great fried chicken to bring to the Hollywood Bowl for our Sunday night picnic. I've been down on LA fried chicken since having eaten fried chicken in Georgia a few years ago (who knew fried chicken could taste so good!)

I have found a few places that I like (Honey's Kettle, Pollo Campero [if I talk about Pollo Campero I will just bitch about the parking situation and I'm afraid that I'll lose you Dear Reader]) but they were too far to drive to for this particular event. Things were looking bleak until Sunday morn when the Fried Chicken Gods intervened: Foreign Correspondent D told me about Pioneer Chicken on Sunset and Fountain. Pioneer? I had grown up about two miles from this place and would never think of even setting foot inside. But my FCD swore that it was a Chowhound favorite. And she was right. The chicken was delicious and perfectly cooked.

Pioneer was a popular chain while I was growing up and now there are only about 5 (or less) stores left. Golden Bird was also a famous and very delicious fried chicken place back in the 70s but I think in the 80s they were bought out and the quality of the chicken went way down and they finally closed.

I've been hearing a lot about Dinah's in Glendale on San Fernando. An old friend of mine, Miss Swan, loved Dinah's chicken and Miss Swan claimed that her mother, who was from South Carolina, made the best fried chicken.

I'm thinking that Dinah's has got to be really good since the family in "Little Miss Sunshine" is eating Dinah's chicken for dinner in act one and they live in Albuquerque - that's a long drive to get a bucket of fried chicken.