Wayside Takeout & Catering

If only for its credo – “This Chicken ‘Clucks’ For You” – I would like Wayside Takeout and Catering, which bills itself as the home of Ole Va Fried Chicken. The 40+ year old chicken shack fries up pieces of bird that are plump and plush, all about chicken flavor with a finely peppered crust. The seasonings are so refined that I didn’t fully appreciate their goodness until I was down to the bone and found myself hunting for any little patch of crisp skin that fell as I ate. I didn’t want to leave one scrap of this delicious chicken behind!

All meals are served in Styrofoam dishware and although there are a handful of tables inside, most business is take-out. After enjoying an insanely moist thigh and full-flavored breast on premises, I walked out with a dozen drumsticks, which maintained good crunch as room-temp snacks throughout the day.

Baked chicken also is available. Perhaps some day, in another life, it should be sampled.