Chicago Weekend Fun!

I had White Fence Farm Fried Chicken for dinner last night and I had to post about it today because I think they are an overlooked place to get a good hearty family meal. Granted, it’s fried chicken, and there is frying involved (but it is in low cholesterol soybean oil) so it isn’t as healthy as a salad, but it just tastes really good. I actually prefer them to KFC and other fast food places because this is made fresh and without a lot of the preservatives that you get with processed food today.

The White Fence Farm has been around in some incarnation or another since 1920 but the main location in Romeoville (1376 Joliet Road almost in Joliet) has been open under the current family management since 1954. The original restaurant is still open and it really was a farm and has that genuine farm look even though the area around them has changed a lot since then.

The restaurant has several museum quality displays set up in the waiting room with everything about farm life and the past in general. There are a lot of interesting collections like the hood ornament collection. I always went there as a kid and really enjoyed the museum type displays. It always gave my grandfather an opportunity to tell stories about when he had cars like that or something relating to the old cool stuff they had. Plus in the restaurant the Chicken is served with more side dishes than you get at the take out locations.

You get family style fried chicken, kidney bean salad (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it), Oil and Vinegar cole slaw (or original slaw if you like, but the Oil & Vinegar is really the best), pickled beets, mashed potatoes and either fritters or fries or both. The corn fritters are amazing. Yes, they are fried too, but then they are dusted with powder sugar so they are sweet and yummy. They are always the favorites. They have other things on the menu, but really it’s all about the chicken and that is what I recommend ordering there. It’s simple food, but really good home cooking type food. It reminds me of a simpler time when families got together for dinner every night. It is kind of a nostalgic place in a lot of ways, a little time capsule preserving the past.

There are also 4 takeout locations around Chicago in Downers Grove (on Fairview Ave), in Plainfield (new location), Riverside (near Cicero) and Joliet. You can get boxed meals of chicken dinners or a family style chicken pack. They come with fritters and or fries and cole slaw. We always get the oil and vinegar and one extra oil and vinegar cole slaw because everyone likes it so much. I don’t see or taste any oil in it, but there is lots of cabbage, vinegar and sugar because it’s tangy sweet. 

The chicken is always the best the first night, soft, juicy and not fatty at all. But, it isn’t really the best food for reheating with all the lack of preservatives and all. But it’s a great affordable takeout dinner for a family of 4 under 20 bucks. They also can do catering and events, but you would have to get that order in advance if it involved a lot of chicken. Who else can provide all that at reasonable prices? Call the original restaurant in Romeoville for a reservation at 815-838-1152. You will enjoy it and your kids will too.