Guy Fieri Devours Fried Chicken in Oklahoma 🍗 | Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives | Food Network

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]You know, when I think small town middle America, I think farming and families, you know, people coming into town to get their supplies. But how about a place that's been open for business for more than 110 years and serves, now get this, over 24,000 pieces of fried chicken a week. That's right, 24,000 pieces of fried chicken a week. I heard this and I had to come check out Aishas here in Okarti, Oklahoma. Who was the one that emailed me said I had to come check THIS JOINT OUT?

[00:00:30]I LOVE FRIED CHICKEN >> coming at you.

[00:00:32]>> It's about the chicken. We're always hot and fresh. You email me.

[00:00:35]>> I did. I emailed you in February.

[00:00:37]>> Why did you send this to me?

[00:00:38]>> It's got a lot of history behind it.

[00:00:40]Known as one of the oldest bar in Oklahoma and best fried chicken in the state.

[00:00:43]>> Just ask anyone here. How's the fried chicken?

[00:00:47]>> Here we go.

[00:00:48]>> Chicken started in 1960. My brother George, he would cook him on an old cast iron skillet.

[00:00:53]>> Oh, on a stove. George passed way back in 1964, but his brothers Ed, >> looking good, >> and Paul, >> doing fine, >> are still serving it the only way you can get it.

[00:01:02]>> Be careful, it's hot.

[00:01:03]>> The way we've always done it, don't change a thing.

[00:01:05]>> One whole cut up bird at a time.

[00:01:07]>> Open them up.

[00:01:08]>> Only now, it takes eight electric fryers just to keep up.

[00:01:11]>> All right, how do we commence the chicken? First of all, we're going to make a breading flour.

[00:01:15]>> And why wheat flour?

[00:01:16]>> That's what my brother started with.

[00:01:17]>> Okay, so a lot of this goes to do with your brother.

[00:01:20]>> Brother, he made he made the recipe.

[00:01:21]Then we have some cornmeal, some salt, a little bit of baking powder.

[00:01:24]>> Now, we're not marinating this chicken or anything.

[00:01:26]>> No. A little bit of sugar, paprika, and a couple other spices that I'm not telling anybody.

[00:01:31]>> Can I taste it?

[00:01:33]>> Tastes like paprika to though, doesn't it?

[00:01:35]>> Yeah.

[00:01:35]>> And with some other stuff.

[00:01:36]>> No. Yeah, definitely got some other stuff. But you know what? Out of respect to what you're doing here and how long this has been going on, I ain't going to say it.

[00:01:42]>> Okay. Now, I've got to mix it all up.

[00:01:44]You're the first person other than family in 40ome years that seen anybody mix this. Be ready.

[00:01:48]>> All right.

[00:01:49]>> To dust some chicken. Okay. the whole chicken at a time.

[00:01:51]>> So even on your birthday, you can't come in and just get all wings.

[00:01:53]>> No, no, no, no. The way it always was.

[00:01:55]That's the way it's going to be.

[00:01:56]>> Cuz that's what your brother.

[00:01:57]>> We That's what he did. And we're we're not changing any of that.

[00:02:00]>> Dig that. Do you have a favorite fryer?

[00:02:02]>> Do you name them?

[00:02:03]>> This is a good one here. Elsie.

[00:02:05]>> You name it, Elsie.

[00:02:06]>> Wanda, Whezzy, Penelope, and Sandy.

[00:02:10]>> Well, what temperature you running these? 330.

[00:02:12]>> 330.

[00:02:13]>> So it doesn't cook it as fast and get it brown as fast. It make sure that you cook that meat all the way through. And how many minutes does it take to cook a chicken?

[00:02:20]>> 15 minutes.

[00:02:21]>> I thought that the wings cook a little faster than the uh breasts.

[00:02:24]>> That's the way we always done.

[00:02:25]>> That's just the way we do it. So, how about this new rule? Quit asking questions.

[00:02:29]>> Give that a little bit of a stir.

[00:02:30]>> They don't stick together and that's it.

[00:02:32]See, I want this. You just call chicken up.

[00:02:34]>> What do you like the best? I'll put them on top.

[00:02:36]>> Oh, I'm a wing and thigh kind of guy.

[00:02:38]Well, this is just ridiculous cuz it's molten hot right now.

[00:02:41]>> I know.

[00:02:45]Excellent, man. Super tender and juicy.

[00:02:47]You just the skin turns into a nice crust because of the flour and the cornmeal. But boy, it's good. It's cooled down to a point now where I can just start shoveling it in.

[00:02:55]>> Now, you know, on Triple D, I love finding the old school joints, and boy, do I have one for you. A joint from 1901. So, here I am on the east side of Bakersfield, California, right by the Southern Pacific Railroad. Now, from 1901 to 1935, this place was a lot of different joints, but since 1935, everybody in Bakersfield knows this place. This is the Pyrenees Cafe.

[00:03:20]Pyrenees is a landmark. The food here is incredible. Good flavors made from scratch right from home.

[00:03:26]>> And right from the BASP tradition, >> this oldworld menu has been a longtime staple here. So when Julie and Rod Crawford took over in 2014, they weren't about to change it.

[00:03:39]>> Bas food. Is it hard to explain that to people in Bakersfield?

[00:03:42]>> No. Everybody in Bakersfield gets it.

[00:03:43]It's hard to explain to the rest of the world.

[00:03:47]Traditionally, it is ethnic food that comes from the Basque region between France and Spain.

[00:03:52]>> And Frenchborn chef Gilbert Hernandez knows a thing or two about the Basque people.

[00:03:58]>> It was the best sheep herder.

[00:03:59]>> The best sheep herers.

[00:04:00]>> Oh yeah.

[00:04:00]>> People would ask the Basque to come to the United States to raise sheep. These are poor people.

[00:04:05]>> Yes.

[00:04:06]>> Living in the hills.

[00:04:07]>> Yes. With nothing. They used to make a meal.

[00:04:09]>> So they have to become creative and they use every part of the animal.

[00:04:14]You can get everything from the pickled tongue to soup or whatever the specials are for the day. Fried chicken ready.

[00:04:20]They're the best at it. It's really kind of a mainstay. It's not southern fried chicken by any stretch in the imagination. And I think the garlic just makes it something different. So, what are we going to make today, Chef? Fried garlic chicken. We're going to fry the garlic. We're going to fry the chicken.

[00:04:33]We're going to fry the chicken.

[00:04:34]>> Okay, let's go.

[00:04:35]>> All right.

[00:04:35]>> Little chickens.

[00:04:36]>> Yes. You just takes it right through. No question of where the joint is. That was a noookie. Now you're showing off.

[00:04:44]>> Now we're going to season the chicken.

[00:04:46]Salt, black pepper, garlic powder, chicken base, and we're going to put some uh fresh garlic.

[00:04:53]>> Okay. A lot of garlic. Bit of olive oil.

[00:04:57]>> Yes. You want to come? There we go.

[00:04:59]>> Perfect. Now, how long we going to let this marinate, chef?

[00:05:01]>> At least 2 hours.

[00:05:02]>> At least 2 hours.

[00:05:03]>> Yes. Then after we're going to put some buttermilk.

[00:05:08]And then after we d it in the flour, seasoning flour, black pepper and salt.

[00:05:13]>> That's it.

[00:05:14]>> That's it.

[00:05:15]>> We're not going to the fryer. We're going to this.

[00:05:17]>> Yes.

[00:05:18]>> This is the basque way of doing it because nobody in >> Exactly.

[00:05:21]>> Pyre Mountains had Okay. No. No.

[00:05:25]>> I like how he just takes his time. Just nice and easy. And how long do we cook it?

[00:05:31]>> 15 20 minutes. And >> what comes with this, chef? This come with the green beans and French fries.

[00:05:37]Here's the chicken.

[00:05:39]>> Very nice.

[00:05:43]>> What's in the garlic sauce?

[00:05:45]>> Fresh garlic with olive oil and a little bit butter and parsley. And here is your basket garlic chicken.

[00:05:56]The garlic on the outside is very strong, but the garlic and the flavor inside the chicken is what is really nice. It's tender. It's juicy. Lots of flavor. The crust on the chicken is great.

[00:06:09]I have restaurants called Johnny Garlics.

[00:06:11]>> I have one in Bakersfield. But if I was going to ever make fried garlic chicken, that would be the example. Outstanding.

[00:06:21]>> The garlic just hits you right away as soon as you bite into it. Probably don't want to have your first date after you eat it, but it's very, very good.

[00:06:30]>> The best chicken that you'll ever have.

[00:06:32]Even though it's rooted in humble beginnings, >> mask food is peasant food. Cuts of meat nobody wanted. And you had to figure out a way to make those meats flavorful and tasteful.

[00:06:43]If I lived in this town, this would be a place that I would visit at least once a week. I mean, it feels like I'm in an old Basque restaurant cuz I am.

[00:06:49]>> Mhm.

[00:06:50]>> And the food matches. It's delicious.

[00:06:52]Wonderful job.

[00:06:53]>> So, at Diners, Drives, and Dives, we have done over 1,500 locations in over 16 years. And there are really some legendary joints. I'm here in Memphis, Tennessee. Back in 2008, oh, I had my chicken world changed forever. Oh, check this guy out. Uncle Lou's.

[00:07:11]>> Here is your wing meal.

[00:07:13]>> I've been coming to Uncle Lou's for over 20 years. It's just one of my favorite places to eat fried chicken.

[00:07:18]>> Spicy chicken tenderloins going out with biscuits and a side.

[00:07:21]>> The guy been here. I know it's good.

[00:07:23]I've been eating it ever since.

[00:07:24]>> Just came to eat. Let's go.

[00:07:26]>> Uncle Lou, Mr. Lewis Martin. He's a one of a kind. If you meet him, you'll never forget him. That's for sure. I certainly didn't.

[00:07:32]>> Bingo.

[00:07:32]>> Uncle Lou, who opened this joint back in 2001, and his chicken definitely made an impression on me.

[00:07:40]>> Watch this, step.

[00:07:41]>> We're not talking about me falling.

[00:07:45]>> Actually, I think I slipped right here.

[00:07:52]Place looks good.

[00:07:53]>> Thank you.

[00:07:53]>> So, people could come in and just order up.

[00:07:55]>> That's correct. Bingo.

[00:07:57]>> Aren't you hot stuff? All right. So, what was it? 200 what? 2008.

[00:08:02]>> Mhm.

[00:08:03]>> Oh my gosh.

[00:08:04]>> This chicken is fresh. It's hot. And it's tasty.

[00:08:07]>> Now, who made this recipe?

[00:08:08]>> The bases came from my great-grandmother. Allp purpose flour, black pepper.

[00:08:12]>> What is this? A ratio of 2:1.

[00:08:14]>> Closer to like 3:1. Little salt. Got a little onion, a little garlic. Guess what the other one is?

[00:08:21]>> Cinnamon.

[00:08:21]>> Hey, that is a first. Okay. So, we just dredge. Oh, so this doesn't go in a wash or anything?

[00:08:26]>> No.

[00:08:27]>> And this is how your grandma did it?

[00:08:28]>> My great-grandmother. Do you dredge it to order?

[00:08:30]>> We do. Cook to order. You want to shake the excess off cuz we like to have a light coating.

[00:08:35]>> Thigh first, then the drum, then the breast.

[00:08:37]>> Wing.

[00:08:38]>> Oh, you're going to go wing, then the breast. That breast is even going to cook faster than that little wing.

[00:08:42]>> Bingo.

[00:08:42]>> And we play bingo.

[00:08:43]>> 12 minutes. Let me set the timer here.

[00:08:46]>> Good golden brown.

[00:08:47]>> Hey, guess who's dumb enough to take a bite of that right now?

[00:08:50]>> Nobody.

[00:08:51]>> Evidently, you haven't seen the show.

[00:08:54]>> That's Homestyle.

[00:08:55]>> Homestyle.

[00:08:57]>> That's good. Thank you. Good crunch.

[00:08:59]That's why we don't do the egg wash.

[00:09:00]>> You cook that chicken skin. That's that crunchy chicken skin that people like.

[00:09:04]>> I've been coming here probably about 19 years. I order the same chicken every time.

[00:09:09]>> Jumbo tenderloin. Sweet spice and love.

[00:09:12]What's the majority of the sales?

[00:09:13]>> Chicken tenderloins. Nothing else is even close.

[00:09:16]>> The tenderloins.

[00:09:17]>> Tenderloins.

[00:09:18]>> But you weren't doing tenderloins back then.

[00:09:20]>> I was doing them, but they wasn't a big thing.

[00:09:22]>> The tenderloins. They're juicy with a crunch.

[00:09:25]>> What do you marinate them in?

[00:09:26]>> Corruption. What? I mean, what what else is there? Corruption.

[00:09:30]>> Is there another sauce in life?

[00:09:32]>> Yeah.

[00:09:33]>> Our corruption season that I've had for almost 30 years. It's the base for everything. It's the foundation. It's called the corruption.

[00:09:40]>> Corruption. Once you've tasted it, you've been corrupted.

[00:09:42]>> Garlic, chili powder, or a CHILI POWDER.

[00:09:46]>> WOW. SALT. M.

[00:09:47]>> I love pepper. Is that pepper?

[00:09:49]>> It's got to be onion. Celery salt.

[00:09:50]That's the sugar. Lemon pepper.

[00:09:53]Smoke.

[00:09:54]>> Hickory smoke.

[00:09:56]All righty. We take a pound of corruption to a gallon of water. Go into the refrigerator for 48 hours. We take the jumbo chicken tenderloins and we dredge them in the flour. Then from here to the deep fryer. We let them sit and cook here for 5 minutes straight into the sweet spicy love. Is it like a barbecue sauce?

[00:10:12]>> No, it's more like a buffalo wing sauce.

[00:10:15]Then we pull them out of the deep end of the pool of flavor town.

[00:10:21]>> These are plump tenders.

[00:10:22]>> Oh yeah.

[00:10:22]>> This is got to be like a 50 lb chicken.

[00:10:24]The tenders are dynamite.

[00:10:27]>> I have your sweet spicy tenderloins hot with a biscuit.

[00:10:30]>> It's fresh chicken and it's juicy and it just has the best flavor.

[00:10:34]>> The corruption sauce. It's sweet. It's spicy. It's really good.

[00:10:38]>> All right, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Wow, man. You're close to getting a hug right now.

[00:10:44]>> I say this when I do Triple D. I'm going to send them to you. The Flavor Town Army is going to show up. Just be ready to handle them. And you have been spicy chicken tenderloins going out with biscuits on the side. When you come to Memphis, you have to go to Uncle Lou's.

[00:10:56]Everybody loves them and the food is off the charts.

[00:10:59]>> His sauce is completely different. It's sweet and spicy. It's just wonderful.

[00:11:03]>> So, think about every time you go on vacation and you try great food. Or think if you were a flight attendant and you flew all over the world and you got to taste all this incredible food. Think if you took all that information and came back and opened your own restaurant. I got a place where you could taste those travely experiences.

[00:11:19]If you're in Atlanta, Georgia, you got to check out Twisted Soul.

[00:11:25]Portoello stacked with dirty rice orzo.

[00:11:27]>> It's not necessarily your regular soul food.

[00:11:30]>> Candy salmon belly bacon. I come here just to get a bit of heaven.

[00:11:34]>> And the culinary angel is Deborah Vanrice who took off from being a flight attendant to landing her own restaurant.

[00:11:41]Someone didn't send a memo. We can't have two bleach blonds in this show.

[00:11:47]Although it looks better on you.

[00:11:48]Deborah's taken ideas from her travels around the world and created something unique.

[00:11:53]>> Now, what are we doing?

[00:11:54]>> Southern marinated fried chicken.

[00:11:56]>> Yeah, you know that means treadmill.

[00:11:58]>> The fried chicken is perfect from the crust all the way through to the bone.

[00:12:03]>> Now, we're going to put some salt in the mouth.

[00:12:05]>> Going to the south.

[00:12:06]>> What are we putting with it?

[00:12:07]>> Sweet potato apple chutney.

[00:12:08]>> Let's make it happen.

[00:12:09]>> Start with some butter, Granny Smith apples, lemon juice, fingerling sweet potatoes. Going to let all this goodness just simmer down together.

[00:12:17]>> Yeah. Simmer down.

[00:12:18]>> Simmer it down.

[00:12:20]>> Brown sugar.

[00:12:21]>> Little cinnamon.

[00:12:22]>> Little clove. A little ginger. Red peppers. Little apple cider.

[00:12:26]>> In the piece of resistance. A little golden raisins. And >> ginger infused bourbon.

[00:12:31]>> Ginger infused bourbon.

[00:12:33]>> It's bird time. Seasoning salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and a little black pepper.

[00:12:38]>> And how long is it going to hang out?

[00:12:40]>> 24 hours. Dredge it in flour and house seasoning.

[00:12:43]>> And then right from the judge to the cast iron.

[00:12:45]>> Yeah.

[00:12:45]>> Hit it. Don't babysit it. Now we're ready to assemble our collard green roll. Oil, garlic, cloves, onions, >> peppers and onions gore.

[00:12:53]>> We're going to mix the grains. Turn up.

[00:12:55]>> Turn it up.

[00:12:56]>> Mustard, collard, border, jalapenos, and then we've got celery salt, red pepper flakes, little paprika. Let that baby just simmer for about 2 3 hours.

[00:13:08]>> All right, sister. Let me see it.

[00:13:09]>> All right. Blanched collard greens.

[00:13:11]We'll try to get the big ones. Got a cooked green.

[00:13:14]>> Fold it up and get it done. Then these are going to sit there and steam a little bit.

[00:13:17]>> These are going to sit there >> get a little more tender.

[00:13:19]>> Yep. Now we're ready to plate the southern marinated fried chicken. First we got some mac and cheese, the collard green roll, sweet potato, apple chutney.

[00:13:29]Got our breast thigh on the side and the leg on the other side. And then guess what? Guess come on now.

[00:13:34]>> Collard green juice. The pot liquor.

[00:13:36]>> There you go.

[00:13:40]The jutney is dynamite. Love that little golden raisin texture at the end.

[00:13:47]Congratulations for wrecking collard greens for the rest of my life. That's mean.

[00:13:53]>> It's nasty. That's what it is.

[00:13:56]>> Yeah.

[00:13:56]>> I want to order a hundred of these.

[00:14:05]That just good oldfashioned honest fried chicken. Skin's nice and crispy. Holds a good crust. I understand more now.

[00:14:15]Watch Twisted Soul cuz there's already a band called Twisted Sister and that's what you are. You are one twisted Sister.

[00:14:24]>> Thank you.

[00:14:24]>> Well done.

[00:14:25]>> Southern marinated fried chicken. The chicken is juicy but crispy. The collard green rope has a little bite to it. It's a different twist, but it's wonderful.

[00:14:34]>> Bacon lettuce green tomato sandwich.

[00:14:36]>> If you want a good home-cooked meal, throw the tiss.

[00:14:39]>> She's the best.

[00:14:41]>> Well done, my sister. Thank you so much.

[00:14:44]>> Watch out for Twisted Sister at Twisted Soul. I'm here in Draper, Utah, about 25 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City. And you know, one of the things I always tell you on Triple D is a joint's got to have a character. It's got to have a story, and it's got to have real food for real people. And this joint's got all three. Wait till you hear the story.

[00:14:58]This is Sauce Boss Southern Kitchen.

[00:15:01]>> Catfish, okra in the window. Good solid southern food.

[00:15:04]>> Amazing flavor in every single bite.

[00:15:06]>> You need one fried green tomato.

[00:15:08]>> We have to go out of the state to get southern food, so this is kind of a hidden treasure. But chef and owner Julius Thompson had to travel a tough road before finding reward in this culinary gem.

[00:15:18]>> I grew up in homeless shelters on the street. Crack houses same with different family members. Unfortunately, a lot of them were addicted to drugs. They always had crack. And as a kid, I thought it was a pearl. The way they cherish it, the way they gave it all this attention during co I wrote my autobiography. Bro, >> that's awesome.

[00:15:31]>> So, I decided to name my book Pearls. As the pearls get to the center, they start to decay cuz that's what drugs do. They they decay you.

[00:15:36]>> Oh, it gives me goosebumps, man.

[00:15:37]>> As I got older, I decided I should do something I love to do, which is cook.

[00:15:40]take my pain and turn it into something palatable for other people when they visit my restaurant. Fried chicken, collar greens, gold to splender, table 9.

[00:15:47]>> I love the fried chicken. It's absolutely delicious.

[00:15:50]>> Collard greens. That's really hard to find in Utah. We've got the bacon. That just adds even more to it.

[00:15:55]>> What are we making today?

[00:15:56]>> The fried chicken. Okay. Allpurpose flour, lemon pepper, garlic, salt, seasoning salt, parsley, chili powder, and rosemary.

[00:16:04]>> A lot of rosemary from fried chicken.

[00:16:06]>> Sounded kind of doubtful.

[00:16:06]>> It is one of those polarizing herbs.

[00:16:08]>> I can agree with you on that. So, we got drums and thighs >> into the dredge.

[00:16:12]>> We dredge it in a mixture of egg and milk and back in the seasoned flour.

[00:16:16]>> And then we're going to let this rest for how long, chef?

[00:16:18]>> About 6 hours to overnight. And then drop it in the 350° fryer for 8 minutes.

[00:16:23]Now, we're going to make our collar greens. So, we got some bacon.

[00:16:25]>> That's a lot of bacon.

[00:16:26]>> Yeah. We get the whole bellies in from a place in Salt Lake and we uh cube it up how we want it.

[00:16:30]>> You have a smoker here.

[00:16:31]>> So, room floor smoker.

[00:16:32]>> Hey, where's my Camp Chef guys?

[00:16:34]Marketing director for Camp Chef.

[00:16:35]>> How you doing?

[00:16:36]>> Camp Chef is the bomb. We'll get you a little smoker. It's going to sit right there. Then you can make your own bacon.

[00:16:41]Then you can smoke your own ribs. Smoke your own chops.

[00:16:43]>> Do a lot of grilling. I've only smoked one time.

[00:16:45]>> You need a smoking, buddy, is what you need. Bacon rendered down. Now we add our onion garlic puree. Stir that in.

[00:16:51]That goes into the water.

[00:16:52]>> Boiling water. Ready to go.

[00:16:53]>> Exactly. Salt, pepper, brown sugar, butter, red wine vinegar. Once it starts boiling, we add the greens to it. How long are you going to let those go?

[00:17:00]>> 2 and 1/2, 3 hours.

[00:17:01]>> All right. We're going to do the mac and cheese. What to the cheese sauce?

[00:17:03]>> I saute some onion garlic puree, salt, and pepper. I add it to the heavy cream, parmesan cheese, and then cheddar cheese. We add it to the pan, and once the cheese sauce is hot, we add the pasta to it.

[00:17:13]>> Pre-cooked.

[00:17:14]>> Yeah.

[00:17:14]>> The pasta is going to heat up in the cheese sauce >> and finish.

[00:17:17]>> Next up, >> maple hot sauce. Butter, brown sugar, some maple syrup, and a hot sauce.

[00:17:22]>> I'll have a shot of that.

[00:17:23]>> We let it come to a boil for about 5 minutes, and then we bottle it.

[00:17:26]>> All right, we good to go.

[00:17:27]>> Got our thigh.

[00:17:28]>> It's a pterodactyl thigh.

[00:17:30]>> Mac and cheese.

[00:17:30]>> Yeah, we call it the golden splender.

[00:17:32]Collard greens, maple hot sauce.

[00:17:34]>> I don't know where to start. Here we go to greens.

[00:17:37]Dynamite. Tender. A lot of vinegar, but not too much. A lot of sugar, but not too much. That's a really good green, man.

[00:17:44]Delicious. The pasta should have some texture, but I don't want just this cheese and some other matter.

[00:17:50]>> Cheddar milkshake.

[00:17:51]>> Exactly. I'm a thigh guy. This is as big as my head.

[00:17:56]You've built so much flavor all the way through this. Crunchy, juicy chicken.

[00:18:01]That maple brown sugar hot sauce. That's legit. Delicious. Well done, chef.

[00:18:06]>> Thank you.