I finally gave Cluck and Cleaver a try - fried chicken is a weakness and I try and limit myself to it every 3 months or so. Chicken on the Way is my usual haunt, so I had a specific goal of benchmarking against that to see if I have a new and improved place to go to.
Chicken was good. Good crunch - a more thick batter than COTW. More juicy than greasy, thought it still had enough of the latter to make you reach for the Lipitor. Spicing was good, not too salty. Overall I would have to give a slight edge in the Chicken to C&C. (like a 8.5 vs an 8)
Fries were excellent, crisp and salted well. Advantage C&C. (8.0 vs 7.0) Gravy was a little bland to me, could have used a little more spice or salt.
Overall one noticable improvement over CoC is that fries are in a separate uncovered container so the steam from them does not soggify the chicken. That and the larger box at C&C conspire to make for a less soggy chicken after a 15 minute car ride home. No small detail considering both places are take-out driven.
But here's where C&C fails miserably - value. My ordering at C&C was meant to replicate a favorite of mine at COTW - the Hungryman Dinner (5 pcs, 2 fritters, fries, gravy). Price of this at COTW -
$12.50
Price at C&C
5 pcs - $12
Med Fries $3.5
1 butternilk biscuit - $2.25
Sm Gravy $1.75
Tip $2.00 (they were rather obvious about this...)
Total =
$21.50
So was C&C better? Yes. Was it 70% better? No. It'll be a fun alternative once in a while but I'll probably stick with COTW. That and my lounge pass to the basement...
