Italian, Seafood and Fried Chicken??

Chicken so good it’ll make you want to slap yo’ mama!

Down on lower Decatur street lies a true conundrum, an Italian restaurant that features seafood but whose claim to fame is Fried Chicken?  Well that would be Fiorella’s!  And I must say…is it ever finger lickin’ good.  The Colonel should bow down to the General of chicken.  First…I had long ago heard of the legend of Fiorella’s fried chicken…the name is legendary in the Quarter and surrounding environs.  But…there are just so many places and I am a creature of habit and of little pay.  I don’t go “out” to eat often.  But a friend was in town, we were at the French Market and I suggested Fiorella’s.  We perused the menu which served up a panoply of options from Cajun to seafood to traditional Italian and fried chicken. She had the fried shrimp platter which was quite yummy.  I ordered the Combo Chicken plate (two pieces white, two pieces dark) which came with a choice of sides.  I chose the mashed potatoes with an amazing, savory dark brown gravy, of which I am still dreaming.

Then the chicken!  I picked up one chicken breast and it was slightly larger than my fist.  But I quickly put it down because I realized the other breast was one-and-a-half times larger!  When I bit in to it it was hot, juicy, and the breading used was indescribably delicious.  Whatever their “secret recipe” consists of is just that kind of taste that makes you want to take another bite before you’ve swallowed the first.  To top it off, the piece I ate was so big I could only finish that one.  The other three and half of the potatoes went into a box and were greedily consumed the next day.

The prices there are totally reasonable floating around French Quarter standards.  The seating and decor are nautically themed and they also have seating on the sidewalk where you can sit, eat, drink and watch the Quarter go by.  They’re on 1136 Decatur Street right on the “front-side” of the French Market.  They are currently closed Tuesday and Wednesday but that may only be for summer hours.

If you got a hankerin’ for some amazing down-home fried chicken, beat feet to Fiorella’s.