Poll-oh Boy! A Visit to Amigo Joe's Chicken

Ian Froeb

​It was sometime last summer when I first noticed the sign along Hampton Avenue advertising Amigo Joe's "American Fried Chicken" restaurant. Now, you rarely see "American" added to the name of a fried chicken joint. It's redundant. Here, though, it made sense: Amigo Joe's is a Mexican restaurant. Intrigued by the sign -- especially its cartoon chicken logo -- I made a note to return.

Yesterday, finally, I did.

Ian Froeb

​Amigo Joe's Chicken is located next-door to its namesake restaurant. It's a single room, with chicken-related décor and a pleasant earth-tone color scheme. The menu is fried chicken and sides, period. The chicken is available as a two-, three- or four-piece meal, each with two sides and a biscuit, or in eight- or twelve-piece packages (with three sides and four biscuits).

The chicken is prepared in a pressure cooker. The batter is crisp, if a touch crumbly in spots, simply seasoned with salt and pepper and a hint of mild heat. The meat is moist and agreeably greasy. Overall, I'd rate the chicken fairly highly. Not as good as Porter's Fried Chicken, but better than such standbys as Hodak's.

The sides I tried, baked beans and corn, were decent. The beans' sauce was sweet but had enough of a tang to keep that sweetness from becoming cloying. The corn was standard-issue.

Amigo Joe's Chicken is open from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Amigo Joe's Chicken
5901 Southwest Avenue
314-645-1995