There is no mistake Baton Rouge is the epicenter of fried chicken.
After all, Popeye and Raging Cane famously originated in Louisiana. But there is one place in the city that has been around longer than these stores. It’s a chicken shack.
We headed to the historic Capital City Restaurant. 225This is the latest episode of the “Between the Lines” series.
Founded in 1937, the now-legendary chicken shop began as a sweets shop called Suburban Ice Cream Parlor. Until Thomas Delpit, the restaurant’s owner and founder, brought in his signature fried chicken.
His chicken is made differently than most other chicken shops, and that’s still the case. Chicken Shack starts with a wet batter, but instead of adding breadcrumbs or flakes like most chicken shops, they toss the battered chicken directly into the oil.
As a result, the juicy chicken that comes out of the fryer has a cake-like, flaky texture.
In addition to chicken, Chicken Shack also offers a variety of sides and other dishes, including cornbread dressing, red beans, meatloaf, and potato salad.
To keep customers informed about the regularly changing menu, Chicken Shack manager Troy Carter came up with an original idea about 20 years ago. He began recording his messages for a new daily outgoing voicemail explaining the day’s menu.
“At first I just dropped the regular menu. One day I thought, ‘A thousand people call me here every day.’ So I decided to start leaving some encouragement at the end. “I did,” Carter says.
Voicemails now include a menu, followed by PS messages ranging from blessings and prayers to words of encouragement to the community. Carter will update the message to Chicken Shack’s North Acadian Thruway location daily at 5 p.m. Dial 225-383-0940 to ask.
For now, Chicken Shack owners plan to keep things as they have been for decades. They don’t see the need to add a social media presence or another location. They are happy with the role they play in the community.
“We do whatever we can to help. Maybe after school they say, ‘These kids are here, we have to feed them this afternoon.’ We just jump in and sometimes pay out of pocket,” Carter said.
Perhaps that’s part of the reason why the Chicken Shack method has been tried but never replicated.
To learn more about the history of Chicken Shack and its “knuckle-suckin’ good” recipes, check out the latest episode of Between the Lines here.
