BachelorontheCheap.com
Out of all the comfort food meal possibilities you can order in a restaurant, I would have to say that chicken fried steak is my favorite. C'mon, tender steak that's been breaded and fried (like chicken, hence the name...), you can't get much more guilty pleasure comfort food satisfying than that! The sides play a HUGE sidekick role in the meal bliss as well, the steak HAS to be paired with mashed potatoes w/gravy and fried okra. There are no substitutes.
With my favorite comfort food in mind, I dined at the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in Wichita today. I've had my fair share of chicken fried steak dinners over the years and Cracker Barrel consistently cranks out one of the best. They call it "Country" Fried Steak rather than Chicken Fried Steak, and there's a reason it's a top-selling menu item year after year.
Arriving at about 11:30 am for a Friday lunch, the parking lot was packed. I was surprised the wait was only five minutes, even for a table of one. After being seated, I was soon warmly greeted by Katie, she was wearing a big smile and promptly delivered a cup of coffee with creamer then took my order.
While my meal was being prepared, I killed time posting a Cracker Barrel Store pic on Facebook, a beverage cup that puts a nice spin on "You can't fix stupid." It would be a timely springtime gift for someone I know in Valley Center.
It didn't take long at all for my chicken fried steak to arrive and Katie was still wearing that big smile. The plate visual did its job of being appealing to the eye and I couldn't wait to dig in.
After buttering up the biscuit, I took the first bite of steak, it was tender, seasoned well and the coating delivered a nice fried crunch. The sawmill gravy was creamy with a perfect amount of black pepper flavor. The mashed potatoes were fluffy, rich, and buttery. Last but definitely not least, the okra had a flawless fry, and each bite was a delight (see what I did there with the rhyme? Poet & didn't know it, give me a dime for my rhyme...). The best part and kudos to the cook is I didn't have to doctor my plate, there was no shaking of table salt, no added pepper, and no condiment required. The only doctoring I did was put some butter on that biscuit. The entire meal was perfectly seasoned.
Costing me about $15 for coffee and the meal, I'm giving Cracker Barrel's Country Fried Steak 5 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars. It's a chicken fried steak meal that's tough to beat. If Cracker Barrel isn't already on your shortlist for this great comfort food dish, it should be, it's most definitely worthy of a repeat buy. Take a seat at Cracker Barrel, its Comfort Food City.
$pend Wisely My Friends...
~ Mike