Baltimore’s Best Fried Chicken Restaurants

While Baltimore is best known for its Chesapeake Bay blue crabs, the city is hiding a culinary secret in plain sight: It is home to some of the best fried chicken in the country. Baltimore’s cuisine has always centered on seafood, but it’s a mistake to overlook the city’s diverse fried chicken joints, from an award-winning Asian fusion spot to a diner dedicated entirely to fried chicken. 

Maryland has long been known for its fried chicken, and Baltimore is ground zero for one of America’s favorite comfort foods. One of the earliest fried chicken recipes on record comes from a woman north of Baltimore named Martha Ogle Forman, who wrote about bringing fried chicken to a church picnic in 1832. Forman was known for cooking alongside her enslaved servants, who historians suggest likely shared cooking techniques of frying meat in oil.

Despite this early adaptation, fried chicken didn’t become a staple on local tables until the 20th century. “Chicken was valuable as a renewable resource for its eggs, so you would rarely sacrifice your laying hens for a meal. It was only served on special occasions in the wealthiest households,” says Joyce White, a Maryland food historian. Even Perdue, one of America’s largest poultry providers (headquartered in Maryland), began as an egg production company.

Fried chicken eventually became popular during The Great Migration when African Americans realized that it traveled well and could be eaten cold. Since Baltimore was a regional destination on the route, naturally fried chicken became one of the city’s culinary staples.

“Maryland’s strong folk traditions ensured its recipes were passed from generation to generation and disseminated to other regions,” says White. “Even Kentucky Fried Chicken has its roots in Maryland-based recipes.”

Baltimore’s fried chicken legacy lives on today through the countless chicken joints and corner marts that dot the city, serving up fried wings, breasts, and even chicken necks and gizzards. It’s a tradition that has found its way into convenience stores like Baltimore-based Royal Farms, a chain synonymous with its fried chicken, and onto the menus of some of the city’s most highly trained chefs. In Baltimore, you can find a battered bird on nearly every menu. Here’s where to dig in. 

Ekiben

What started as a hot dog cart at the Fell’s Point Farmers Market in 2014 has morphed into one of Baltimore’s most beloved restaurants. Owned by former college classmates Steve Chu and Ephrem Abebe, Ekiben draws on their Asian and Ethiopian roots for the restaurant’s eclectic menu of curried fried chicken, seafood, and tempura-battered vegetables.

Chu, a James Beard Award semifinalist, grew up working in his parent’s Chinese restaurant and later trained under chefs Cindy Wolf and Harold Dieterle. His precise focus on flavor and texture, and a desire to create a casual, community-focused restaurant led to Ekiben, named for the convenient, bento box meals popular in Japan.

“There’s nothing serious about our cuisine except the execution,” Chu says. The bestseller is the neighborhood bird, a tender chicken thigh dredged in a blend of aromatics and spices, the majority of which are imported from Abebe’s native Ethiopia. The heavily seasoned bird is fried, then enveloped in a pillowy soft bao bun and topped with a spicy sambal mayo, pickles, and fresh herbs, resulting in a surprising blend of flavors.

“The crispy, juicy chicken lends itself to the soft bao bun for a serious textural contrast; it’s the perfect combination,” Chu says. Ekiben has expanded from its original storefront to include two more locations in the city and a stand inside Camden Yards ballpark. 

Royal Farms

One of America’s favorite convenience stores is also one of the city’s best spots for fried chicken takeout. Headquartered in Baltimore, Royal Farms began serving fried chicken in the 1980s, as convenience stores met the demand for hot food on the go. Royal Farms’ chicken has reached cult-like status in Maryland, where there are almost 150 stores, 13 in Baltimore city.

Royal Farms only uses fresh, never frozen chicken, pressure-cooked in small batches. The lightly seasoned bird has a salty finish and a golden, crunchy exterior that manages to be juicy without any grease. A side of Royal Farms’ hand-cut western fries, pressure cooked in the same oil as the chicken, is the only accompaniment needed. 

Bunny’s Buckets & Bubbles

Opened in 2023 in Baltimore’s Fells Point neighborhood, Bunny’s is the brainchild of Top Chef alum Jesse Sandlin. The retro-inspired diner is a tribute to Sandlin’s two favorite things: fried chicken and Champagne, a combination she says brings out the best in each of them.

“Champagne and anything fried is classic, since the bubbles and creaminess go really well together and help balance the salinity of fried food,” Sandlin says. Bunny’s menu is packed with Southern-inspired comfort food, and the main event is the hand-drenched and fried bird, served whole by the bucket or in sandwiches and over waffles. Sandlin trained under James Beard Award-winning chef Cindy Wolf, whom she credits for teaching her about quality, and it shows in Bunny’s two-step preparation.

Chicken at Bunny’s is pre-floured in gluten-free rice flour and cornstarch, before it is seasoned with salt, pepper, and cayenne. The chicken hydrates before being dredged a second time then fried, the result of which is an exacting crunch with a bit of heat on the back end. The chicken is served with biscuits, pickles, and honey butter, and can be paired with six housemade dipping sauces. 

Park’s Fried Chicken

Since 1978, Park’s Fried Chicken has been serving its highly seasoned deep fried birds from a location inside Lexington Market, one of the nation’s oldest continually operating food markets. In 2022, Park’s expanded to a storefront across the street, a move that hasn’t deterred locals from lining up as early as 6 a.m. for its sandwiches and crispy fried breasts, wings, and thighs. Park’s doesn’t shy away from selling every part of the chicken fried, from gizzards and livers to chicken necks. The birds are dredged in seasoned flour before being fried extra crispy, resulting in a thicker crust with a satisfying crunch. Park’s is a no-frills, family-owned restaurant that after almost 50 years, maintains its status as one of Baltimore’s most beloved chicken shops.