Ready to read about a Jacksonville Restaurant staple? If so, read on because this place is loved by most and I figured I would head over and try it out and see if the hype is warranted. I was told that I absolutely have to try the fried chicken (of course!) and there is a much heated debate about the creamed peas…who will I side with? After the Restaurant Review slide show below, I break it down for you:
4132 Atlantic Blvd
Jacksonville, FL 32207
(904) 398-7980
Location: Don’t let the name fool you, it’s not on Beach Blvd. It’s on Atlantic Blvd right by the Hart Expressway.
Food: When I mentioned that I was going to head over to Beach Road Chicken (I had a Living Social deal burning a hole in my pocket), everyone said to go with the fried chicken meal. So, that’s what was I was going to try out. I mean, you don’t go to a place with “chicken” in their name and try fish…right?
This is how old school this place is, the menu is under plexiglass ON your table. This might be for a couple of reasons. It could be because your hands are going to get so greasy that they don’t want you to ruin them or maybe it’s so you can peruse the menu while you are eating? Either way, just one thing less that is handed to me dirty (check out my review of Cantina Laredo). I’m ok with this decision/practice. I went ahead and ordered 4 Piece Chicken Dinner $9.30 (Menu Description: 4 pieces of chicken, french fries, cream peas, cole slaw, 3 biscuits and gravy). The one thing missing from my pictures are the fries. They came out later because they were making sure they were hot, and by then I had already started eating and didn’t want to touch the camera.
Immediately they brought out my sweet tea and cole slaw. I was really expecting the sweet tea to be over the top sweet. You know, the kind that makes your jaw hurt and you realize you just drank your way into diabetes? Their sweet tea was subtle and you could actually taste the TEA, crazy huh? I tried out the cole slaw but I’m not a big fan of cole slaw to begin with. So, it’s just cole slaw to me.
After a few minutes, the waitress brings out all the food (except the fries) on one arm. Not on a big tray or anything. This was stacked all the way up her arm and the food was hot. She must have not had any feeling in her arm, I don’t know how she did that. One thing that caught me off guard was the bowl of gravy lol. I wasn’t expecting a whole bowl of it! But I’m glad they did because everything was getting dipped in that bowl. From fries, to chicken to the biscuits. It all got dipped. The gravy was good and hot and didn’t form that disgusting skin that some do. That might have been because I was constantly dipping and didn’t give it a chance?
The chicken was awesome. I’m always a little nervous that the chicken isn’t going to be cooked all the way through, but this place (oldest restaurant in Jax) knows what they are doing. No pinkness and no odd juices that make you apprehensive. The skin was perfectly cooked and had some great flavor. I really liked it. I give the chicken an A+.
Ok, the one thing that may annoy you, if you have been here before, is that I don’t like the creamed peas. I have found that people either LOVE them or HATE them. I think I’m a HATE them guy. It’s probably the texture but I just felt like I was eating a bowl of paste with peas in it. Kind of tasteless mush. I will pass on these in the future.
The biscuits were awesome. Definitely homemade and they were super warm and had a great crunchy bottom but not burnt at all. I put a little chicken skin in them and then dipped them in the gravy. It was heaven.
Extra: If you are going here expecting great ambiance or some high end place, then this place isn’t for you. This is a great place to get some comfort food without all the frills. And you will/should leave with a full stomach because ALL of the sides (not chicken) are unlimited. They will keep it coming until you tell them to stop. The great food and the value is what has turned this place into a Jacksonville institution. Everyone should try this out and take their kids. It is kid friendly too, let the little kids have at it.
The Good:
– Awesome Fried Chicken
– Unlimited Sides
– Peach cobbler was crunchy and homemade
– Good sweet tea if you don’t want diabetes
– Locally owned
The Bad:
– The dinner is only $9.30, that’s bad, because that is awesome value and I will now go here a lot haha
– That’s all, nothing bad to say…unless you want me to talk about the famous creamed peas :/