Fried Chicken Toronto

The Best Fried Chicken in Toronto

The best fried chicken in Toronto marries a juicy, tender interior with the type of golden, crunchy coating that collides with your teeth and showers you with savoury fried batter shards. Delectable as an appetizer, snack or meal, it's a dish worth seeking out in its finest forms.

Here's the best fried chicken in Toronto.


Ding-a-Wing
1

Ding-a-Wing

Ordering fried chicken — in sandwich, wing, strip or boneless nugget form — is the move to make at this casual Roncesvalles Village restaurant. Buttermilk brined, seasoned with lemon, smoked paprika and thyme, each piece needs little more than a side of honey dill (aka, Manitoba) sauce to feel complete.

Chica's Nashville Hot Chicken
2

Chica's Nashville Hot Chicken

Dry-brined, halal, free-run chickens morph into deeply seasoned, crispy, fried-to-order meals at this spot with locations in the Junction and the Annex. Order a sandwich, box of pieces or bites. Then, advertise to the room just how brave you feel, with an order of plain, mild, medium or Hot AF.


PG Clucks
3

PG Clucks

Chicken surrenders to a 24-hour lemon herb brine, followed by a buttermilk soak, then a double dredge on its way from kitchen to your mouth at this local spot, in Little Italy and West Queen West. Quiet cravings with sandwiches or pieces, in regular or Nashville hot, sided by house-made sauces and sides.

Tokyo Hot Fried Chicken
4

Tokyo Hot Fried Chicken

Japanese street food meets Nashville hot chicken at this unique pop-up inside Little Italy's Come See Me bar. Wolfed down with a beer, alongside a reassuring pile of napkins, few things gratify quite like a fried chicken sampler (with sweet garlic, spicy sesame, and smoky okonomiyaki flavours), or a sandwich — be it the Tokyo, Nashville hot or ice cream-topped Nashville ice.


Chen Chen's Nashville Hot Chicken
5

Chen Chen's Nashville Hot Chicken

Find southern comfort (or anguish, if you opt for ghost pepper-laced Poultrygeist powder) at this tiny West Queen West shop. If you still have functioning taste buds, pair your order with mac and cheese, Nashville hot elote and other soul-food sides.


Knockout Chicken
6

Knockout Chicken

There's no shortage of golden-fried chicken variations at this casual Kensington Market restaurant. From wings and bone-in pieces to traditional sandwiches and those boasting outlandish toppings (Swiss cheese and curry habanero sauce, anyone?) each moist, crunchy, halal poultry piece remains the main attraction.

Chick-N-Joy
7

Chick-N-Joy

For more than 50 years, this local chain has been doling out happiness masquerading as classic fried chicken and sides. Lightly seasoned, crunchy and golden brown, chicken here is served in sandwiches or combo boxes nestled up to a hefty pile of hand-cut, seasoned fries.


Birdies Fried Chicken
8

Birdies Fried Chicken

A Little India take-out joint, this spot serves the same buttermilk-brined, hand-breaded chicken as the team's popular food truck — Fully Loaded TO. In original or Nashville hot, tenders, wings and drums are guaranteed to slick your lips with oil as they leave a smattering of brittle, honey-hued, savoury flakes covering everything in sight.

Juicy Birds
9

Juicy Birds

Add "crispy" to this local chain's name and you'd tidily sum up the offerings inside. On the Danforth and in Etobicoke, customers settle in for gloriously light and tender seasoned chicken sandwiches, thighs, tenders, bites and wings. From Burnin' to No Heat, there's a spice level for spunky types and the sage folks who love them.

Photos by

Fareen Karim at Birdies


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The Best Fried Chicken in Toronto

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