i really appreciate a good salad bar! it doesnt have 2 have a lot of items in it but i just need some good basics & t his place had it! wooo hoooo! i tried the buffalo wings wich have received great reviews and i agree with them! chicken had great flavor! i would def come back for these wings! my friend had their famous fried chicken & she wasnt that impressed by it. she said it was good but she expected more cuz of all the great reviews about this place!
Review Source:I couldn't be a bigger fan of the chicken. I was in the area twice for work. The first time I used yelp to find a good restaurant by my hotel; the second time I sought this place out. It has a great vintage charm to it.
Also, the beer specials were just ... Wow. Hamm's the first time I was there and Busch the second time. I, of course, took advantage.
We've been going to Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket since I was a wee lad, and went there today for Easter dinner in the mid-afternoon. We had reservations, and my mother in law was told that if we didn't show up as scheduled within 10 minutes, our reservation would be canceled and we'd be put at the end of the orders. Luckily, we arrived ahead of time, and were promptly seated. The server was friendly, quick, and visited us more times that I can remember during our stay. I drink a lot of water with my meals, and she must have filled my glass 4-5 times, along with others in our party. I had the chicken fried chicken which was delicious. Probably the best I've ever had. My entre' came with mashed potatoes, corn on a the cob, and country gravy. Everyone else had various items from the menu, and said that they were very satisfied also. It used to be the best chicken was from White Fence Farm in Romeoville, but Chicken Basket is over the top. The motif looks like it hasn't been decorated since the 1950's, but it's clean and neat. Everyone there was friendly, and I even purchased a T-shirt on my way out after dinner. I just wish we'd go here more often, but their prices seemed to go higher each time we had visited. Worth it, glad we went there!
Review Source:My boyfriend and I went to chicken basket on 12/16/12 with a groupon I had purchased. We knew about the place because it was on Diners Drive ins and Dives. Â Sometimes when you mention you have a groupon, the waitress seems to not like you anymore but this was not the case here. The service was awesome everyone was so nice and friendly... From the guy who sat us, to our waitress and even the food runner. I'd honestly just go back because of the amazing service. The soup and salad bar is right on. I love a good salad and they have all the fixings you'd want. The chicken dumpling soup was so good. By the time our fried chicken dinners came we were already so full, but the chicken is so tasty!!! The breading on it isn't crunchy but it also isnt soft I loved it!!! We finished with a ghiradelli brownie dessert which did not disappoint either. I loved chicken basket and have enough left overs for a full meal today! I really recommend this place.
Review Source:Not great. Â I went into it so optimistic too. Â
It's a clean place, kinda boring decor.
We ordered corn fritters, mac n cheese balls, gizzards, and the chicken basket.  We kept hoping for a better sampling after tasting each dish.  The mac n cheese itself was nothing special, good crisp on the outside tho.  The gizzards -- I tried one, and almost lost it -- not because of anything they did, just because it's a gizzard.  I didn't order it, my friend took those home with her.  I was pretty excited about the corn fritters only to be disappointed by a doughy ball with only a few corn kernels inside, dusted with powdered sugar.  Those also went home with her.  The chicken could've been the saving grace here, and we were so hopeful.  I rarely eat fried chicken and it wasn't even worth a cheat day.  Jewel or Browns blow Dell Rhea's away IMO.  Not crispy or crunchy just weird with a kind of  chewy breading or batter or something.  Almost seems like cornmeal, instead of flour.  The chicken itself wasn't great either, it had kind of a weird after taste.  I ate one leg and nibbled on a thigh, threw it all in a take home container and made my husband eat it for dinner later.
Really like fried chicken......this was different. I was super excited to go because I saw the place on DD&D and another tv show. I thought the food was pretty good but I expected the chicken to be better. The mashed potatoes and biscuits where my favorite. I think the mini salad/soup bar is worth it.
Follow directions because it is in the middle of factory looking businesses.
So after years of driving past on 55 I finally decided to stop in and try it. The chicken definitely lived up to the hype. I normally like a more southern style peppery fried chicken and I knew going in that I would not get that here. However, I was very pleasantly superised. It's no secret that the main seasoning is salt, but it is not overpowering. The chicken has a great bite. Very juicy and the breading sticks nicely to the meat when bit through, not riping off as one whole piece. Very close to what I had as a child. For appetizers we got the corn fritters which were very good and an ample portion for under $4. I'm not a big fan of salad bars but it came with the dinner and seemed clean and my salad was fresh.
The service was slightly lacking. Not everyone in our party got the soup and salad bar and we had to remind the waitress we ordered soup. She only checked on us once the entire time we were there and we had already finished most of our meals. Our appetizer and entrees came out in a timely manner though. It was a pretty busy night and the waitress was very nice so this really didn't ruin our experience.
Definitely will be returning.
My boyfriend LOVES fried chicken. I don't really understand the obsession, but I'm a supportive girlfriend and I'm always willing to stop at these places and try out their chicken. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. Dell Rhea's fried chicken was fantastic. The breading is really delicious and the chicken is super juicy inside. We also had their caramel walnut apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yummy!! We will most likely be visiting this place every time we drive back home from Peoria!
Review Source:Could not wait to go after I saw it on DDD on Food Network and as soon as I mentioned it there was a Groupon. I love the food and the service. Or waitress was so nice. We went on a Sun evening, and it was crowded but no wait for a table. The buffalo wings were good and piping hot. The chicken was super moist and I really liked how the breading was different but good. The brownie sundae was too much after all that food so we ate the ice cream and took the brownie home. Will definitely be going back. So off the beaten path but was very memorable...
Review Source:Hands down, the best fried chicken ever.
The breading is unique, not quite the bread crumb style, not quite the egg wash and flour type.... but AMAZING.
Chicken is always juicy and perfectly done. Not a lot of spice in the chicken lets you really get a lot of chicken flavor ( or just douse it in hot sauce if you're a spice junky)
The biscuits and sides are also top notch.
Although everything my friends have ordered has looked amazing I can't say much about it because I can't get past this chicken.
One of my favorite foods is fried chicken. Had suggested to my wife we try this restaurant and which we did that for the first time this evening. Having read some of the reviews and having wanted to try this restaurant I was expecting to be disappointed. When the chicked was delivered to our table and I had my first bite, I was surprised. Not only was I not disappointed, the taste was better than expected. The chicken is marinated for 24 hours which likely explains why the wonderful taste carries all the way through the chicken unlike most where the flavor is largely on the outside. The chicken is fried after you order it so it will take a little longert than other restaurants, but it is well worth the wait. The meat is moist while not greasy which is quite a feat.
Fortunately because of the large size of the pieces of chicken, we were able to bring home left overs which means another tasty dinner awaits us tomorrow. If you like chicken, you should consider this restaurant. Our plans are to return even though it is further than we normally drive.
Quite possibly the best fried chicken I've ever had! Go on Thursdays during lunch and get the buffet! Their wings are just as amazing as the fried chicken. Hell the pizza is just as amazing! The mashed potatoes are just like grandma's...same as the mac and cheese (ordering it when its not at the buffet is better, but still very good during buffet).
Review Source:I expected this place to have great chicken. I didn't expect my southern born and raised husband to say it's the best damn fried chicken he has ever eaten, but he did. Simply put, coming here and not ordering fried chicken is like showing up to church in a cloud of glitter and goldfish in your six inch heels, just wrong.
As an appetizer we order a buffalo chicken pastry puff, which was unique and tasty. I was also really impressed by the soups available at the salad bar. I ordered the jalapeno bacon mac and cheese and was honestly not impressed. I know now to stick with the chicken.
I look forward to trying their wings next time as this place has made the "must stop" list for every Chicago trip.
Hands down the best fried chicken I've ever had! Â My husband and I both had the chicken baskets (all white meat) and the chicken was cooked to perfection. Â it wasn't greasy at all and the breading on it was just right. Â The cole slaw was amazing as well. I'm not usually a huge cole slaw lover, but Dell Rhea's is great!
I'll definitely go back!
It's been almost 21 years since I stepped foot in this place and that was after an afternoon of drinking it up with my buddies.
We had a Living Social coupon for here and decided to use it yesterday. Â To the reviewer who was complaining about this, the rules are very clearly marked, so not sure what your issue is but they are not good on Saturday's and since we followed those instructions, we had not one problem using our coupon on a Sunday.
We ordered up a couple of starters, an order of Vesuvio Wings and an order of the Corn Fritters. Â Big thumbs up on the wings. Â They were good sized (not teeny) and the vesuvio sauce was really really good. Â The fritters, well, they are quite large and doughy and unfortunately we were comparing them directly to the ones you get (for free) at White Fence Farm (WFF) down ole' Route 66 (now I-55) and they just weren't as good.
Two of us just got the Chicken Basket (1/2 chicken, fries and coleslaw). Â We didn't see the advantage of paying an additional $5 for the salad bar which looked extremely tiny and not that appetizing. Â Nana got the chicken Pot Pie and Papa got the Sautee'd Chicken Livers. Â There's not much of a kid's menu beyond chicken and chicken tenders so we originally ordered a Cheese Pizza off the starters menu. Â Unfortunately my son is very finicky when it comes to his breading and we already knew he wasn't going to be a fan of theirs. Â Server came back and said that they were all out of this (sad trombone). Â So we went with an order of mac 'n cheese which is an adult order.
Chicken came out so hot that it took almost 10 minutes for us to have it cool off to make it edible. Â This is NOT a bad thing because the chicken itself is fantastic. Â Yes, the breading/coating is different, but I'd hardly call it "shake and bake" like many of the detractors below. Â First of all these pieces are bigger than WFF and were far more juicy and flavorful. Â Fries were just regular and nothing that stands out. Â I still thought it was a good deal for what you got.
Chicken Livers were great according to my dad. Â they were not overcooked and dry and he really enjoyed the onions that came with them as well. Â Nana's Pot Pie was huge and full of large chicken pieces, carrots, peas and onions. Â She really like it a lot. Â Thankfully my son's mac 'n cheese was also very creamy and good.
We skipped on the desserts as we were all too full. Â I'm not sure what my final verdict is here. Â It was good, it was tasty but it does seem like one of those places everyone goes to because of the memories (like WFF). Â We didn't vary too much on the menu so alas, i can't vouch for the other things that are available. Â Solid 3 - 3 1/2 stars here, but tough to give it the full 4 stars.
My parents have been bringing us to this restaurant for as long as I can remember! Â They cannot get enough of the atmosphere and fried chicken. Â Dell Rhea's is known for their fried chicken so you have to try it if you go! Â
There is also have a really good soup and salad bar that comes with most dinner items. Â It isn't the biggest salad bar in the world but it has a nice mix of things and everything is always fresh! Â They bring a huge basket of homemade biscuits to the table and those are really good! Â They also have a mac and cheese entree on the menu which is really good.
Overall, I would give the fried chicken alone a 4 star review. Â It is fried when the chicken is fresh - they claim the chicken is never frozen and I assume that is why it has such a good flavor. Â But, I took away one star for some other things on the menu that we recently tried. Â
My entire family met up there on a Saturday night. Â My husband and I were cutting out carbs for lent so we opted for different non fried chicken items. Â Do not do this!! Â Do not go here if you don't eat carbs and if you do, don't be dumb like us - stick to what this place is know for ... fried chicken. Â I had the roasted chicken and it was very bland and boring. Â I felt like the chicken was boiled, although; my sister insisted it was not. Â My husband had the chicken breast plate and it was just one little sad chicken breast with no flavoring (for same price as fried chicken meal). Â Kinda upsetting since we knew how good the fried chicken would be but opted to stick to our no carb lifestyle for lent! Â
Prices here are good ... if you check this place out just stick to the fried chicken, salad bar and mac and cheese!
Yes I know a buh-jillion people have reviewed it, and that crazy blond spike haired guy had it on his TV show.
I just want to say I had the baked macaroni & cheese with jalapenos and bacon, and it was super savory and yummy. Â The portion is giant, and it was just as good heated up at work for lunch the next day. Â The corn fritters were super tasty as well. Â
Not sure about some of the other comments regarding service issues, but we were there on a Thursday night with a group of friends, and received excellent and attentive service.
This place has some good chicken. Â I enjoy the crunchy coating and not overpowering tast of seasoning on it. Â If you are really hungry, they do have an all you can eat buffet on the weekdays. Â
The mac n' cheese is divine. Â It is very creamy, and not greasy.
I wish I could give the place more stars, but I have to say the staff is a bit unprofessional. Â In a crowded dining room they were shouting back and forth to each other, and I even heard one server make a demeaning comment to a hispanic bus boy. Â Even if you are kidding miss, it is all about perception.
The table that we were seated at was right next to the door to the kitchen, so it was very loud, and the legs on our table were apparently uneven, so they had propped it up with cardboard or something. Â I know its all about nostalgia, but this place could use some tlc.
Y'know, I've heard of this place off and on since the '60s, but never managed to find my way there. I was in Willowbrook, consulting my GPS for places to eat, and Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket came up. What the heck, I thought I'd give it a try.
Wow. The chicken pot pie is to die for. It's obviously not out of a package; the glaze on the crust is uneven, the chunks of chicken are all different sizes, and there was a carrot piece the size of a golf ball. It was WONDERFUL. This is not your go-to-grocery-store frozen chicken pot pie; this is probably as good (maybe even better, depending on your mom) as your mom used to make. The kind of pie I dream about.
I may never be able to eat a chain-restaurant chicken pot pie again, but that's probably a good thing. And have I mentioned the biscuits? Again, these are NOT packaged biscuits; they're fresh, made on the scene, and HOT when they arrive at the table. As good as mine (which are awesome, if I do say so myself), and amazing that a restaurant still does this sort of thing.
I wish I hadn't been too stuffed to try the pies, which looked fantastic, and, again, are not some packaged monstrosity. I'll make sure to try the pie the next time I go. And there will definitely be a next time.
Dell Rhea's chicken basket may be a blast from the past, but it's one that holds up well against current standards. Set your GPS (you will probably need it) and go. Don't panic when you find yourself winding through an office park; it's there. Definitely worth the trip.
OK, the chicken is good...really good. Â My husband & I ordered the Fried Chicken Dinners. Â I loved the crispy crust and the flavor and it was super-juicy...but the salad bar, the sides, the service...all mediocre. Â I think for a salad bar, there were limited offerings (pretty standard fare--lettuce, toppings, dressings, soup, a couple of other salads & cottage cheese). Â And the mashed potatoes were lukewarm and the gravy was blah. Â The green beans were canned, at best. Â
And the service...our friend ordered the Chicken Fried Chicken Dinner, because he doesn't like dark meat. Â But our server must have punched the wrong thing when she put the order in because she brought out a Fried Chicken Dinner. Â Now it takes 30 minutes to cook up an order, and my husband & I were sitting there with our chicken in front of us...so she basically told him he was stuck with it. Â "Ooops." Â Out of politeness, he ate it...I mean, otherwise, our food would have gotten cold while we waited for his to be cooked... Â To be fair, she did bring him a free black cherry soda, but I feel like his whole meal should have been taken off the bill. Â And, I know it's only $1, but the chicken fried chicken was $1 LESS than the chicken dinner, but he was charged the full chicken dinner price (even though it was HER mistake). Â
So, that experience left me feeling kind of bad about the whole place. Â I'm not saying I won't be back...a place that would have gotten 4-5 stars (that was some preeeetty tasty chicken!) now only gets 3 because they don't know how to take care of their mistakes & their customers...
Sometimes I think places get too comfortable riding Guy Fieri's shirttails...
I love Dell Rhea's for so many reasons...many of them sentimental, but there is also THE FOOD.
For one, it is the only restaurant that I enjoy as much as I did when I was a kid (as opposed to Spaghetti-O's and Twinkies....not as good as an adult). Â Actually, I can't even think of another restaurant that I went to as a kid that I still go to...perhaps because the folks had different preferences (think "Old Country Buffet") than their snobbish daughter. And therein lies the beauty of Dell Rhea's...it brings people together.
Honestly, I don't even *like* chicken (thank you, Food, Inc.), but I actually crave the chicken from Dell Rhea's....along with the best mashed potatoes and gravy I've ever tasted. Oh, and the salad bar has the same stuff on it that it had back in the '60's...love me some cottage cheese and beets and that orange cheese spread stuff. The food here is quality *and* quantity...and made with love.
I've dined here many times through the years, and always gotten the chicken (duh), so can't comment on the other menu items, but really, why would you bother with anything else? Get the chicken, you will be happy.
My most recent visit was for the funeral luncheon for my dad, a chicken lover if there ever was one. Dell Rhea's was the gold standard for Dad. My mom and dad used to go on dates here before they got married 57 years ago {sniff, sniff}...seriously, no other restaurant around provides that kind of family history for me, and perhaps for many other families in the area.
Oh yeah, the food. The luncheon buffet was freaking awesome. Chicken, of course, and my beloved mashed potatoes and gravy and (drum roll please) not one but TWO kinds of macaroni and cheese (*thud* {---me fainting from the deliciousness). And there was lasagna and pizza, neither of which I tried. Buffet included the old-school salad bar, and some desserts (brownies were all I saw, but they were damn good brownies).
So there ya have it. Dell Rhea's, a family favorite, and damn good food.
Did I go to a place called the Chicken Basket and not try the chicken? Oops, that'd be me. Â Don't tell anyone, but I will say it looked juicy and delicious. Â I just wasn't in the mood for chicken.
It started like this. Â Girl at work: "Hey, we should go to that chicken basket place." "Giggle"
Me: Â "You Serious"
Girl: "Yea, why not? I think it was featured in Diners, Drive-ins and Dives."
Me: Interest has peaked. Â "Oh, that place with the awesome old-school sign that makes me want to venture into black and white nostalgia photography again?" Â (that was all in my head though)
I actually said.... "oh why not" Â "If you go and it's awesome, I'll be super jealous I didn't go along"
And off we ventured. Â The place at 11:30am was already half-way packed... mostly with men who look like they enjoyed lunch buffets. Â By the time we left, I think there was only one table available. Â
The lunch buffet: Â $8.95. Â Included soup and old-school salad bar, plus pasta, some spicy shredded beef something or other, fried catfish, pizza, chicken, bisquits, corn fritters, mashed taters and gravy and some roasted veggies. Â I'm thinking score, and a sleep coma at work to finish the day off right on a Friday.
The chicken and dumpling soup had the perfect amount of pepper and was really delicious. Â But I must say, I'm a mashed potato girl, and I pretty much ate a huge plate of those. Â The gravy is TO DIE FOR. Â It had glimpses of rosemary in it, and was really savory and I wanted to drink a cup of it. Â A bowl really. Â Even the pizza was pretty damn good. Â I basically overate, felt like I could induce an asthma attack, (even though I don't have asthma)... didn't hardly try enough,and was thrilled at the $9 I spent for lunch. Â
Don't expect fine dining here. Â It's an old-school, meat and potatoes type of place- that offers good basics. Â My opinion: lunch rocked. Â I would rather head there anytime instead of the typical greasy chain. Â At least I'd be supporting an establishment that's been around forever. Â And where else can you get soup, a corn fritter, pizza, mashed potatoes, and whatever else disgusting concoctions I made all in one place? Â
They even had some cookies and turnovers for dessert. Â Ahhhh, I left satisfied. Â Maybe next time I should try the chicken.
Wow... As an out of towner, I'd heard this place talked up one side and down the other, hearing that Dell Rhea's was notorious enough to be Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins and What not... Â but good lord. Yes, the kitsch and the atmosphere were quaint to my inner-city Minneapolis sensibilities, but that was really all Dell Rhea's had going for it.
The waitress got my drink order wrong right away (yes, "water" sounds a lot like "Coke", I know, but really). She then proceeds to rectify this albeit easy mistake, but doesn't write down a word of our order after she brought me the water.
No shock that she got my food order wrong then, too. I'd ordered the Dell Burger, which again does not sound like "Pot Roast Sandwich", but she claimed that "This was the only thing with "pot" in the name on the menu, so I thought that's what you wanted". Â What the hell? If you're not totally toked up on actual pot, I can find almost no excuse for that.
I was totally gobsmacked. The food was pretty awful, although I will say that the Mac & Cheese was tasty, it was just sort of over the top lardy (but yes, in a good way). Â My Dell Burger was so greasy, I ate only about two bites. My friend was disappointed in her chicken sandwich as well, but by the time we got our food, there was nothing Dell Rhea's could have done to redeem itself without presenting the best meal I'd ever had.
If I ever get back down to Chicago, I might go back and see if their service and culinary skill improves, but I'm not counting on it.
Lunch here today was a pilgrimage for me. First, I was going to a restaurant that has been around longer than I have. Second, I LOVE fried chicken. Third, this place is awash in history and pink lighting.
Christopher and I are history buffs... we are nostalgia geeks... we are kitch connoisseurs and we are serious foodies Dell Rhea's satisfied all our cravings.
We loved the fried chicken, the hot wings, the mashed taters, and the onion rings,The salad bar was ooo-la-la!!! It wasn't fancy, but it had quality to it and all the trappings of salad bars from the 50's and 60's.
I drank down a bottle of the Route 66 brand root beer and Christopher enjoyed a glass of their specially brewed Roadhouse Red Ale.
We were steeped in historic Route 66 ambiance and I was loving it. The place was peppered with ceramic chickens, there was even chicken tiles in the bathrooms!! (so cute) There were Route 66 signs and other memorabilia all over and the ceilings were washed in pink florescent lighting. Add a huge fireplace, complete with mounted fish and an old fashioned bar next to the dining room and I ask you ... what more could a soul want?
Now, you may ask me... Pam, dear old thing, why not five stars? Why only four? Was it the service? Well, no, service was great. Was it a sour morsel of food? Nope... everything was really good. Well what was it then woman? Speak up!!!! Ok, ok... the truth is it was quite pricey. There was no option to order 1/4 chicken or individual pieces. I ordered the chicken dinner because that's what I came for, but it cost me over 14 dollars. I would have preferred the option to have 1/4 chicken for less money. This place makes it's name on chicken, so it would  be nice to have more options. That being said, I brought the leftovers home for mom and she loved it, so it did earn me some brownie points.
So head down to Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket folks and imagine how life was back in the day, when we got our kicks on Route 66
You know, the food here is fine, but there are really some things they should work on.
Went here with family recently, as it's kind of a "thing," as they would say. The place has a neat atmosphere - a single large room with pink neon lighting in a track around the ceiling, casting a little glow. There's a big fireplace at the end of the room. Nice.
Their menu is...inconvenient. For a place known for fried chicken, they have only two chicken options, both featuring a half chicken and a bunch of sides. Why not let me order a quarter chicken? What if I went by myself and didn't want to eat a half a chicken? Nevermind that the dinners are kind of expensive for what they are. Between four of us, we ordered two chicken dinners and some sides, wanting to try what they had to offer. The chicken itself was just OK. Needed some spice, and the breading was just...meh. It should have been crispier, to my taste, and was instead just kind of flour-y. Our sides were the mac & cheese, gizzards, and livers. The mac & cheese was OK...just OK. Could have been better cheese. Livers were over cooked (and came fried when we ordered sauteed) and the gizzards were decent.
So - I guess the food is a 2.5 - 3 star, but between a goofy menu and a botched order, I think this could have been a better experience. If I needed a fried chicken fix, I would try somewhere else before returning.
I am a huge Route 66 buff and I have always heard of Dell Rhea. But I have never had the chance to eat there. After hearing a lot of compliments of this place, I finally decided to try it. I was expecting fried chicken nirvana, instead it was more like chicken purgatory.
Like other reviewers, the skin completely turned me off. I'm use to the crispy fried outside. This was floury, disgusting and had no business being on a chicken. I'm a Midwestern girl and have ate a lot of fried chicken in my life but never tasted anything like this.
Now if you removed the skin, that was pretty tasty chicken. It was juicy and tender. I also give a plus to the biscuits with honey. Yum, yum.
Avoid the chicken dinner with salad bar. That was a ripoff! Not enough on there to justify the extra $4.00. Unless you like Jello and wilted lettuce greens.
I really, really wanted to like Dell Rhea, but in the end it was just okay. I would go to this place once for the nostalgia. Other than that, it's not worth the price for run of the mill chicken.
Please, indulge me for a moment as I get all fried chicken cooking/making technical on you -
What mainly makes fried chicken glorious, to me, is the melding of the chicken skin with the coating/batter, with enough and proper heat of the cooking oil/lard/butter/shortening/etc so that the chicken skin itself is mainly rendered, leaving behind a crust that is a mix of both things. This creates the loveliness of a big piece of awesomeness hat you rip off of your piece of chicken and want to steal off of all the rest of the chicken, leaving bare, but juicy chicken behind. If you're me anyway, that's how you feel.
The chicken here doesn't really do that. It's a bread crumby coating that is kind of sweet and very similar to Shake N Bake. It's not horrible tasting, but it will leave you very disappointed if you're looking for Southern fried chicken - maybe this is more country or Midwest style? I don't know. My main problem with it is that (even though it took more than 30 minutes to cook...) it didn't seem like it had been cooked long or "hard" enough, leaving a crust that is not melded to the chicken skin, but instead kind of flakes off, leaving the still intact (jeez, sorry...this is starting to sound kind of gross...) skin just kind of on there...kind of ...gelatinousy on some of the pieces. Even with that (major) flaw, the winning part of the Dell Rhea chicken is the juicy and flavorful meat - almost a little too moist, causing the already kind of lacking crust to become soggy quickly.
Basically, if you're the kind of person who usually discards the skin and just wants the meat when you eat fried chicken (and you must admit that would mean that you pretty much suck at life, but whatever) you would LOVE this chicken. But if you usually get fried chicken almost solely and purely so that you can eat as much crust off of as much fried chicken as possible (which means you are AWESOME and are worthy of hanging out with me here <a href="http://www.yelp.com/events/chicago-the-great-fried-chicken-crawl-of-chicago">http://www.yelp.com/even…</a> ) then you will probably be disappointed. Like maybe even the fucking mad type of disappointed. I would go here again, but I just wouldn't probably get the chicken.
The real saving graces were the tiny little baking powder biscuits and the mashed potatoes and gravy - almost way too much black pepper in the potatoes, just the way I make them at home...mmmm.... - and WAY better than the weird potatoes at White Fence Farms, but WFF's chicken straight kills - murders, even - the chicken here (Wow! This review is like so not vegan! Almost impressively so, if I do say so myself - OMG, it's almost like this! <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbc.com%2FSaturday_Night_Live%2Fvideo%2Fclips%2Fcluckin-chicken%2F229063%2F&s=2b589216e1dd900955c45a2ded6d6989735de3d2cc067106db32debb3683728c" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.nbc.com/Satur…</a> Sweet. Gross, but sweet. )
PS - nobody in my house will eat the last couple pieces, so if you're interested, holler. Â
PPS - That Diners, Drive-ins and Hootyhoos show from the Food Network is like the evil broken compass of the eating world.
I also went after seeing this on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (at my boyfriend's insistence), and I was supremely underwhelmed, although I will echo any and all sentiments about how incredible those biscuits are. Â
I ordered the chicken pot pie, which they were out of, so I went with the chicken and dumplings instead, and those were nothing like I was picturing. Â They were in a broth rather than a thick sauce, and the "dumplings" were about the size of small egg noodles. Â What really turned me off though was the chicken in there--it was just a little too much reality, with bones and tendons and stuff. Â
My boyfriend got the fried chicken and it was a little bit better, but I'd rather eat fried chicken almost anywhere else, truth be told. Â I like a good, crispy, crunchy skin, and this was ... not that. Â I mean, chicken is chicken so it was okay, just not awesome.
This place has been around forever, so long actually that they don't even know exactly when it opened, and it's right along the old Route 66. Â My feeling is that it's one of those places that if you grow up eating it, you think it's the greatest, most irreplaceable thing in the world, and if you didn't, you'll probably wonder what the fuss was about.
The chicken dinner SUCKS! KFC is twice as good! It was breaded with... bread crumbs. Yup! Only bread crumbs! Very little flavor. The salad bar was CRAP!!!! The serivce....... SUPER CRAP!!!!
The waitress was one of the worst Ive come across. It took TEN minutes to get served where the was literally 3 tables with people. She forgot my water, then after I reminded her, it was never refilled the rest of the night. Then she didnt put my friends order in on time. The salad bar... Ive found better at Jewel Foods. Again, Im not exaggerating. The soup WAS good. The pot pie WAS good.
But look folks..... I paid, with tip, $21 for a a Route 66 pop, pot pie dinner that includes good soup and a crap-tastic "salad" bar. (my friend had the chicken dinner and I tasted it). It was $7-10 over priced and the service was one of the worst Ive experienced.
You have to love a place that has survived generations of being in the same location serving the simplest of meals- fried chicken. Â Even when the old Route 66 was re-routed onto I-55- this place still survived and it's easy to see why.
The story goes like this.  Back in the 1930's, this was a gas station.  Two women at the lunch counter overheard the owner say that he wanted to sell more food because at that time the old Route 66 was booming and Americans were traveling by car and looking for a place to eat.  These women wanted to sell their chickens (imagine chickens in Hinsdale!) and promised him a great recipe for fried chicken.  Well- the rest is history.  They quickly were selling more chicken than car repair- so the two car repair bays were turned into dining rooms.  Later, in 1946- the building was torn down and the building that you see today was built.  The location is the perfect distance from Chicago for Chicagoans traveling west by car back then and was also once  a Bluebird bus stop on the way from Chicago to LA.
Fast forward to today and much remains unchanged. Â The chicken is delicious in a dinner or a basket. The dinner comes with the salad bar that has some of the best homemade soups ever! Forget the salad- it's all iceburg lettuce. Â It also comes with mashed potatoes and gravy that are as good as my mom's! Â Or order just the basket with fries. Â
Warning: Â Careful on the biscuits- when you have placed your order- they serve you warm biscuits and honey and fresh butter (mmmm) and if you aren't careful- you won't be able to eat the chicken dinner you just ordered!
This is not a fancy place. Â One big room with a fireplace at the end and all these "kitschy" chickens on the windowsills. Â The other side is a cocktail lounge that looks (and smells) straight out of 1955. Â If you are under the age of 70- you'll probably be the youngest people in the place but you know what? Â That's fine with me. Â This is just one of those places that endures cuz the food is that good.
You got to hand it to a place that has been serving great food since 1946 and has survived all the things this place has. Â Oh- and if you love old neon signs? Â Check out the one out front. Â It surely is one of the best around. Â They just don't make places like this anymore.
If you think the lightly breaded, over greased and tasteless fluff this place serves is good friend chicken then you need to get out more.
I ended up in Del Rhea's Chicken Basket today for lunch out of a sense of nostalgia and convenience. Â Long ago I worked right around the corner and remembered both great fried chicken and one of the best burgers this side of... well of anything, the Del Burger. Â The Del Burger was a Italian sausage patty with a slice of pepper jack cheese and spot peppers on it; after years of wishing I could have one I had the chance to stop in and guess what; it's no longer on their menu...
Not only that but they deny it ever existed! Â This is, of course, a complete lie. Â Of course my server was only about 20 so there is a good chance it was just before her time. Â I even called a friend to confirm I was in the right location for what was once the best burger known to man kind.
Lacking my tasty treat I opted for some fried chicken, one of the many great items the Chicken Basket *used* to have. Â The chicken I received had no where near enough breading to be considered real friend chicken and what was on there was almost completely without flavor. Â The real topper was that it was way to greasy. Â Almost like it had been par-cooked and then refried just before serving; a sure way to ruin friend chicken. Â
I would honestly place the chicken there one step above what you can pull out of your grocers freezer; I would eat at Popeye's or Churches Chicken before returning to Del Rhea's.
With mildly competent service the only thing leaving this place not a total failure is the fact that is a historic Rt. 66 landmark and has kept almost all of it's original charm and does have a decent bar; dark, quiet and well stocked.
The BEST fried chicken ever. Â Small family owned restaurant located on the original Route 66. Â Opened in 1946. Â Has cute memorabilia all over the place. Â But don't go for the atmosphere go for the food. Â Very laid back, casual. Â Live bands on the weekends. Â Amazing chicken tenders, wings, side dishes...Don't miss the awesome homemade biscuits. Â
The prices are very reasonable. Â Also a great place for a quick lunch or take out orders. Â Very friendly staff.
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