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Most people I know consider lard to be a four-letter bad word. Not me. I still use it to make pie dough, and I'd use it to fry chicken if I ever fried chicken at home. But why go to all that trouble when I can get a vastly superior (and probably cheaper) chicken dinner at a restaurant?
Most restaurants won't admit to using lard in their skillets, but the truth is that it makes the best-tasting fried chicken. It's not so good for one's arteries or waistline, but what the hell — who eats fried chicken every day?
Restaurateur Guy Tamburello has seen a lot of people happily eating chicken every week (and, yes, he fries his birds in lard), especially on Sunday afternoons when the after-church crowd packs his place. Tamburello, along with his wife, Mary, and partners Paul and Carol Anselmo and Shane Danner, opened Granny's Chicken Ranch at The Legends complex in Wyandotte County after purchasing the free-standing building that formerly housed a Celtic-themed saloon called W.J. McBride's.
I guess the chicken-loving churchgoers don't remember that a place called the Chicken Ranch was also the setting for the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas — supposedly because during the Depression, customers at the brothel were allowed to pay for their lovin' with poultry.
There's no mistaking the family-friendly Granny's Chicken Ranch for anything but a restaurant, I'm happy to say. Most of the servers are apple-cheeked young ladies who blush if you ask them for extra cinnamon rolls. That's just one thing that sets Granny's (which has no connection to the Granny's chicken restaurant that existed in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and Prairie Village in the 1980s) apart from any other chicken joint in the city. The saloon side of this restaurant is a gigantic space (it was built as an Irish pub, after all), and most of the previous tenant's European décor remains, but Granny's maintains a genteel ambience. It's not a raucous roadhouse, like the original Stroud's, and it isn't as fussy as the Victorian dining rooms at Galvin's Dinner House in St. Joseph.
This Granny's isn't cozy or homey, but it's the kind of cheery place I would have taken my own grandmother — the one who was married seven times and wore designer clothes. Here, she could have eaten fried chicken livers and sipped a vodka stinger at the same time.
Instead, I brought my elegant friend Marilyn because she loves chicken livers and might have eaten them with a cocktail if she hadn't had that pomegranate martini before she even got in my car. She's health-conscious and a little wary of fried food, but she was game enough to ride out to The Legends to at least sample the fare.
The country music that was playing on the sound system seemed appropriate for a place that serves ham-and-bean dinners, pot roast and meatloaf along with all that chicken, but Tim McGraw was incongruous to the décor, which still evokes a tavern in some movie version of a quaint Irish village.
"I hope the chicken livers are as good as the ones at the old Romanelli Grill," Marilyn told our server, "but that they don't come with melted butter as a dipping sauce."
The waiter (who turned out to be Guy Tamburello's brother) looked scandalized. "Melted butter? We serve them with chicken gravy!"
Guy insists that his fried livers are the best in the city. After eating a plate of them, I think I agree. Cooked to order, the livers are not greasy, crunchy on the outside and light and juicy inside. I could have eaten the whole plate, but I let Marilyn have a couple.
Like many of its rivals in the chicken game, Granny's serves complete dinners that include a salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, cinnamon rolls and drop biscuits. Marilyn was thrilled with the mashers, made from red-jacket spuds, whipped up with butter and garlic and cooked with some of the skins left on.
"I've always said that I want to go to heaven on a cloud of mashed potatoes," Marilyn said. She ate heartily and packed up the leftovers to take home. Because I'd eaten so many livers and yeasty cinnamon rolls (which weren't too gooey or sugary), I could finish only a third of my slow-roasted pot roast. But I'll say this: Guy makes one of the finest roasts I've eaten. He uses eye of round, which is my favorite cut for pot roast, and it's fork-tender and served with lots of roasted potatoes and carrots.
When the waiter asked if we wanted dessert, we groaned. After paying the tab, we waddled out to the car.
"You can't eat this kind of meal very frequently," Marilyn said.
Well, I can! I returned a few days later with Jeanne and her teenage daughters, who immediately noticed all the exotic animal heads mounted on the walls.
"Guy shot all those," Mary Tamburello said proudly as she escorted us to a table in the less noisy kelly-green dining room on the non-bar side of the restaurant.
Jeanne and Roxanne ate iceberg salads with extra dressing, and picky Alexandra wrinkled her nose at the baked-potato soup. "It tastes very grainy, like it's made with Cream of Wheat," she said.
I tasted it and agreed that it seemed vaguely coarse, not nearly as good as the chicken-dumpling soup I ordered. Filled with hunks of chopped-up bird and fat, doughy noodles, it was far better than the soup at Stroud's.
Granny's signature dish is served family-style. The platter was heaped with plump breasts, legs and thighs of succulent chicken; it was a pleasure just biting into the crispy, golden crust.
"Very, very good," Jeanne murmured after a few bites.
Only Alexandra wasn't content with her meal. Unlike the rest of us, she ordered a chicken potpie and thought the "filling" of the dish, under a flaky crust, was gummier and less creamy than the same dish at Potpie in Westport. But few pot pies in town could compete with that restaurant's namesake.
I'm fussy about pot pies, too, so I was glad I'd ordered the fried stuff — an all-breast dinner. At one point, though, I started looking longingly at the legs and thighs on the other platter and nearly snagged one. I found my self-restraint at the last minute.
But I lost it again when the server rattled off the dessert list, which included a hefty slab of chocolate cake (the only item here imported from a commercial bakery). It looked a lot more fabulous than it tasted, but it would feed a family of 10. Next time, I'll go for the bread pudding made from the leftover cinnamon rolls.
I took a chicken breast home and had it for breakfast the next morning. It was excellent cold, and that proves my theory that there's only one way to perfectly fry a chicken. But the secret is a four-letter word.
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Didn't feel like cooking, so we motored over to Legends and picked the first place we found, which was Granny's. Got an xxcellent deal in the form of the special, two entrees from a limited list (3pc Chicken, Chicken Fried Chicken or Chicken Fried Steak) two sides each, 1 Biscuit or Cinnamon Roll each, for 19.95. Chicken Fried steak and 3 pc Chicken were both excellent, as were mash potatoes and green beans. Portions were excellent.
Not sure how this compares to the soap opera related in the earlier comments (why not just leave after waiting for an hour+? Posting about getting the cops called on you for refusing to pay is pure comedy gold.) but the Mrs. and I both felt our meal was good and the price very reasonable.
Didn't feel like cooking, so we motored over to Legends and picked the first place we found, which was Granny's. Got an xxcellent deal in the form of the special, two entrees from a limited list (3pc Chicken, Chicken Fried Chicken or Chicken Fried Steak) two sides each, 1 Biscuit or Cinnamon Roll each, for 19.95. Chicken Fried steak and 3 pc Chicken were both excellent, as were mash potatoes and green beans. Portions were excellent. Not sure how this compares to the soap opera related in the earlier comments (why not just leave after waiting for an hour+? Posting about getting the cops called on you for refusing to pay is pure comedy gold.) but the Mrs. and I both felt our meal was good and the price very reasonable.
I have an issue with Granny's Chicken Ranch. I live 75 miles away from The Legends and this restuarant. I traveled very far to spend the day with my daughter and her husband and grandaughter and their grandmother. It was my birthday and also Mother' Day. The kids thought they would take myself and grandmother out to a nice meal and knew that Grandma loved chicken. They thought that Granny's Kitchen would be an ideal spot for this occasion.
We arrived and the lady that was taking names just wrote down our name on a sheet with other names, no times that we arrived or anything. We waited and waited and waited. I got up and walked around and seen many tables without anyone setting at them for over and hour, but we were still being made to wait. Grandma did not eat since early morning and was starting to feel bad. She's 85 years old. They left us sitting for 3 hours before we got a table. This IS NOT GOOD SERVICE. When the food started coming they brought salad and biscuits then cinnamon rolls, which is not considered a balanced meal for an 85 year old or anyone else. They finally came and told us that they ran out of chicken and had to go to the store to buy more. UNBELIEVEABLE! It was another long wait till the actual meal got to us. There were a lot of elderly people setting and waiting and I feel that this was very, very rude of them to not accomadate the elderly. And to top it off they advertised that there would be a free desert on Mother's Day, NOT, DIDN"T HAPPEN! I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESTUARANT TO ANY OF MY FRIENDS. NOT A PLACE FOR THE ELDERLY EITHER.
I have an issue with Granny's Chicken Ranch. I live 75 miles away from The Legends and this restuarant. I traveled very far to spend the day with my daughter and her husband and grandaughter and their grandmother. It was my birthday and also Mother' Day. The kids thought they would take myself and grandmother out to a nice meal and knew that Grandma loved chicken. They thought that Granny's Kitchen would be an ideal spot for this occasion. We arrived and the lady that was taking names just wrote down our name on a sheet with other names, no times that we arrived or anything. We waited and waited and waited. I got up and walked around and seen many tables without anyone setting at them for over and hour, but we were still being made to wait. Grandma did not eat since early morning and was starting to feel bad. She's 85 years old. They left us sitting for 3 hours before we got a table. This IS NOT GOOD SERVICE. When the food started coming they brought salad and biscuits then cinnamon rolls, which is not considered a balanced meal for an 85 year old or anyone else. They finally came and told us that they ran out of chicken and had to go to the store to buy more. UNBELIEVEABLE! It was another long wait till the actual meal got to us. There were a lot of elderly people setting and waiting and I feel that this was very, very rude of them to not accomadate the elderly. And to top it off they advertised that there would be a free desert on Mother's Day, NOT, DIDN"T HAPPEN! I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESTUARANT TO ANY OF MY FRIENDS. NOT A PLACE FOR THE ELDERLY EITHER.
Just got back from eating at Granny's Chicken Ranch. My wife ordered the 3 pc. dinner, I ordered the Chicken fried chicken. I have to agree with the other review on here that the only good thing was the Green Beans. The Biscuits were flavorless and dry. The Cinnamon rolls were the dryest ones ive ever tasted. Service was slow and inexperienced. Her chicken was okay (i.e. Very bland, not what you would expect for pan fried in lard chicken), My Chicken Fried chicken would have been fine if it wasnt for the worst tasting gravy I have ever had. It was very sweet and did not compliment the food at all. Stick to Strouds people. The only thing i can say that was positive out of this experience is the reasonable pricing. At least we tried it and can tell our friends about it.
Just got back from eating at Granny's Chicken Ranch. My wife ordered the 3 pc. dinner, I ordered the Chicken fried chicken. I have to agree with the other review on here that the only good thing was the Green Beans. The Biscuits were flavorless and dry. The Cinnamon rolls were the dryest ones ive ever tasted. Service was slow and inexperienced. Her chicken was okay (i.e. Very bland, not what you would expect for pan fried in lard chicken), My Chicken Fried chicken would have been fine if it wasnt for the worst tasting gravy I have ever had. It was very sweet and did not compliment the food at all. Stick to Strouds people. The only thing i can say that was positive out of this experience is the reasonable pricing. At least we tried it and can tell our friends about it.
This weekend my family and I ate at Granny's Chicken, what a sorry way of trying to imitate Strouds. We waited for a table over 2 hours, but the hostess originally said 35 minutes. Green Beans where good, that was it! Their homemade gravy, was bad - very bad. Chicken was hot but runny on the inside, I didn't even take the leftovers home. GRANNY, you need to leave the cooking to your kids.
This weekend my family and I ate at Granny's Chicken, what a sorry way of trying to imitate Strouds. We waited for a table over 2 hours, but the hostess originally said 35 minutes. Green Beans where good, that was it! Their homemade gravy, was bad - very bad. Chicken was hot but runny on the inside, I didn't even take the leftovers home. GRANNY, you need to leave the cooking to your kids.
Granny's Chicken Ranch is the worst restaurant out at The Legends in Wyandotte County. Let me explain to you how our Mother's Day nightmare played out. My husband, daughter and I wanted to take my mother, and grandmother out to a nice chicken dinner after attending a very lovely and special church service Sunday morning.
*******We arrived at the Granny's Chicken Ranch at 1215pm. The hostess informed us it would be 1 1/2 hour wait and we accepted because my Grandma loves chicken. Well we waited and waited to see at least 75 other people that came after us enter the restaurant and be seated. At this point we were told that there was a call in list. After waiting 1 1/2 hours we inquired as to when we would be seated and were told we were coming up soon. When we hit the 2 1/2 hour mark my husband again asked the hostess when we would be seated especially since we had our 84 year old Grandma waiting that long, she again said we would be seated after the next 4 people. (SO WE WAITED) Finally at 345pm we were actually seated at a table. (3 1/2 hours)
We ordered promptly and had a very sweet waitress. We ordered our 5 four piece chicken dinners at 350pm, and at 430 pm we were yet to have our chicken dinners. We did have salad and biscuits, but still no food. Think about this we were there 4 hours and 15 minutes at this point. I was extremely embarrassed that we took our lovely mother and grandmother out to what was supposed to be a wonderful dinner. Finally at 445 pm (4 1/2 hours after we arrived) we finally got our food.
This food was definitely not worth the almost FIVE HOUR wait for it. We then informed the manager at this point that we were upset at the wait, and service of the managers to not speak to us concerning this issue. They gave every excuse in the book trying to find excuses why their service was so poor. The hostess/manager stated to another manager that we refused to pay our bill and she called the police dept. I informed another "manager" that we did not want a free meal but would like a discount since we had been there half the day. They were not willing to give us a discount and the cops had already been called. My husband explained to the cops what had happened, and they stated we had to pay the bill (which we just wanted a discount , not a free meal). Anyways we ended up paying the whole meal ,(no discount) to keep from being arrested.
Anyways, this so called "family restaurant" was not willing to work with us, or even consider coming half way with us. I would not suggest this very poorly managed restaurant to anyone, let alone if you are planning to celebrate a special event.
PEOPLE there are many other fine restaurants at The Legends, like Famous Daves, Arthur Bryants, Cheeseburgers In Paradise, and many more that would never have treated a customer this way.
Granny's Chicken Ranch is the worst restaurant out at The Legends in Wyandotte County. Let me explain to you how our Mother's Day nightmare played out. My husband, daughter and I wanted to take my mother, and grandmother out to a nice chicken dinner after attending a very lovely and special church service Sunday morning. *******We arrived at the Granny's Chicken Ranch at 1215pm. The hostess informed us it would be 1 1/2 hour wait and we accepted because my Grandma loves chicken. Well we waited and waited to see at least 75 other people that came after us enter the restaurant and be seated. At this point we were told that there was a call in list. After waiting 1 1/2 hours we inquired as to when we would be seated and were told we were coming up soon. When we hit the 2 1/2 hour mark my husband again asked the hostess when we would be seated especially since we had our 84 year old Grandma waiting that long, she again said we would be seated after the next 4 people. (SO WE WAITED) Finally at 345pm we were actually seated at a table. (3 1/2 hours) We ordered promptly and had a very sweet waitress. We ordered our 5 four piece chicken dinners at 350pm, and at 430 pm we were yet to have our chicken dinners. We did have salad and biscuits, but still no food. Think about this we were there 4 hours and 15 minutes at this point. I was extremely embarrassed that we took our lovely mother and grandmother out to what was supposed to be a wonderful dinner. Finally at 445 pm (4 1/2 hours after we arrived) we finally got our food. This food was definitely not worth the almost FIVE HOUR wait for it. We then informed the manager at this point that we were upset at the wait, and service of the managers to not speak to us concerning this issue. They gave every excuse in the book trying to find excuses why their service was so poor. The hostess/manager stated to another manager that we refused to pay our bill and she called the police dept. I informed another "manager" that we did not want a free meal but would like a discount since we had been there half the day. They were not willing to give us a discount and the cops had already been called. My husband explained to the cops what had happened, and they stated we had to pay the bill (which we just wanted a discount , not a free meal). Anyways we ended up paying the whole meal ,(no discount) to keep from being arrested. Anyways, this so called "family restaurant" was not willing to work with us, or even consider coming half way with us. I would not suggest this very poorly managed restaurant to anyone, let alone if you are planning to celebrate a special event. PEOPLE there are many other fine restaurants at The Legends, like Famous Daves, Arthur Bryants, Cheeseburgers In Paradise, and many more that would never have treated a customer this way.
Our experience was an unpleasant one. The chicken had an odd taste. The gravy was cold. The biscuit were rock hard and tasteless not like the tasty and fluffy biscuits that Americans eat. The green beans and cinnamon rolls were OK. The service was slow even though only 3 tables were occupied. The price of the meal was high compared to the quality of food. The overall experience was disappointing.
Our experience was an unpleasant one. The chicken had an odd taste. The gravy was cold. The biscuit were rock hard and tasteless not like the tasty and fluffy biscuits that Americans eat. The green beans and cinnamon rolls were OK. The service was slow even though only 3 tables were occupied. The price of the meal was high compared to the quality of food. The overall experience was disappointing.
I also like the fried chicken. It tasted almost like my western Kansas mother's. She pan fried it at high heat in lard or chicken fat (whatever wento the "GREASE" canister.
She salted it after she took it out of the pan and it was heave, as was this chicken.
Martin
I also like the fried chicken. It tasted almost like my western Kansas mother's. She pan fried it at high heat in lard or chicken fat (whatever wento the "GREASE" canister. She salted it after she took it out of the pan and it was heave, as was this chicken. Martin
We just ate at Granny's on Sunday, I was not prepared for how good the food was!! Everything was great, I had the chicken fried chicken which was fabulous. My hubby had the fried catfish and said it was the best he had tasted since he lived in Louisiana. My dad had the pot roast and he thought it was excellent, and let me tell you my dad knows his pot roast. I also thought the prices were very reasonable for as much food as you get. We ate in the green dining room on the non-bar side and had a nice table right next to the fireplace. The high ceiling lessens the dining room noise so it was a really enjoyable dinner. Nice to see more local establishments in places like the Legends, which can become so "corporate".
We just ate at Granny's on Sunday, I was not prepared for how good the food was!! Everything was great, I had the chicken fried chicken which was fabulous. My hubby had the fried catfish and said it was the best he had tasted since he lived in Louisiana. My dad had the pot roast and he thought it was excellent, and let me tell you my dad knows his pot roast. I also thought the prices were very reasonable for as much food as you get. We ate in the green dining room on the non-bar side and had a nice table right next to the fireplace. The high ceiling lessens the dining room noise so it was a really enjoyable dinner. Nice to see more local establishments in places like the Legends, which can become so "corporate".
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