Smothered, Covered, & Crispy: Hunting for The Southwest’s Best Breaded & Fried Meats With Sr Plata

Author Larry McMurty said it best, “Only a rank degenerate would drive 1,500 miles across Texas without eating a chicken fried steak.”   For Texans, chicken fried steak is a religion, one they preach with great enthusiasm.  You might think my friend Bruce “Sr. Plata” Silver is as Texan as they come, but he’s a proud born-and-bred Californian.  He loves chicken fried steak more than anyone I’ve ever met. He also loves other breaded and fried meats (such as katsu and schnitzel).  Over the past few years, he and I have journeyed across the metropolitan area in search of the best breaded and fried meats we can find.  We’ve expanded the page formerly known as “Sr Plata’s New Mexico Chicken Fried Steak Trail” to include other breaded and fried meats.  The new title of the page more accuraely reflects what this page is all about.  Below, we share his impressions of the some of his favorites.  Click on the restaurant name to launch a thrilling review.

Texaz Grill (Phoenix, Arizona):  Wow, Gil made me sound like I was a celebrity or something, I am just like all of you and looking for great food and great places to eat, Now I am living in beautiful and a bit warm Arizona. I had a great time sharing vittles with Gil and Kim at the Texaz Grill. Loved on the whole the taste, slightly peppery and the massive portion of the lunch chicken fried steak. Though as Gil said, it could have shed some of its batter and improved the meat to breading ratio but wow that sure didn’t stop me. We started out with biscuits and adding a bit of butter made them amazing. I liked the corn a lot. The mashed potatoes were ok. The cream gravy did enhance the taste. Do you all agree that Gil should create a ‘Southwest Chicken Fried’ trail that reviews where CFS is found best in the Southwest? if so please give him a shout out. Sr plata out…

Maisen Katsu (Mesa, Arizona): As Sensei said, it’s very hard to find good chickn katsu here in the Scottsdale/Phoenix but I think I have found great chicken katsu in Mesa. It seems that many restaurants have chicken Katsu or only have it at lunch and not at dinner. Other restaurants are very chintzy in the amount of katsu they give their customers. Still, others prepare their katsu really really salty for some reason. Even worse, restaurants that once served katsu completely took it off the menu, so I’ve been very unhappy!

You could see in the picture that Maisen Katsu gives customers a really good quantity of chicken katsu and its thick chicken breast breaded to perfection with panko. I was on the fence whether to get it with Japanese curry or just the brown sauce, but the nice young man at the register said he preferred the regular gravy, and it was really really good. You can learn more about the curry by reading Gil’s portion of the review. I wish this place was much closer to me, about a half hour away driving time in a large Asian market mall. I guess it’s the best way to describe where it is. Within the Asian market, there’s a number of pop-up restaurants where people specialize in Katsu like we went to where others are all kinds of ramen, ice cream and other things.

I believe that those of you who just really love their chicken katsu should give Maisen Katsu a try. And would you consider chicken Katsu, chicken, schnitzel, chicken fried steak/chicken all very much the same or highly similar manner. I would love for there to be a Southwest Chicken Fried Trail crosses many states that people could find and report out on the best breaded, fried chicken and steak.

Mick’s Chile Fix (Albuquerque, NM): It was highly suggested by Lynn that I check out the Chicken Fried Steak at Micks, which as you see in the pic I did and I was filled with breakfast joy! It would rank in the top 90% percentile for quality, quantity and user satisfaction! And as Gil said, Elvira the owner essentially spoiled me!

Most cafes and delis on the west coast would automatically serve pancakes with melted butter but here in New Mexico I am usually given cold pats of butter (which are impossible to spread). Do they really think they melt??But she melted ‘real’ butter in a metal container and brought it to me and immediately basted my 2 pancakes.

And then I asked for hash browns very well done. People here think warm potatoes cut it but not with the Plata family. These were amazing, extra crunchy and toasty and not burnt.

And now for the Chicken Fried Steak. It’s not on the regular menu but it is a daily special and how amazing it was! Nice and thick and large cooked great and smothered in ‘No-Meat (porkless) gravy. Oh, I know you all like your sausage gravy but I go for the white gravy and so was very happy. I topped it off with 2 pancakes.

My only nit for them: though the pancakes very good, they were a bit too glutinous to my taste. I wish they could add crepes or Dutch baby’s to their vast menu. That would be amazing.

I was glad to share food with Gil and Beel. It brought back semiconductor memories from good times past. My Brother Lorenzo would be a true follower of Mick’s after 1 bite, hopefully he might try it one day…

K & I Diner (Albuquerque, NM): I have to say this was one of the best chicken fried steaks I have had in New Mexico. It was large, thick (not flattened as some other places do it), and delicious. The country gravy had no meat so it met the Sephardic requirement. Eggs were surprisingly cooked perfect and the hash browns were tasty (I forgot to order extra well done which I normally do for extra crispness).

Lindy’s Diner (CLOSED) (Albuquerque, NM):  My chicken fried steak 1/2 with vegetarian gravy and with chile mixed with eggs and extra crispy hash browns brought comfort food to the next level. We came at an off hour so it was quiet and I could take in all the history. I thought I was back for a moment at The Pantry downtown L.A.  One of the best breakfasts I have had in a long time!

Millie’s Restaurant (Albuquerque, NM):  The chicken fried steak (1/2 gravy, 1/2 green chile) was good but the portion was way too small on Lo carb ( no toast, no hash browns, no good stuff, etc) thus why I had to add a burger.

Vick’s Vittles Country Restaurant (Albuquerque, NM):  Had great Chicken Fried Steak and Mash Potatoes that had awesome green chile gravy! Very good and no pork!! Had food Cauliflower as an additional side. A lot if meat, not a lot of breading, just the way it should be.

66 Diner  (Albuquerque, NM): Pancakes and Chicken Fried Steak are 2 of my favorite foods that bring great comfort to me. I would tell my Dad back when how much I loved it and he would laugh and say how chicken fried steak was a people for those that couldn’t afford steak during the Depression (Beef Ribs as well…). Interesting segway to what I ordered, you can see that above as well. 1st, it was one of the best Chicken Fried Steaks I have had in this State (of course I say that each time I try it with my Friend Gil. But this, not an abundant amount of flour, a great amount of steak (in fact a very large piece) cooked to a golden brown, absolutely beautiful, just simply melted in my mouth ( hmmm, instead of Chicken and Waffles, how about Chicken Fried Steak and Pancakes, now that would be a Treat!). And of course, I can never make up my mind on toppings so I had to have the brown gravy (vegetarian) and the the quest with Chile (just reread Gil’s description of my meal and realize what I just wrote doesn’t do justice (yes, I slathered!). I must admit combining both is the only way to go (okay, its one of many ways, you could also get the white gravy).

Western View Diner & Steakhouse (Albuquerque, NM): Joined Sensei on the Chicken Fried Steak trail in the Land of Enchantment and found this CFS quite good! Actually, since I don’t eat pork, I had to change the topping to both green and red chile. The Chile was good but it overpowered the CFS so had to assume how it would be with gravy. Feedback to the owner is to have white or brown gravy with no meat.

Spinn’s Burgers & Beer (Albuquerque, NM):  Celebrated with Spinn’s Chicken Fried Steak, it was excellent! A lot of good meat that was different than other places those claimed big were squashed like a massive pancake, oh no, this was nicely seasoned, floured correctly, enough food for Sr Plata to be full and something I want to have again. It came with very good mashed potatoes, not sure if they had the skins but were loaded with gravy that had no meat and yes, brought joy to my stomach.

Central Grill and Coffee House (Albuquerque, NM):  As Gil alluded to, I am on a search for the ultimate Chicken Fried Steak in the Land of Enchantment! I have to say the CFS at the Cenral Grill was great tasting! It was the most tasting like fried chicken that I had. Yes, gravy had no pork bringing a smile to my face, a little more pepper added would be great. I do wish it was bigger, it’s really hard to find restaurants meeting all metrics for: Quality, Taste, Size, Gravy / Chile and Extras ( crispy well done hash browns, eggs cooked beautifully over-medium.

Vic’s Daily Cafe (Albuquerque, NM):  Made it to Vic’s on Sensei’s recommendation since he knows how much I love chicken fried steak, well, it was great! I was borderline on ‘low carb’ so I had the flour-based gravy on the side but I had to cheat. The bummer was that I learned when I paid that I should have had the green chile gravy that would have made it totally awesome.

Copper Canyon Cafe (Albuquerque, NM):  This was one of the best Chicken Fried Steaks in the Land of Enchantment, it was close to a 1 in the Quality/Quantity Plata ratio and that is pretty darn Good! As Gil explain, it was very large, many restaurants I have been to have kept me hungry when I left but not at Copper Canyon! And sooooo Crispy, hmmmmmm! A white gravy, no pork, very Happy so it passed that test. I ordered the green chile on the side but as you see in the Pics above, Sensei had it right on his Steak, I first wanted to taste it first with Gravy [GREAT] then I added some green chile (which had a delicious bite, a bit hot without burning my tongue but was one of the best green chiles found at a restaurant) [GREATER].

Mac’s La Sierra Coffee Shop (Albuquerque, NM):  Continued and getting close to finalizing the chicken fried steak trail and I must say the gravy here when you mix with the requested green chile is quite good. The steak, I enjoyed but alas, still not big enough for Sr Plata to walk away fulfilled. I had the usual 2 fried eggs and hash browns, mixed together with a little green chile, which was nice. Gil and I shared an order of the steak fingers, unfortunately I am thinking of Mac’s Steak in the Rough and this was no Mac’s. Anyways, I would like to come back, Gil said the pancakes were really good. This place was hopping with just regular people on Central and I felt part of the community…

Cocina Azul (Albuquerque, NM):  I have been pondering many weeks what to say about my brunch with Sensei. Well 1st its always Awesome to have the opportunity to break almost Challah with my dear friend and 2nd, the Chicken Fried Steak was marvelous and extremely delicious! Did someone say ‘Geen Chile’, this gravy was perfectly smothered all over my beast, yesterday beast! My eggs over medium were perfectly cooked ( addeded that to my CFS and the hash browns made a great accompaniment to the entire meal. I thoroughly agree with Gil regarding the vanilla, the vanilla in the Pancakes made no sesnse, such a distraction, I really craved good pancakes and was sad instead.

Bacon Jam (CLOSED) (Albuquerque, NM): Joined Sensei on this trip to Candelaria and being the Sephardic I am, I chose no bacon (sorry you pork lovers out there). But, we met one of the owners, and he said it would have been very easy to make me white gravy without the Bacon. Oh well, next time. The food was quite good and at an extremely reasonable price, a taste of a true diner. The chile had a bite to it, so if I was to have chicken fried steak without the gravy, the chile makes it a 2nd best. It was funny, our server looked at my CFS and said it looked empty without something covering it (ok, there goes an LOL even though I don’t like doing LOLs). The 2 baby pancakes were quite cute. As Sensei said, having larger ones would have been awesome, but it did give us a chance to try as much as possible at the same low price. The papas were so-so. Making them roasted with caramelized onions would give them some much needed pizazz. And sorry to say, some of our food was not as hot as other food was. I think they are still trying to get their process perfected as Bacon Jam has only been open for 8 weeks or so. They want to open a diner on the West Side which I hope they do (Breakfast/Lunch) close to the Corrales/Rio Rancho area, if anyone has ideas where they could go, please comment in this blog. And, I want bloggers to come try this diner as my palette is limited to the non-pork dishes. Oh, if new cousin Jessie from Washington reads this, please check out if Gil has been to any restaurants you may have gone to (see his U.S.A. Restaurant Index) and let us know your M.O …. Sr Plata out.

Nick & Jimmy’s (CLOSED) (Albuquerque, NM):  It’s kind of hard to add much more to what Gil already said, but in totality if what you get, this was a Great Chicken Fried Steak dinner! Yes, it was priced a bit high but did you see the pic of the plate and add one delicious salad to it? Unbelievable! I love Panko and on the steak, exquisite! Sampling the potatoes was great to do, as gratin was best. The small amount of cinnamon added to the coffee was excellent. One suggestion, they need more wait people. Our server took our order and brought our food then the check. Not once did she check up on us and between Gil and I, we need at least 3 cups of coffee each. Except for the lack of attentiveness, a great place to eat. It was my 1st time there…

The Owl Cafe (Albuquerque, NM):  There had been comments by those I do not know to try Chcken Fried Steak from the Owl, so Sensei and I made it there not too long ago. I would rank this as mid-range as I found it had just too much breading to my liking, I am spoiled on lightly breaded Panko. I unfortunately struggled when the waitress, who was extremely nice to us, said it was delicious but frozen. Yes, most meat will be frozen but I make believe the cow is in the parking lot. Mashed potatoes were nice and buttery. The coffee was just ok. A hint of cinnamon would spice it up. My depression started when we asked for a side of pancakes after hearing they were great. Unfortunately, they stop making pancakes at lunch time, big mistake. Love the style inside and the malts were tempting but since I’m watching what I ingest, CFS pushes the limit…