The Keg Chicken

The Keg Chicken…5! If you only came for the rating, then read no further. Just playing, please keep reading. While I was joking about you not reading the entire review, I am not joking about The Keg Chicken in Sioux Falls being a 5 on the Fattie Rating System. They have 2 locations: The Keg -4211 West 12th Street Sioux Falls, SD 57106 and Keg East – 5216 East Arrowhead Parkway Sioux Falls SD 57110. You see, The Keg Chicken is the only restaurant that I’ve ever scheduled a vacation around. It’s true. We took our family to Sioux Falls for chicken and randomly filled in the gaps for the rest of the trip. The chicken is that…no, the food is that good! So good that I had to have it again and I’m sure we’ll go back in the future too. It all started a few years ago at a Jiu-Jitsu tournament in a far, far, away land (Fargo, North Dakota).

You see, after the tournament was over, we headed back to Omaha. On our trek, we had to stop for gas just off interstate I-29. As we planned our stop, we talked about grabbing a bite to eat. Where do you go when you are in an unfamiliar land and your belly begins to crave sustenance? Google! That’s where you go. My wife searched for restaurants that were close and narrowed them down by their ratings/reviews. I don’t remember what the other options were, but frankly, they don’t matter. The Keg Chicken is all that I remember. It made that much of an impact. This didn’t come easily though. You see, the location that we visited was attached to a gas station. That’s right, a gas station. This was where the skepticism entered for us. Surely, they are not slanging wonderful chicken out of a gas station. We’re into experimenting with new foods and restaurants, so we decided to do it.

We pulled up and instantly felt a sense of relief. Yes, it was connected to a gas station, but it wasn’t “IN” the gas station. Okay, let’s get it! Once you walk through the doors you see that it is a legit full restaurant. Clean and what you would expect to see when walking into a restaurant for the first time. Things were looking up. I’m not going to go through everything because this would be a really, long review. I’ll just do this; I’ll provide the links to the YouTube videos from my Small Guy Promotions’ page, and you can see for yourself. This was in 2018 before the Omaha Fattie really became a household name. Okay, maybe Omaha Fattie is not a household name…yet! That’s why I need you to tell your friends about me!

 

 

 

Now, fast forward to present day, 2021. We took vacation at the end of June and into the first part of July. We traveled to Sioux Falls on Sunday and stayed until Tuesday. After taking a tour of the Stensland Family Farms we hit up The Keg Chicken for lunch. So much excitement! It had been 3 years since I met this love of my life, and I couldn’t wait to get back to her. At first, I was disappointed because we were closer to their other location; it was not the one we visited originally. My wife said the location that we originally visited was on the opposite side of town. My soul wept, for this was the worst of times (not really).

As soon as I saw that sign on the outside of the building, any disappointment quickly disappeared. With each step, I was closer and closer to what I had been dreaming about. My stomach began to dance to the melody of sizzling chicken in a fryer. Then, it was certainly the best of times! We arrived just after the lunch rush, so it wasn’t busy when we showed up. That is totally okay with me!

We sat down and looked over the menu that our waitress, Kelsey, brought us while taking our drink orders. My youngest daughter wanted the lunch buffet because she was “starving” and didn’t want to wait for an order to come out. She was more than happy to grab a couple pieces of chicken, mac & cheese and mashed potatoes from the bar. Fine by us.

We ordered the Beef Chislic as our appetizer. Beef Chislic? Yes, Beef Chislic. It is a deep-fried steak (no breading) that is so juicy that you dip the crackers in the leftover liquids.

OOOOOHHHH! Tasty! I will say that while it was still good on this visit, it had a lot to live up to, based on my memory. It wasn’t quite the same wow factor, but it was good.

For our main meal, the rest of us ordered the Family of 4 Fried Chicken Pack:

10 pc Mix Chicken
1 Pound French Fries
1 Pint Coleslaw, Baked Beans, or Potato Salad (we went with potato salad)
4 Dinner Rolls and Butter.

Roll out the red carpet, sound the trumpet and whatever other celebratory thing that is done before a grand feast. The chicken arrived at the table piping hot. When I took my first bite, you could see the steam exiting from the meat. The skin was as crispy as I remembered; the seasoning was on point. The potato salad was creamy and flavorful. You can’t trust everyone’s potato salad, but I put my full faith into this side. The French fries complimented the rest of the meal excellently. The golden potato straws hit the spot. The rolls were so soft and perfect for sandwich making with the other 3 menu items. Don’t forget about the sauce. You can’t have fried chicken without hot sauce. The sauce completed the sandwich and meal.

After our meal, I talked to Kelsey for a bit and mentioned that we had been to the other location on our past visit. She said that I looked familiar when I walked in, and she was trying to figure out why. Turns out that she served us at the other location during that original visit. I can’t make this stuff up. That capped the visit for us.

We took a picture to seal the deal and commemorate our visit.

The service was great. The food did not let me down and was worth the trip. Sometimes, living up to the nostalgia of past experiences can be tough when you are reunited with the thing that brought so much joy through memories. To The Keg Chicken, thank you! Our visit was outstanding. I can’t wait until we return for a future visit. Hopefully, it won’t be another 3 years. I’m so willing to drive up there on a weekend for a short road trip. You guys do chicken right!

 

 

I know that I already confirm the rating at the beginning, but it wouldn’t be an official Omaha Fattie review if I didn’t give the trademark close.

I give The Keg Chicken 5 Fatties. Have you been? If so, what do you think? Thank you so much for taking the time to read my thoughts on food. You are amazing!