Jim's Fried Chicken

September 28, 2011

Extinct Restaurants

Jim's Fried Chicken
Carrollton: 3100 South Carrollton Avenue
1940s-1990s

Everybody remembers Jim's for fried chicken, including a lot of people who never ate there. Here's why: a big red neon sign saying "Jim's Fried Chicken" hung outside its big restaurant on the corner of South Carrollton and Earhart. That intersection is traversed by a large percentage of New Orleans people, many of whom cross it twice a day.

After years of seeing that sign--especially on the way home from school or work, when your appetite is primed--how could you not think of Jim's whenever fried chicken comes to mind? Popeyes later used this same gambit. The sign on its very first location on opening day yelled "Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken."

Jim's was open twenty-four hours. That will bring in a lot of people who otherwise might not have tried the place. The heyday of Jim's was in the 1950s and 1960s, when fried chicken was still considered a gourmet dish, before the fast-food places destroyed that image.

Then there's the Wistful Palate Effect. The longer it's been since you experienced something, the better it seems.

I say all this to back up my opinion that Jim's, for all its fame, was never one of the great places to eat fried chicken in New Orleans. But it comes up so often on the radio show that I had to include it in this book.

On the other hand, Jim's wasn't bad. The crust was in fact one of the better ones. I think it was made with cracker meal. It wasn't seasoned especially well (I wonder how palates used to Popeyes would like it), and sometimes it was a touch soggy.

What I know for a fact is that it was fried to order--a mark of quality in fried chicken. After getting off one 1971 midnight from the Time Saver, a coworker and I couldn't agree about where to have a late-night supper. I went to Ye Olde College Inn, and he went to Jim's, a block away. I ordered, ate, read the newspaper, paid, and left. My friend's car was in front of Jim's, so I pulled in. He was still waiting for the chicken. Fried chicken takes time.

Jim's big old original restaurant closed in the late 1970s. It was torn down and replaced with--ironically--a Popeyes. The family reopened in a small space on Airline Highway in Kenner, with the big red sign hanging in front. It continued to cook the same fried chicken for a few more years, then faded away. I hear the sign has made it to Jim's Feed Store on LA 41 in Pearl River.

5 Comments

jake jakeMarch 1, 2014

where can you get the recipe for jim's fried chicken

Tom FitzmorrisMarch 1, 2014

It's a secret. . . I've never seen it published, and I had the owner on the radio once and he wouldn't tell. I think it was coated wit cracker meal. And was one of the most overrated dishes in the history of New Orleans restaurants. Tastefully yours, Tom Fitzmorris

FRANK GAGLIANOMarch 31, 2014

Tom, Having eaten at Jim's countless times, often at three or four in the morning after a night of New Orleans' debauchery, I can tell you firsthand that Jim's is fondly remembered for good reason. In it's time, its fried chicken was great. No, it was not spicy like Popeyes', but it had a crust that I have never experienced anywhere else; I can't stop thinking about it all these years later. Jim's was immensely popular, long waits were common, waitresses were mainstays with decades of service. It was as New Orleans as New Orleans gets. My foodie credentials and my expertise with fried chicken developed as a result of working at THREE fried chicken chains while in high school in New Orleans in the late 60s. Plantation Fried Chicken on Lakeshore Dr., Chicken Delight on Argonne Blvd. in Lakeview, and KFC uptown on Magazine.... I know my fried chicken. One day in 1972, we say a long line outside a new Popeyes store on Vets., we stopped and purchased two eighty-nine cent dinners consisting of two pieces of chicken, fries, and a dinner roll. I will never forget my first bite sitting in the front seat of my friends 1965 Mustang... I was blown away, my mouth on fire. The intensity of the flavors, the crispiness, the juiciness, the spiciness, was overwhelming... I was hooked at first bite. I never thought of Jim's the same again. Yes, we still preferred Jim's as a late night haunt, it had a great pinball machine and a lounge with cold beer and an incredible jukebox, but there was a reason why people were standing in line at Popeyes stores all over New Orleans... Damn, that chicken was SPICY! By the way, in 1986, I twice tried the Jim's on Airline in Kenner only to be bitterly disappointed. The magic crust was gone, nothing but a simple flour crust absent any seasoning coated the bland chicken. As you can imagine, I never went back. A love affair that began as a toddler sitting on my mom's lap anxiously awaiting three crispy pieces of fried chicken on toast points with pickle slices for seventy-five cents, had come to its end. But all this stated, Jim's will always be one of my favorite New Orleans restaurants.

Dave DaveMay 12, 2014

My father said something about this place having the best lobster thermidor in the world. I asked him why a chicken joint would have lobster thermidor, but he swears they had it. Maybe he's mixing it up with another place?

Tom FitzmorrisMay 12, 2014

It's possible, but I suspect he got Jim's mixed up with T. Pittari's. The thermidor part was no big deal, but lobsters were very uncommon around New Orleans in those days. Tastefully yours, Tom Fitzmorris