‹ The Fried Chicken 100 › Oldenburg
No. 37 in the world · November 2026
Wagner's Village Inn
No. 37The one piece to order
The skillet-fried chicken, heavy on the pepper
A James Beard America's Classic (2023): chicken fried in cast-iron skillets bubbling with pork fat.
Make it at home
Cast-iron skillet-fried chicken, the old way
Overnight salt, 50 min to fry · 4. How Wagner's in Indiana and the Lucky Wishbone in Anchorage still do it: a plain, peppery flour coat and a shallow pool of fat in a lidded cast-iron skillet. The lid for the first half steams the meat through; the second half, uncovered, crisps the crust.
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Checked November 11, 2026. Hours and lines change; check before you cross town.
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