Guthrie's

We were on our way to Target to get some supplies when we drove by Guthrie's, a southern fried chicken finger restaurant based in Alabama, and noticed colorful balloons floating in the dining area as they celebrate their grand opening. After we finished our shopping, we turned into their parking lot. As soon as I opened the car door, the scent of fried chicken hijacked our car -- we have had wind gusts of up to 50 mph for the past two days.

Day 295/365

We ordered a family dinner for $28, which included 25 chicken fingers, 4 orders of crinkle cut fries, 4 orders of cole slaw, 4 slices of buttered garlic toast, and 5 cups of sauce. Available sauces are Guthrie's sauce, ranch, Italian, and honey mustard. Guthrie's sauce is a super smooth mixture of essentially mayonnaise, ketchup, Worcestershire, and seasonings.

A single serving of the family meal with Guthrie's sauce is pictured above, with the exception of the fries where only one-third of an order is shown. Seven hours later, and I am still stuffed!

With a light and crisp texture that doesn't leave your fingers oily, the cuts of white meat, not processed then formed pieces, were pretty good. The chicken tastes like it has been brined, then dipped in a buttermilk batter with a seasoning mixture of pepper, paprika, garlic, and onion. With my sensitivity to salt, the strips are too salty for my tastebuds to eat more than five. They should be fine for most people, however.

The cole slaw is exactly the way I love my slaw, creamy, on the sweeter side, and without large chunks of onion. If there were no ramifications, I would eat a large bowl of it, just give me a fork. The crinkle cut fries and the buttered garlic toast met my expectations. As a mayonnaise fiend, of course I dipped my fries in the Guthrie's sauce!

The women at the counter were helpful and exuded that first-day enthusiasm. I hope that continues as it would definitely set them apart. This is Guthrie's first store in Ohio. In fact, this is their first franchise reaching this far north. The bulk of their restaurants are in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. I wish them good luck!

- Cassaendra

Guthrie's
3465 Steelyard Dr
Cleveland, OH 44109