It's National Fried Chicken Day. Eight places to get fried chicken in Louisville

Caution: This story might make you hungry.

Now that the warning is on the table, is time to talk about the good stuff: fried chicken. Today is National Fried Chicken Day and what better place to celebrate than Kentucky (and it's not because of Kentucky Fried Chicken).

Aside from being a crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside piece of meat that leaves you wanting more, fried chicken is a great dish because of all the sides it can be paired with − you know, like baked beans and mac and cheese.

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Want some fried chicken yet? Here are some of the places around Louisville to find the best:

Chicken King

639 E Broadway; 502-589-5464; chickenkingtogo.com

Open as a pick-up-only option, Chicken King is located on East Broadway and has a very noticeable glow sign with its name on it. Their menu includes wings with several sauces for every palette − spicy, honey BBQ and Carolina gold BBQ. They also have boneless options like chicken tenders and nuggets.

Side options include BBQ Beans, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and even sweet potato casserole.

Chick'n & Mi

1765 Mellwood Avenue; 502-890-5731; chiknandmi.com

Chik'n & Mi is owned by Jason McCollum and Aenith Sananikone-McCollum and specializes "in making Asian-inspired comfort foods" including Fried Chicken Steam Buns.

The restaurant was selected by Eater in 2022 as among the best restaurants in the country serving fried chicken, according to its article "The Best Fried Chicken in America".

Joella's Hot Chicken

multiple locations; joellas.com

If you like spicy, head to one of Joella's two locations − 3400 Frankfort Ave. or 13401 Shelbyville Rd. #101. According to its website, Joella's chicken is made-to-order, in terms of spice level − "Southern, Spiked Honey, Ella's Fave, Tweener, Hot, Ghost Pepper or the infamous Fire In Da Hole, made with the Carolina Reaper, one of the hottest peppers in the world, and requires a waiver to eat it!" the website says.

Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken

multiple locations; leesfamousrecipe.com

Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken has several locations throughout Kentucky and includes classic chicken, breast strips, and spicy jumbo dippers − with dipping sauce like honey mustard and fiery buffalo.

Because fried chicken is only as good as its side. The locations sell green beans, BBQ baked beans, macaroni and cheese, potato wedges, potato salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, and coleslaw.

The three Louisville locations are 2925 Brownsboro Rd., 9813 Old Third St. and 5059 Poplar Level Rd.

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Louvino

1606 Bardstown Road; 11400 Main St.; louvino.com

Louvino's fried chicken offerings are limited, but still worth the try. Both Louisville locations have fried chicken tacos made up of flour tortillas, garlic mashed potatoes, cheddar, and chicken gravy.

Royals Hot Chicken

736 E. Market St., 502-919-7068; royalshotchicken.com

Their jumbo chicken can be ordered in different styles: as jumbo tenders, a sandwich, tacos, chicken salad sandwich, kale salad and mac and cheese; it can come in two styles: Nashville hot and classic. Sides include classics like coleslaw, broccoli and bacon salad, and fries.

Gus's Fried Chicken

117 S. Hurstbourne Parkway; 502-509-0146; gusfriedchicken.com

Gus's Fried Chicken, a Tennessee-based fried chicken chain, opened its first Louisville location in May. The restaurant serves made-to-order, hand-battered "Southern spicy fried chicken." The menu includes coleslaw, potato salad, and pecan, chess, sweet potato and chocolate chess pies. An average meal runs between $10 and $14.

"It's not as bready or heavy, for fried food," Wendy McCrory, president of Gus's, previously told The Courier Journal. "We start with an incredibly fresh chicken and hand-cut every piece, making sure no one gets excess skin or fat. We hand-wash and batter it. It's very labor-intensive. This is not fast food, this is made-to-order."

Waldo's Chicken & Beer

10700 Meeting Street, Prospect; 502-434-4035; waldoschicken.com

Another Tennessee-based chicken spot opened in Norton Commons in 2022. The fast-casual restaurant serves fried chicken and slow-roasted poultry. The fried chicken is bathed overnight in pickle brine before it’s dipped in buttermilk, then seasoned breading, and fried.

Their sides include southern-style favorites like macaroni and cheese, tomato cucumber salad and white beans.

Need a fried chicken recipe?

If you are more into cooking indoors, The Courier Journal previously published recipes for dishes like Wiltshire on Market's fried chicken, Harvest's fried chicken livers, Good ol' fried chicken and Honey pecan fried chicken. And, in honor of the Bluegrass State being known for Kentucky Fried Chicken, here is a recipe purported (but denied by the company) to be the brand's fried chicken.

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Reach Ana Rocío Álvarez Bríñez at abrinez@gannett.com; follow her on Twitter at @SoyAnaAlvarez

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Where to get fried chicken in Louisville