Eufaula’s Thelma’s Kitchen Named Alabama’s Best Fried Chicken Shop on National List

EUFAULA, Ala. — Alabama has no shortage of places that know their way around a skillet of fried chicken, but a new national ranking says the best fried chicken shop in the state is a cafeteria-style soul food restaurant in Eufaula.

Thelma’s Kitchen, at 26 Mack St., was named Alabama’s pick on a recently published list of “the best fried chicken shop in every state,” compiled by Business Insider with Yelp. The list drew on online reviews, ranking highly rated restaurants with a large number of reviews that specifically mentioned fried chicken.

How the list was made

Yelp identified restaurants and food businesses with a high concentration of reviews mentioning “fried chicken,” then ranked them using factors that included the volume of those reviews and the ratings. Chains with multiple locations were listed only once, at their highest-ranked location, and where health inspection data was available, each listed restaurant had a passing score.

The list cast a wide net on style. “Whether you like your fried chicken boneless or bone-in, with a hint of spice, served in a bucket, or sandwiched between buns, these restaurants across the US have something for everyone,” it states.

For Thelma’s, the recommended orders were the fried chicken and the fried catfish. One reviewer quoted with the listing said the catfish, greens, lima beans and chicken were all delicious.

What’s on the line at Thelma’s

Thelma’s Kitchen is a cafeteria-style soul food spot that serves a daily menu of Southern comfort food. Alongside the fried chicken, the line typically includes ribs and fried catfish, plus a full spread of freshly made sides such as macaroni and cheese, fried okra and collard greens.

The restaurant also offers lunch specials and serves steak dinners on weekends. It is popular with both locals and out-of-town visitors, many of whom pass through Eufaula on the way to Lake Eufaula, one of the best-known bass fishing lakes in the Southeast.

Hours

• Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Address: 26 Mack St., Eufaula

Southern neighbors on the list

Thelma’s shares the list with several well-known Southern institutions. Among the picks in nearby states and around the region:

• Mississippi: Walnut Hills in Vicksburg
• Georgia: Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room in Savannah
• Tennessee: Monell’s Dining & Catering in Nashville
• Florida: Loyd Have Mercy in Titusville
• Louisiana: Shaya in New Orleans
• Kentucky: The Eagle in Louisville
• North Carolina: Magnolia 23 in Asheboro
• South Carolina: Page’s Okra Grill in Mount Pleasant

About Eufaula

Eufaula sits on the Chattahoochee River at Alabama’s eastern border with Georgia, in Barbour County, more than 200 miles northeast of Mobile. The city is known for its historic district of antebellum and Victorian homes and for Lake Eufaula, also called Walter F. George Lake, a reservoir on the Chattahoochee that draws anglers and boaters from across the region.

For Gulf Coast diners who would rather stay closer to home, fried chicken remains a staple of local meat-and-three and soul food menus across Mobile and Baldwin counties. But for anyone with a road trip to the Wiregrass or the Chattahoochee Valley on the calendar, the state’s newest fried chicken title holder is open six days a week, closed only on Mondays.