In response to a rumor that some of the best fried chicken you'll ever put in your mouth can be found in a small town in western Kentucky. And if you don't get there when they open at 11 AM, you're not going to get any.
I'm here to tell you, it's no rumor. It's the truth. There is a place, in Barlow, Kentucky, in Ballard County. It's a community known for its farming and hunting and a curve in the road. There's a restaurant there, named Betty's, and on certain days of the week, she fries up some of the best fried chicken you could ever put in your mouth. There aren't too many restaurants in western Kentucky that have a line before they open, but my first trip to Betty's had me hurrying out of the car so that I could secure a good place in line. And when the doors opened no one went to find a table, they got right in line for the buffet.
This morning, the buffet had pork loin, roast beef and fried chicken. There was mashed potatoes, green beans, squash, cooked cabbage, corn, and macaroni and cheese. These are veggies like your grandmother would make. They were seasoned well, with I'm sure quite a but of butter or bacon grease. One of the times the waitress came by to fill our tea glasses we had her solve a mini-argument. I said that the potatoes were real potatoes and Jimmy said they were instant. I won. They were so creamy and rich, there was no way they were instant. There is a full salad bar with cucumbers and onions and beets and Kentucky Fried Chicken cole slaw that's a lot better than KFC cole slaw. I never bothered with the desserts and if you know me then you know that I go to the dessert table first. And I couldn't wait for a dessert, but that was before I ate the vegetables. I went back for seconds of all the vegetables and ate until I could not put another bite in my mouth.
Now that's a Sunday dinner.
And everyone knew each other in the restaurant. I'm sure they were all raised together. And a lot of them were probably related. But they were all comfortable in the place. A family of about 9 sat in a large table near us. At one point, the grandfather went through a side door and came back with two or three pieces of chicken, straight out of the kitchen. A few minutes later they began talking across the room to a man sitting at a large table with his grandson. They asked where the rest of the family was. He told them that he had left church early and the rest would be here as soon as church let out. He commented that the preacher must have had a long message this morning.
When we had had more than we could fathom eating we went to check out. We stood a few minutes and I wondered if anyone was working the cash register. Everyone was so busy keeping tea glasses filled and plates cleared that the cash register seemed to be an afterthought.
As we left we really didn't comment that we would be back, but I knew for a fact that we would.