Hall’s Honey-Fried Chicken (Texas Country Reporter)

Scientists say that out of all your senses your memory is tied most closely with your sense of smell that’s why for so many of us long time dallas residents driving up to hall’s honey fried chicken can bring back a bucket of memories i love going to thompson hall street

Especially at night because you saw everything that was the center of the universe i thought it was i thought it was i just got here bob that’s me that’s you 20 years ago 200 pounds lighter that’s me at henderson you’re not 200 pounds wider 250. john

Hall and i never knew it at the time but we’ve probably crossed paths more often than a chicken has crossed the road he spent countless hours behind the counter of his family’s fried chicken joint known back then as henderson’s chicken shack and stopping by was the number one job for an

Inexperienced college kid working at television job number one 1970 i went to work at kdfw tv channel 4 here in dallas yes sir and because i was the low man on the totem pole one of my jobs was to get dinner for the night crew right we all worked until late night

And unless i was told different my marching orders were every evening you go to hendersons yes sir at thomason hall and you get chicken for everybody that was the place to be that was the place to get fried chicken it was the place to get fried chicken in

Dallas from dollars cowboys to attorneys to entertainers to the homeless we served everybody my grandfather actually created this and that was that was amazing to me i mean it was just amazing to me and i said i want to carry this on and as i got older

I ventured out i got other jobs but i always came back to henderson to work and then in 1989 i started halls and we’ve been going ever since Now due to a series of business changes the whole family runs their own restaurants now completely independent from the hendersons that’s still in operation confusing i know as many of us dallasites thought they had flown the coop i thought for decades that my midnight snack was yesterday’s news

Just a memory that is until my friend edgar heard a delicious rumor well it didn’t take long for us to investigate all right edgar here it is take a bite tell me what you think here it goes what does that remind you reminds me of back in the day late at night Thomason hall street after the club going by halls getting the chicken sitting in the car eating it right out the paper sack tastes just the same as it did back then this is good all right let’s dive in that’s all i need to know Five wings and five eyes golden crusted chicken piled on a bed of fries and white bread don’t even think about asking for wheat and garnished with peppers and pickles this is it the same hall’s recipe that john’s grandpa started frying up in 1948 and now that legacy is feeding a new generation

As his daughter mackenzie has flocked to the family business five piece three-piece tender sauce is inside i spend a lot of summers at my dad’s location and that’s probably like my earliest memory is i had to stand on a milk crate because i couldn’t see out the window

Can i get a two-piece dark and so then i started working at the store with him and then i think after that okay i realized i was pretty good so i have a two-piece dark with no bread and i have a three piece brush with extra pepper at just 26 years old mackenzie

Already owns and operates the second location for hall’s honey fried chicken it’s a big responsibility for someone her age but one she’s more than ready for you got fries down right all right i took over some of the roles that i didn’t know about when i was younger

So a lot of the like paper work aspect of it financial aspect of it so profit and loss and balance sheets and were you scared at that point i mean the balance sheet the profit and loss no um i guess because i was a business management major i

Learned about those things and you know they’re necessary obviously when you run a business the hardest part is being in the store and working and because when you run a business it’s you’re not just the owner you wear many different hats so you’re a therapist and your friend

And sometimes you’re a parent even though i’m 26 years old 15 more tenders please thank you mackenzie’s added tenders wings and dipping sauces to the menu but she will never tinker with great grandpa’s winning formula she knows that hall’s history is as rich and golden as a three-piece with fries

And that’s something this father-daughter duo is thankful for with each and every bite of nostalgia krista i want them to go away thinking that one this is the best chicken in dallas period there’s no better chicken in dallas but i want them to see the legacy and

I want them to see how much pride we have in our business welcome to sunny fried chicken go ahead and order when you’re ready how important is this as part of your grandfather’s legacy oh it’s it’s very important the fact that my daughter is doing it

Uh it’s just it’s it’s great to me when i come in the morning i always touch my grandfather his picture and say thank you because without him i wouldn’t be doing it this is just a blessing [Applause] Thanks for hopping in and traveling with us now click the subscribe button for more videos like the one you just saw

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Video Duration: 00:06:39