Fried Chicken

[EMR]

I have noticed that there are NO (I have not seen any) fried chicken places like KFC, Church's, Popeye's, etc. I wonder why? Does anyone know of any fried chicken restaurants in BA or do the people just not like it?

 

[Davidglen77]

The way it was explained to me was, people here don't really enjoy foods that they have to pick up and eat with their hands. For that reason, fried chicken didn't do well here when it was presented. Take pizza for example, if you eat pizza in the US with a fork and knife it looks snotty. Here it's perfectly acceptable and expected.

 

[igor]

I always see people eating empanadas with their hands in standing sections of restaurants. There is even a special way to fold a napkin to hold it for not to burned by dripping hot broth.

As to the chicken places, there are many branches of Trak. It is a rotisserie, but that's probably the closest thing to KFC etc. One of them is on Santa Fe & 9 de Julio.

 

[Davidglen77]

Good point on the empanadas, Igor. I would say they are the ultimate hand held food. I have to go back with that issue to the person who told me about not wanting to eat food with their hands.

 

[gouchobob]

I'm not sure why fried chicken isn't available. I've seen KFC in other countries in S.A. Maybe it was tried sometime in the past and didn't make it. As for it being finger food there may be some truth to this. However, the American burger fast food restaurants there do quite well which is finger food as well.

 

[syngirl]

They tried a lot of fast food restaurants here and they failed. Wendy's was one of them, I suspect KFC probably was as well. 11 herbs and spices don't delight everyone I guess. Also chicken here is expensive. KFCs disgusting to me anyway!

 

[VieNeVautRien]

By 1996 we had Pizza Hut, Dunking Donuts and Wendys in BA but they weren't so popular so they closed down. I think it was because by that time their prices were higher than in others local places. Now I m not sure Starbucks will succeed. KFC has never been here.

 

[jlewis]

I know in Brasil that Rio is the only city you'll find KFC. I love the plateful of beans and rice they serve it with there. I think I saw KFC in Santiago as well but can't be sure if my memory is correct or not.

KFC is disgusting but it's just one of those things you crave every couple of months

The whole not touching your food with your hands really sticks with you. After first struggling with it, I can't help but do it now. Napkins wrapped around the edges of empanadas and sandwiches, toothpicks for papas fritas, knife and fork for pizza, etc.

 

[gregcaloha]

And what of the ubiquitous "choripan"? No, I think there is plenty of finger food on "la calle" but it's about cultural inheritance... KFC is about the south, the united states that is. There is the melding of culture of the pampas/latin america and the Euro cuisine in BA which is distinct and quite removed from US gastro lineages. In my opinion.

 

[Napoleon]

I always see people eating empanadas with their hands in standing sections of restaurants. There is even a special way to fold a napkin to hold it for not to burned by dripping hot broth.

Igor- Those aren't "napkins", they are pieces of WAX PAPER.

As for "Fried Chicken"... they have it here. It's just smashed flat, then deep fried, and eaten with a fork. Often it's served with French fries just in case you didn't get enough grease from the chicken. Oh, and they call it a "milanesa de pollo".

And in the KFC rocks the fried chicken world debate, if it weren't owned by Frito-Lay/Pepsico, then you probably wouldn't even see them in the States. That's because of the greatness of POPEYES CHICKEN. An order of "Spicy" (that would be outlawed in BsAs), a side of Rice & Beans (again, outlawed), mashed potatoes & gravy (accepted, because they are loaded with salt), and bisquits with honey (the honey would cost an extra peso per packet) would TOTALLY hit the spot right now.