“So the Doctor...

asks the patient, ‘Have you stopped drinking liquor and eliminated bacon, butter, red meats and sugar from your diet?’

‘Yes,’ says the patient. ‘Will I live longer?’

‘Probably,’ says the doctor, ‘but what's the point?’

“That's how I feel about a visit to Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles. Sure, I could pull all the crispy skin off my fried chicken, rake that golf ball-size knob of butter off my waffles, eat my grits without cheese and butter,…but where would be the fun in that? If I'm eating at Lo-Lo's, I'm having it all—calories and cholesterol be damned” (Nikki Buchanan, Arizona Republic).

“There are all types of choices when choosing a restaurant. You might be looking for an adventure or something spicy. And then there are times you just need something from your momma's kitchen. When we think of home cooking, we always think of comfort foods.

There are no greater comfort foods than those you find in the Southern United States…. Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles…is a family owned business that takes great pride in their food. Such pride that many of the entrees…include names of people known to Lo-Lo. (Lo-Lo is also known as Larry White by the way.)” (funfrankfridays.blogspot.com)

I can’t remember when Chuck and I had last eaten fried chicken. It must have been at Gus’s in Memphis back in June. And this was great—although I think that Chuck still gives an edge to Sunny’s in Church Point, LA. So I was excited when Evie, Raina, and the two of us decided that our lunch destination would be Lo-Lo’s.

The original Lo-Lo’s is in Phoenix and is located in what looks like (based on photos I have seen on line) a funky house-like building. But we were at Evie’s house in Scottsdale, Evie and I were really hungry, and the Scottsdale location was mere minutes away. So we sacrificed funk for proximity.

The fairly long menu offers numerous permutations on chicken, waffle, and fish combinations. After no little deliberation, Evie and Raina decided to share one of “Lolo's Famous Soul Food Platters”--their choice being two pieces of fried catfish with two sides, and cornbread. For their sides they chose the fried okra and the collard greens.

I took a small taste their sides and both were excellent but a special “shout out” has to go to the collards. These were real Southern style with bite from vinegar and heat from red chile flakes. The catfish fillets were good sized and looked like the kind of catfish we so enjoyed in Louisiana.

Chuck opted for a light lunch—the Sheedah's Special with one breast, one wing (whole wing), and one waffle. I didn’t taste any of the items on this plate, but he praised the chicken’s flavorful and crisp crust and the moistness of the breast. And he also declared the waffle to be “delicious.”

If you were asking yourself “Where are the potatoes?” Rest easy. To go with his lunch he added a side of potato salad. This I did taste and it was a good restaurant-version.

I seriously considered ordering “Bubba's Shrimp and Grits”—seven jumbo shrimp sautéed with mushrooms, scallions, bacon, a zest of lemon, and a splash of Tabasco, then topped with cheddar cheese, and served over a bed of grits. But I was hungering for fried chicken and wanting to erase the remembrance of the awful wings I ate in Page, AZ, from my memory bank. So I went with “Chyna's Honey Hots”—six whole wings splashed with a honey and hot sauce and served with a cup of ranch dressing.

First, these were the largest and meatiest wings I have seen since we last ate at Sunny’s where the wings are the size of an archaeopteryx’ (winged dinosaur). Second, the crisp coating didn’t get soggy under the blanket of honey hot sauce.

I did think that they could have been spicier but this situation was quickly corrected by using some of the bottled wing sauce on the table. This was larger portion than I could finish at lunch, so some of them came home with me for supper—and they were still crisp hours later.

After Sunny’s (Church Point, LA) and Gus’s (Memphis), this may be the best fried chicken of our travels and Lo-Lo’s earns a 4.0 Addie rating.

To review the role of Adler, Kitty Humbug, and the Addie rating system, read the November 14, 2011 blog.