Harold's Chicken Shack In Chicago

While Clinton favored Big Macs, President Obama had his dirty little fast food secrets too. When Michelle called Barack's bachelor pad on the South Side of Chicago "a dump" on 60 Minutes, her husband shot back that "at least it was near Harold's Fried Chicken."

Harold's Chicken Shack is the King of Chicago fried chicken. It has morphed into a local chain, but the quality has not changed. I ordered a 24-piece bucket, which cost roughly a dollar a piece, and asked the lady behind the counter (which was behind the 4-inch, bulletproof glass) whether they served biscuits like The Colonel. King Harold, whose logo is a cartoon of an African-American chef chasing a live chicken with a hatchet, apparently only serves white bread, focusing all of his culinary efforts on the beef-tallow-fried, to-order chicken.

Unfazed, I asked what goes with the chicken? The nice lady answered with a smile, "hot sauce." The fried chicken was not greasy at all and the crunchy battered skin absorbed the hot sauce I dutifully poured on top of each piece. It didn't get soggy at all. This fried chicken dripped with soul. New York's current fried chicken restaurateurs better hope Harold stays in Chicago.