Completing The Rounds At White House Chicken

It may have come a little too late to take advantage of the buzz Michael Symon created a few months back when he took on the Barberton Chicken challenge between Belgrade Garden and Whitehouse Chicken, but I finally got around to trying my fourth and final Barberton chicken joint, Whitehouse, recently in an early bird (no pun intended) setting on a Saturday night. I don't normally crave this regional style of chicken, but tonight for some reason it sounded good. So, I hopped in my car, drove to the corner where the original Whitehouse Restaurant was located and proceeded to drive around the block three times before settling on the fact that unlike the other three chicken houses (Belgrade, Hopocan, and Milich's), Whitehouse did not have a dedicated parking lot. Instead I opted to park across the street in the strip mall parking lot and braved the arctic air while crossing the street to reach the front entrance.

The original location of Whitehouse Chicken was at the corner of West Paige and Wooster Road North, or more specifically 180 Wooster Road North, Barberton, OH and can be reached at 330-745-0449. There are also satellite locations in Ellet, Green, Tallmadge, Wadsworth, and Cuyahoga Falls. I've eaten at several of the other locations in the past (a long, long time ago) and I was never particularly impressed. So to be fair to the other reviews I've done on Barberton Chicken joints, I wanted to review the original.

Here was a photograph of the front entrance to Whitehouse from across the street:


Once inside, I was surprised at how much bigger the restaurant was on the inside. From its exterior, the place looked barely large enough to fit a few tables. After being told to seat myself wherever I liked, I tried to find a table near the back where it was unoccupied and I could do my photography without disturbing other patrons. Shortly after taking my seat, my server dropped off a menu for me to peruse:



Unlike all the other chicken houses, the menu at Whitehouse was short and sweet. It was chicken, chicken, chicken, and, okay, for you non-chicken eater out there, one fish dish. While the basic chicken dinner offerings were virtually identical to the other houses, the prices at Whitehouse were considerably more inexpensive. I ended up going with a "Classic White" dinner which included the breast, back, drumstick, and wing along with three sides all for roughly $8.99. A similar dinner at Belgrade would have set me back closer to $11.

After placing my order, the ubiquitous slices of white and rye bread made an appearance on my table:


As with the other chicken houses, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about the bread or the butter.

Unlike the other houses, however, my dinner made an appearance within about two minutes of me ordering it. In fact, when the food runner showed up at my table, I was almost certain that she had made a mistake. Apparently, I had arrived just as the kitchen had begun volume production of the fried chicken for tonight's dinner service, in anticipation of the dinner rush.

Because everything came out on one platter, I didn't get a shot of the entire thing. Instead, I decided to take photographs of different portions, with some of the foods overlapping from shot to shot. First up was the hot rice and mashed potatoes with white pepper gravy:


The tomato-based hot rice was hot, both in terms of temperature and spice level. I've never really developed a taste for this side at any of the Barberton restaurants, but other than the somewhat mushy texture of the rice, Whitehouse's version was decent enough. The mashed potatoes were also decent and seasoned well, but didn't really knock my socks off. The white pepper gravy was somewhat of a misnomer. Depending on how you read the description, it could be taken to mean that it was a gravy containing white pepper or a white gravy containing pepper. In this particular case, it was the latter. The gravy added a nice pepperiness to the potatoes and I think I would prefer it over just a plain brown gravy.

On the other side of the platter was the fried chicken and the homemade coleslaw:


Consistent with the rest of the chicken joints, the coleslaw was a simple shredded cabbage that had been dressed in a vinegar, sugar, and salt combination and allowed to sit until soft. Whitehouse's coleslaw had a nice balance to it, being neither too sweet or too acidic. I still think my favorite version was at Belgrade, but this one wasn't bad either.

Finally, the main event, the fried chicken:


The coating on the chicken was crispy and not greasy. While the crust wasn't quite as thick as the version found at Belgrade Gardens, it was still evenly coated and well seasoned. After cutting into the breast meat, I decided to snap one last photograph, to demonstrate how juicy the meat was on the inside:


I was most impressed with how well cooked the chicken actually was. For two dollars less than the same plate of food from my favorite, Belgrade Gardens, Whitehouse was astonishingly good. While I hadn't thought I was hungry enough to eat four pieces of chicken when I walked through the front door, by the time I was finished with my platter tonight, it was nothing but bones, cartilage, and tiny bits of meat that were inaccessible to teeth and fork. I finally realized just how difficult a decision it had been for Michael Symon when he had to choose the winner for his television show. Of course, there are many out there who will draw a hard and non-negotiable line over which chicken house is the best, for me, between Belgrade Garden, Hopocan Garden, and Whitehouse Chicken, the various shades of gray are incredibly close.

To me, Belgrade Garden still edges out everyone else in terms of overall flavor, crispiness of the chicken coating and juiciness of the meat. That being said, if a Barberton chicken dinner is what you are after and you aren't particularly dogmatic about your selection, I don't see how you could go wrong with Whitehouse Chicken. The good news is that you might even spend a little less to experience nearly the same meal. As I stood from the table in preparation of paying my check, I noticed that there were considerably more guests seated at tables than when I arrived. Given that Whitehouse Chicken just doesn't have the physical space to handle the massive crowds that the other houses do, I'd suggest getting there early unless you don't mind waiting.

Going For A "Child's White" At Hopocan Gardens

In my quest to cover the four major Barberton chicken houses, I have eaten at and blogged about both Milich's Village Inn and Belgrade Gardens. Both posts have been quite popular in the search engine results and I have had many new readers find my blog because of those write-ups. Recently, I had a chance to finally make it to the third major chicken house, DeVore's Hopocan Gardens. Trying to avoid long lines and crowds, I smartly went for an early supper and was rewarded with plenty of available seats.

Hopocan Gardens was located at 4396 Hopocan Avenue Ext, Norton, OH 44203 and can be reached at 330-825-9923. There was ample parking in the lot outside the restaurant. The tricky thing about finding Hopocan Gardens was knowing that the restaurant isn't visible from the corner of Hopocan and Hillsdale Avenues. The clue, as I discovered the first time I found it, was to look for this sign:


Once on Hopocan Avenue Extension, follow the road down to the parking lot and the actual restaurant. Here was a shot of the front of the building:


There were two doors in the building. I choose the one on the far left, but as it turned out, either entrance would have been acceptable. Based on the size of the parking lot, I was expecting a lot of available dining room space. While tonight's small crowd only needed the moderately sized dining room attached to the kitchen and bar area, there were additional unlit rooms to the rear of the building. I don't think I'd be stretching the truth to say that during the Friday and Saturday night dinner crunch, just like it's other brethren, Hopocan Gardens can seat a lot of people.

After seating myself in the main dining room, my server dropped off a menu:




As has been the case with the other chicken houses at which I've eaten, the menu options were quite similar, although Hopocan Gardens' menu seemed a bit simpler at only two pages. I was here, of course, for the fried chicken and while the price for a regular four piece chicken dinner wasn't too expensive, I just wasn't that hungry. Fortunately, there was a "Child's White" option available that came just with a chicken breast and three sides in the mid $6 range. Perfect!

When I asked about the sides available, I was told that of all the sides, only three were homemade: hot rice, coleslaw, and fresh-cut fries. This seems to be a common theme among all of the chicken houses. And, as it turned out, the flavors were also very similar.

My server started my meal by bringing me some bread and butter out from the kitchen:


Once again, white and seedless rye were presented. Once again, there wasn't much to be said except that the bread was fresh, but unremarkable. I began to realize that the experience of getting a Barberton fried chicken dinner was largely pretty much cookie-cutter. Where one restaurant outshone another was in the execution of the dishes. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long to find out how Hopocan Gardens fared.

Here was a shot of my chicken dinner:


Considering this was the "child's" plate, it was still an enormous amount of food. In fact, I took half home with me for a snack later on that evening. Let's work our way around the plate.

First up was the hot rice:


The first time I had hot rice, I wasn't sure if the "hot" moniker was due to the fact that the dish was served hot or if it is because the dish was supposed to be spicy. Hopocan Gardens' version satisfied both requirements. It was most similar in flavor to Belgrade Gardens' version, but this actually produced a bit of capsaicin-induced burning in my mouth. Not so much that it masked the other flavors, but it was definitely the spiciest I've had so far.

Next was the coleslaw:


The coleslaw at all three chicken houses have been made with the same vinegar, sugar, and salt ingredients, but I think my favorite so far has to go to Belgrade Gardens. While Hopocan Gardens' version wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, the version at Belgrade Gardens seemed to sing a bit better in my mouth. I think the balance between the three dressing ingredients played better on my taste buds.

While I wasn't super excited about the fresh-cut fries as a side, being that they were homemade, I gave them a shot:


The good news was that some of the fries were actually crispy and not greasy. The bad news was that the rest of them were limp and a oil laden. I've said it before and it bears repeating, if you like this kind of fry, these will definitely appeal to you. If, like me, you prefer fries that are crispy on the outside, not greasy, and fluffy on the inside, this probably won't be your cup of tea.

And finally, the star of the plate, the fried chicken breast:


The first thing that people new to Barberton chicken might notice is that the chicken breast doesn't look like a regular piece of fried chicken you would get elsewhere. To quote Hopocan Gardens' website:

"During the depression, families needed to find a way to cut the chickens to yield the most pieces without any waste. Times were hard. When the first chicken house opened, they cut the chicken this same way and passed the efficiency onto their customers in the form of low prices - an idea that is still popular 50 years later. "

While it looks like the breast might be boneless, I can assure you it isn't. I managed to cut through a small bone and after taking a bite, had to fish the small jagged piece out of my mouth so I didn't actually choke on it. It was my own fault and I should've paid a bit more attention to what I was doing.

Speaking of which, after cutting into my chicken, I took a picture of the interior meat:


Overall this was a nicely fried piece of chicken. The exterior was crispy and not oily and the meat itself was moist and well-seasoned. It was comparable to Belgrade Gardens' chicken, but the chicken I had eaten at Belgrade Gardens was actually juicier and more succulent. If Hopocan was a 9, then Belgrade was a 10. Regardless, I enjoyed the chicken very much.

Having finished all that I could eat, I boxed up the rest, walked up to the counter and paid a little over $7 (with tax) for my very filling meal. I very much enjoyed my meal today at Hopocan Gardens and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to you, especially if you are looking for a taste of this somewhat unhealthy dish and don't want a massive amount of leftovers attributed to a full-size entrée. However, if you are looking for the very best version of Barberton chicken, I still have to tip my hat in the direction of Belgrade Gardens.

Belgrade Gardens and the Infamous Barberton Chicken

I think what surprised me the most when I wrote my blog entry on Milich's Village Inn was how many people eventually found a link to the article through the myriad of search engines out there (Google's being the top, by far). Of course, my faithful readers took a gander when it first came out, but the entry just seemed to take a life of its own on after that. To this day I still get a fair number of first-time readers coming from the Internet every now and again who happen to find my website through the results of a web search.

Having eaten at two of the four major Barberton Chicken restaurants now, I decided it was time to add a third one to the list, Belgrade Gardens. Situated at 401 East State Street, Barberton, Ohio 44203, they can also be reached via telephone at 330-745-0113. There is no website currently, although there is a lot of information available on the web if one just does a simple search. The first thing you notice after seeing the sign for the restaurant


was the MASSIVENESS of the parking lot. Doing a quick bit of estimating, I figured that the parking lot could easily hold 200+ cars. If you figure two to three people per car on average, that means that during a really busy night, you could be feeding 500-600 people at any given time. While Milich's Village Inn will serve quite a few at once, this is monstrous compared to that. Fortunately, I decided to go earlier in the evening to avoid the crowds. I was rewarded with a much emptier restaurant.

Here was a shot of the front of the building as you walk across the parking lot towards the front of the restaurant:


After being seated, I started looking through the menu. Left panel:


Middle panel:


Right panel:


Besides the usual suspects (i.e. chicken), the left panel of the menu also contained a list of daily specials:


But, seeing as I was here for the chicken, I mostly focused on the middle panel which talked about all of the chicken options:


It was at that point my server came over and introduced herself. I explained that while I have been to several of the Barberton Chicken restaurants, I had never been to Belgrade Gardens before. Excited, she said that she would let me look over the menu and would return with my glass of water and a complimentary order of the dumplings that are offered on the appetizer menu. After she left I started looking around my table. The table was actually set simply, but the colorful flowers (not real) added a nice little bit of freshness:


Unfortunately the table also had one of those cardboard advertisements for fried mozzarella sticks:


I guess I understand that in today's restaurant climate you have to appeal to the broadest spectrum of clientèle possible, but honestly this belonged nowhere near a restaurant like the Belgrade Gardens. I suppose in it's hay day, they didn't have to pander to the lowest common denominator, but times are different now. I put the sign back just as my server returned.

First up, a shot of the bread basket. This was similar to what I had received at Milich's,


with the exception that at Belgrade's, they use a local purveyor for their butter, Sumner's:


This impressed me. Not only because it was butter and not margarine, but also because they had chosen to support another local business. Plus, on top of everything else, I like Sumner's dairy products. The bread itself was a mixture of rye and seeded Italian. As with Milich's, the best you could hope for was that the bread wasn't stale; it wasn't.

After she set the bread basket and my water glass down, a dish of the dumplings appeared before me:


The best way to describe this dish is to think of large dumplings that had been poached in a chicken paprikash type base. The red slick on top of the liquid was from the paprika used to help color and flavor the dish. I cut the dumplings into bite-sized pieces and served myself up a little bit:


This was really very good. It was definitely a unique Hungarian flavor and the dumplings for the most part were tender and well cooked. A few of the larger dumplings still had just a touch of rawness to their very centers, but those were few and far between. The stewed dumplings came with a variety of well cooked vegetables on top from onions, celery, carrots and cabbage. After eating about half of my dumplings I decided to stop because I still had an entire dinner coming out, including a side of cole slaw:


When I first tried to get a bit of cole slaw on the fork, I realized that in order to get the neat and molded shape, they must have packed the cole slaw into a timbale before turning it over onto the serving dish. This meant that you actually got quite a bit more cole slaw than you first realized. Which is good because although it was a simple blend of shredded cabbage and carrots, the dressing was nicely balanced between sour, sweet, and salty. And while a nice flavor contrast like crushed caraway seeds or celery seeds would've made this even more tasty and unique, I was quite happy with what came out of the kitchen.

Finally after about another fifteen minutes or so, the rest of my dinner came out:


I ordered the "regular" chicken dinner which includes four pieces of fried chicken, and for my two sides I got the hot sauce and the whipped potatoes with gravy. Above is the chicken and the hot sauce. Below is the whipped potatoes and gravy:


Both the whipped potatoes and the gravy were seasoned well. And as you can see in the photo above, there are even specks of potato skin in the serving I received. However, once I put a bit into my mouth, I was surprised because it was really smooth. Too smooth. I confirmed my suspicions later when I was paying for my meal: these were instant potatoes. Food manufacturers are getting pretty crafty nowadays. Had the potato skin specks not been visible, I would've immediately thought these were instant. But, the palate never lies. I did confirm that everything else I had ordered was made from scratch though.


This was probably the best version of hot sauce I have had so far. A tomato and rice-based dish, this is kind of like eating stewed tomatoes with rice. This also had some cabbage and other root vegetables thrown in as well. It was barely spicy at all, which is fairly consistent with all of the other hot sauces I've tried in my travels. Even with the admission that Belgrade's version was the best I had tried so far, this still isn't something that I would ever really crave.

All that being said, when I finally got around to trying the chicken at the Belgrade Gardens, I discovered that it was OUTSTANDING:


I started with the lowly chicken wing (of which I am a huge fan). The coating was nice and crispy and the meat was hot and juicy. Between the way the crust looked and tasted, you could tell it had been fried in 100% lard. Which, to be honest, is a strange taste to me after having eaten food only fried in vegetable shortening/oil for the last thirty years of my life. After finishing the wing and drummette, I moved on to the rather odd looking breast. Getting a wing to come out juicy and tender is one thing, but the breast, too?


This is a cross section of the breast meat after I cut a portion. The wetness is 100% from the internal juiciness of the chicken. The crust on the outside was crisp and flavorful. The meat was perfectly seasoned all the way through. If I was a betting man, I would say that this chicken is brined before being fried. I was so surprised at how wonderful this chicken was after having such a mediocre experience at Milich's. When I asked my server about this, she admitted that while Belgrade wasn't necessarily the cheapest place to get Barberton Chicken, in her opinion it was definitely the best. Clearly I can see the self-serving bias in her statement, but honestly, I have to agree with her.

I packed up the remnants of my meal (which incidentally enough was plenty for another entire meal), headed back across the parking lot and got into my car completely stuffed and with a newfound respect for the Barberton Chicken "brand". While I still have high hopes for the fourth and final, restaurant, Hopocan Gardens, even if that one turns out to be a total dud, Belgrade Gardens will happily occupy a spot on my favorites list for the foreseeable future. I highly suggest you give them a try.