BEST FRIED CHICKEN SANDWICHES IN OMAHA
My Personal Mount Rushmore
The fried chicken sandwich has always been a staple of restaurant menus, but its importance leapt up a notch after the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich sensation in 2019. As the madness ensued, every fast food establishment rushed to add some version of the dish.
But if you think you need a drive-thru to experience a delicious chicken sandwich, think again. Omaha’s local restaurants have so much more to offer.
If Omaha were to commission a Mount Rushmore to be built to its fried chicken sandwich masters, these four would get my notes (of course, there are honorable mentions, too). This isn’t to say I’ve tried every fried chicken sandwich in the city (I haven’t), but these are the best of what I’ve sampled.
***Note: Just one dish per restaurant is included on this list. I wanted to showcase many restaurants rather than shower all praise on a few elite joints.***
Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich (Sauced by Alfaro)
If a more perfect chicken sandwich exists, I’d love to try it.
This masterpiece starts with two massive hand-breaded tenders. Juicy on the inside but with a major crispiness on the exterior, these tenders present plenty of nooks and crannies for the sauce to take hold. And that sauce is just brilliant: it’s definitely spicy, enough to put a pleasant tingle on your lips after a few bites, but it also possesses brown sugar to balance the flames. Sweet bread and butter pickles and hot honey aioli add welcome sweetness.
This sandwich is sweet-heat personified with perfectly cooked fried chicken. It’s my favorite sandwich in Omaha for a reason.
Crispy Butter Chicken Sandwich (Kinaara/Good Lookin')
Who would’ve thought an Indian restaurant and a brunch joint would collaborate to create fried chicken bliss? Improbable as the pairing may seem, the friendship between owners Ashish & Kim Sathyan and Christian Brabec brought it to life, and it’s unlike anything you’ll find elsewhere.
Good Lookin‘s Fried Chicken Sandwich could earn a spot on this list alone. The crispy, well-seasoned breading doesn’t allow oil to penetrate the large chicken breast, protecting the tender integrity of the poulty.
But then Kinaara‘s deft handling of spices and flavors takes things to another level. The chicken is dunked in Indian spiced hot oil, adding just a touch of heat and additional richness. The butter sauce is creamy and cooling, and the mint chutney adds a vibrant freshness to cut through the fat. A pillowy potato roll serves as the delivery vehicle and refuses to fall apart despite the sheer amount of food it must keep in.
As a special item, this sandwich is only available periodically (for now) at Good Lookin’ and Kinaara. But watch their social media accounts like a hawk; this is, for my money, the best fried chicken sandwich in Omaha and one worth rearranging your plans for.
Gluten Free Fried Chicken Sandwich (Burning Bridges)
I genuinely feel bad for the poor potato bun that’s tasked with containing hits mass of meat. Burning Bridges stacks so much chicken into each sandwich that you could cut off the parts spilling out the side and create a second sandwich.
But while one could be awed/intimidated by the sheer size of this sandwich, its flavor is even bigger than its girth. The batter provides the dominant flavor, as this crispy, well-seasoned breading adds plenty of salt and a touch of heat. The chicken thigh retains its moist richness, while a zesty white sauce adds a creamy zing and pickles bring bursts of brininess.
And despite everything loaded inside it, the bun holds up and maintains its integrity. On top of it all, the sandwich is entirely gluten free.
To get a chicken sandwich of this quality anywhere is impressive, but out of a food truck? That’s unheard of.
The OG (Dirty Birds)
Dirty Birds is generally regarded as the fried chicken king in Omaha, and this sandwich is all you need to understand why. Dirty Birds brines its chicken before frying, ensuring that the dark, fatty are ridiculously. The breading creates a crunchy crust with all kinds of nooks and crannies to create texture. Each bite is almost like shattering “chicken glass.”
A housemade mayo adds a cooling creaminess, and thick-cut house pickles provide crunch and acid. You might need to sacrifice a dozen napkins to take this sandwich down, but it’s worth the sacrifice.
Honorable Mention Omaha Fried Chicken Sandwiches
Renegade Chickenwich
It’s borderline shocking just how tender and juicy this plump chicken breast remains, even after being deep fried. The flesh bursts forth with moistness when you bite into it, and the breading, while thinner than others on this list, adds texture.
And this sandwich packs some punch. The chicken is dunked into a chili de arbol sauce to give this sandwich a serious kick. Even the traditional cooling elements add heat, as the habanero b&b pickles and serrano-buttermilk slaw give this sandwich more flames. It’s not overwhelming hot, but underestimate it at your own peril.
Birdhouse Slider
The sauce is the boss on these mini sandwiches. A honey Sriracha gives the crispy chicken a sticky hit of sweet and heat. It’s balanced with a cooling, crunchy southern bacon slaw, which also adds salt, fat, and acid.
An added bonus: you can choose to enjoy this saucy bird inside a buttery slider bun or a tender, chewy bao bun, which brings a touch of sweetness and a unique element.
Fried Chicken Sando
Fried chicken and eggs represent poultry at different stages in life, but they pair perfectly on this breakfast sandwich. Strips of crispy fried chicken are laid atop a bed of rich, buttery eggs and slathered in a creamy chipotle mayo.
The kicker is the delivery device: a toasted English muffin that oozes forth a squeeze of butter when you dig in. If you want to start your day with fried chicken, WD Cravings is the place to do it.
Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich
Barchen allows you to choose your level of pain with its take on the classic Tennessee sandwich: regular, hot, and ghost rider add varying levels of pain.
The restaurant takes an enormous breast, fried to a nice crispness, and dunks it in a pepper-infused oil that includes brown sugar and dark brown sugar. The sweetness along with garlic aioli help somewhat to cut the heat, but eat beware: this sandwich packs some kick. It’s a fun take and something any pepperhead (hand raised) must try.
Dirty Bird
Dixie fried chicken is a classic Southern recipe with minimal seasoning (often just salt and pepper) that lets the chicken and the crsipness of the skin do the talking. And talk do they ever on the Dirty Bird, another sandwich that sends its protein spilling outside of its bun (in this case, a brioche roll).
The applewood-smoked bacon adds crunchy, salty goodness, and the sriracha buffalo sauce and blue cheese sauce combine to bring a balance of heat and creamy, salty sharpness.
These are my favorite fried chicken sandwiches in Omaha, but I want to hear from you. Tweet at @danhoppen, or message me on Instagram @dan_hoppen or Facebook to let me know what I’m missing.