Hill Country Chicken

Big as Dallas, Hill Country Chicken is a tribute to founder Marc Glosserman's Texan grandmothers, Betty and Mama Els. The restaurant uses the latter's recipe for buttermilk-brined birds with a satisfying crunch. Bell & Evans supplies the humanely raised meat. Just like at Hill Country, the eatery's nearby barbecue sibling, ordering is done at the counter and you carry your piled-up tray to a table. There's additional seating downstairs, where the wood-paneled walls are lined with chicken-themed LP covers. It's a bright, cheery, retro place, full of gleaming Formica, and one can imagine it working brilliantly at an airport food court. There is also an impressive selection of pies, some of them topped with Lone Star–shaped cutouts.