A Route 66 Chicken Dinner With Goats, Collectibles and Corn Fritters

A large rooster statue sets the tone before you even get inside: this is a roadside restaurant that takes its chicken seriously. Fried chicken is the centerpiece, but the outing extends well beyond a plate of food, spilling into rooms of vintage objects, holiday displays, old vehicles and an outdoor area with alpacas, goats and cows.

The place has the broad, happily busy scale of a longtime family destination. There are several dining rooms, plenty of seating for a crowd and enough to inspect after lunch that a gathering can stretch into a proper afternoon rather than ending when the check arrives.

Its Route 66 identity suits the setup. This is a stop with the slightly theatrical, collector-driven personality people hope to find on an old American highway: chicken-themed details in unexpected places, coin-operated amusements, a fortune teller and more memorabilia than a standard country restaurant could possibly need.

Before the main course, tables receive a family-style relish spread that has its own devoted following. It includes coleslaw, kidney bean salad, pickled beets, cottage cheese and corn fritters, served for sharing and replenished as the meal goes on.

The coleslaw is finely chopped and vinegar-based, more crisp and tangy than the heavy mayonnaise-forward versions found at many diners. It is a sharp little counterpoint to a rich fried-chicken dinner.

Kidney beans and celery come together in a creamy salad, while the pickled beets bring firm texture, earthy sweetness and a good vinegar bite. These are not throwaway side dishes placed on the table for decoration; they make the opening of the meal feel like an old-fashioned family supper.

Then there are the corn fritters. Light, fluffy and sweet with corn, they have been compared to funnel cake in texture. A basket of them can disappear with surprising speed while everyone is still deciding which relish item deserves a second pass.

The signature fried chicken arrives with a crisp coating around moist, tender meat. It is the meal the restaurant is built around, and the menu gives chicken several routes: classic fried-chicken dinners, tenders and strips.

Mashed potatoes and gravy fit naturally alongside the fried chicken, while some dinners come with a baked potato and sour cream. These are sturdy, familiar accompaniments, the sort that keep the meal firmly in country-dinner territory.

Chicken strips come with ranch dipping sauce, a useful option for diners who want the house specialty in a less formal format. Tenders also make it easier for a table to mix and match without abandoning the restaurant's central idea.

A group does not have to be entirely chicken-minded. Fish, fried shrimp and T-bone steak give the menu enough range for a family with competing orders, while brandy ice cream stands out as an unexpected dessert choice after all those savory plates.

The chicken theme is not confined to the menu or the rooster at the entrance. Chicken imagery turns up throughout the building, including chicken-patterned carpeting and even a chicken motif on a bathroom drain. It is a level of commitment that is hard not to smile at.

Vintage entertainment adds another layer to the wandering. A foosball table, fortune teller and coin-operated machines give the rooms the character of a compact roadside amusement stop as much as a restaurant.

The collection also reaches into ordinary household objects and assorted collectibles. The pleasure is in looking closely: one display leads to another, and the building gives those little discoveries room to accumulate.

Vintage cars and motorcycles are part of the on-site collection, adding a natural companion to the Route 66 setting. An antique-car museum or vintage-car display area can turn a meal stop into a browse through automotive history.

Not every attraction is full-size. A small illuminated village with trains brings a miniature-world charm, and the Department 56 scenes and collectibles display is especially extensive. It is the sort of detailed display that can hold the attention of both a child looking for a moving train and an adult spotting a tiny familiar object.

The displays and museum areas may operate separately from the dining rooms, so their exact availability and arrangements can vary. Still, the overall property is built for lingering rather than simply eating and leaving.

After a substantial chicken dinner, the outdoor animal area offers a reason to get up and stroll. Alpacas, goats and cows live on the grounds, giving children something immediate to do and adults a pleasantly odd little addition to a Route 66 lunch stop.

Animal feeding is available as an interactive activity. The feed has been inexpensive in the past, though the price is subject to change.

The animal area also breaks up the day nicely for multigenerational groups. One person can be studying an old motorcycle, another can be looking at a train display, and grandchildren can be more interested in the goats. Nobody has to pretend the same thing is everyone’s favorite.

The restaurant has hosted communions, graduations, birthdays and other large family occasions. Multiple dining rooms and extensive seating give it the scale for extended families who would rather sit together than split into several small tables.

That familiar celebratory use helps explain the enduring appeal of the relish course. Passing bowls of slaw, beans, beets and fritters around the table gives a group a shared start before individual entrées arrive.

Couples can have a perfectly enjoyable chicken dinner here, but the property is especially well suited to a mixed-age outing. There is food for traditionalists, tenders for simpler orders, non-chicken choices for the holdouts and plenty to look at once the plates are cleared.

Holiday décor, particularly Christmas displays, is closely tied to the restaurant’s atmosphere. The existing collections make a natural backdrop for seasonal decorations, giving the rooms even more visual activity during the holiday period.

Free parking is available in a plentiful lot, a welcome practical detail for a place designed to handle big tables and leisurely visits. Between the meal, the displays and the outdoor animals, this is a Route 66 stop that can comfortably occupy more than a quick lunch break.