Cider Mill & Fryer Tuck Chicken — Restaurant in Portland

Fryer Tuck’s is one of those places that looks like it’s been here since before Beaverton Hillsdale Highway was paved, and I mean that in the best possible way. We’d been tired of the usual fast-food suspects and this spot had been on our list forever. Reddit came through when I asked for fried chicken ideas in Southwest Portland—Fryer Tuck’s popped up again and again, like a deep-fried beacon of hope.

Finding it is a bit of an Oregon Trail side quest. You’ll hit a weird intersection, take a turn that feels slightly illegal, and suddenly you’re staring at two doors—one says Cider Mill, one says Fryer Tuck’s. Choose wisely, traveler. We went in through the Fryer Tuck’s side and were greeted by an interior that’s part gritty dive, part family relic, part “I bet Anthony Bourdain would have loved this joint.” The fixtures are old, the front counter is clean-ish but not gleaming, and you get the sense that the kitchen has seen a few decades of hot oil and good stories. I won’t lie, I did have a fleeting “how’s that health score looking?” moment, but the smell of fried chicken overruled my hesitation.

We both ordered the chicken strip sandwiches with fries, because apparently we were in a carb-forward mood. When the food came out, each box weighed roughly the same as a bowling ball. As we walked to the car, I heard my husband mutter, “This better be worth the price.” Spoiler alert: it was. Easily. Maybe even double that, if we’re going by square inch and poundage. We opened the boxes to find sandwiches bursting with enough meat to rebuild a chicken. The fries were legit—crispy, salty, endless. The chicken itself had great flavor and seasoning, but was cooked just a touch too long, making it a bit dry. My sandwich needed mayo or some other kind of food lube to smooth things out. Still, that first bite? Fantastic.

Next time, we’ll skip the bread and lettuce (which killed some of the crunch) and order a single meal to split. That’s saying something, because we don’t normally split meals. Fryer Tuck’s is generous like a grandma who doesn’t understand portion control, and the value for what you get is outstanding.

Would I go back? Yeah, absolutely—but next time I’m eating inside so I can admire the 6-foot-tall Sasquatch statue guarding the bar. Fryer Tuck’s is the kind of place where the food outweighs the flaws—literally—and if you can embrace a little grit with your gravy, it’s...

Decided to try this place to see if it was the same as when we were kids. There was no waitstaff, just a bartender who seemed more interested in visiting than doing her job. We waited half an hour with no acknowledgement of us even being there. I found some menus on one of the only tables that didn’t have dirty dishes on it. I finally walked up to the bar to ask if there was a waitstaff. The bartender said “No, just me.” She said we’d have to order at the bar or wait for her to make her drink order, then she’d come to our table. I didn’t know what my husband wanted so I told her we’d wait for her to come to our table. After 15 minutes we walked towards the bar to order, but met her carrying drinks to the poker games. She asked us to give her our order. We did. Ten minutes later she came to our table to tell us that she forgot what we ordered. Our food was ready 15 minutes later. My husband asked for dipping sauce for his fries and after another five minutes we watched her holding his sauce while stopping to initiate a conversation with other customers. Had we not been excited to see if this restaurant’s food was the same as the original Fryer Tuck’s we would have walked out. When we left there was only one clean table in the section we were in. Not one was cleaned for the + hour and a half we were there. The food was good, but the chicken and spuds weren’t the same. My husband used the bathroom and said it was filthy with no paper towels. The waitress/bartender didn’t ask how our food was or even say thank you when we paid our bill. It was like she was only interested in the people that were sitting at the bar or people she knew and wanted to visit with and that we were a nuisance. We made a long drive to get there from Washington and will not be back. Very...

Everything is very fresh tasting - we had 3 salads (coke slaw, potato salad, macaroni salad) and they all seemed as if they had just been prepared. Herbs were fresh and crisp and nothing was mushy or seemed processed - so I called to ask if they were homemade and they are. You can tell. They were good - especially the slaw and potato salad.

The draw is the chicken and again, everything tastes so fresh. The pieces are large, juicy and the coating is delish - ditto the spuds: fresh, fluffy russet or similar high quality potato, nothing is oily and, to our big surprise, nothing was salty. Most fried chicken is soaked in a sodium based marinade and then overly salted on the coating, but again, everything here is so fresh tasting, they let you decide how much salt you want. The dinner for four was plenty as far as chicken and spuds, but we ordered two extra pints of salad to try them. We really only needed one extra - or none - as even the four of us couldn’t finish all those yummy jo jos with dip - but they will be lunch tomorrow - as will the leftover rolls and salads.

Another HUGE plus: they let you chose what pieces you want. We chose 3 breasts, 4 thighs and a wing. There us a one dollar up charge per breast. It’s so cool to get exactly the pieces you like with no bs.

The staff was very friendly and apologized that they were totally slammed and it would be 30 minutes instead if the usual 20 as EVERYTHING is cooked fresh to order. Nice to actually get food so fresh that it’s literally too hot to eat. Also - they pack everything with common sense so nothing gets mashed or leaks. It’s just all so well thought out and prepared. We got ample napkins and 4 sets of plastic ware that we didn’t use as we took it home.

We will...