Chester’s Chicken (Albion)
101 E. Michigan AvenueYou know me and gas station chicken. But this time, for the first time in a while, it’s not Krispy Krunchy Chicken.
A co-worker and I were in Albion for the night on a job assignment. We don’t get to Albion very often so I’m not super familiar with the restaurant situation. I’ve stopped at a couple of really good places (Albion Malleable and The Foundry Bakehouse & Deli) so I know there are some good options in Albion. I’m just always looking for something different.
We got to town about 5:30 PM for our 6:30 PM assignment. We had some things to do before hand so I took care of those then decided to get gas knowing we were going to be coming home late.
I pulled in to the PS Food Mart on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Superior Street just north of downtown Albion. There are two gas stations on this corner. I usually go to the Johnny’s across the street but something else caught my eye at the PS Food Mart. Signs for Chester’s Chicken.
Chester’s Chicken is another one of those franchise chicken joints that you see inside convenience stores and not as a stand alone restaurant. The only other time I’ve blogged about a Chester’s Chicken is when I blogged about the Shell station in downtown Kalamazoo on the corner of Michigan and Westnedge. I’m not sure what the deal is there though as they don’t have the typical Chester’s menu nor do they have updated branding. They do have pretty good chicken that I eat almost weekly.
The thing that makes this Chester’s Chicken really unique from most gas station chicken joints is that they have a drive thru. This space used to be a coffee shop so the drive thru infrastructure was already there. They just changed over some signage and now it’s a chicken drive thru.
The convenience store itself looks like it’s undergone a little bit of a cleanup since the last time I was in there. I grabbed a couple of Pepsi’s then headed over to the chicken counter right next to the cashiers.
I stood there for a few minutes but no one came over to see if I wanted chicken. There were five employees in there and they were all doing something else. I just looked at the tasty looking chicken hoping someone would come over and ask if I wanted chicken.
I ended up just going to a register to pay for the Pepsi and asking if I could get chicken. The lady working the register rang me up then went to wash her hands and boxed up four chicken tenders for me. I was hoping this was going to be a quick stop so I could get to my next assignment but it took way longer than it should have.
I just got chicken instead of going for the combo which includes a side and a biscuit. It was a few bucks cheaper and I wasn’t super hungry anyway. I just have a hard time turning down gas station chicken.
The chicken I got from this Chester’s is nothing like the chicken I get from the Shell station in Kalamazoo which furthers the theory that it’s not really a Chester’s anymore. This chicken had a really flacky, crunchy breading. The chicken was still pretty tender and juicy for being the type of chicken that sits under a heat lamp for a while. I didn’t get any sauce because I was going to be eating while driving to my next job site and I didn’t need to show up with Buffalo sauce on my shirt. Still, this was pretty good on it’s own and did it’s job and tiding me over until I got home around midnight.
Chester’s Chicken is gas station chicken. It’s not buttermilk brined, hand breaded, sit down restaurant quality but it is quality fast food chicken. I don’t know why I love these places so much but I do. There aren’t really many Chester’s around here so this one is kind of one of a kind in the area.
SW Michigan Dining 