Top Five for Fried Chicken in Columbia, SC

Apparently, someone important [probably a Southerner] decided to make today “National Fried Chicken Day”. Only in America, right? In honor of the best way to eat chicken, here are the top five places to get fried chicken in Columbia, SC:

1. Bernie’s Restaurant: If you live in Columbia, you owe it to yourself to go to Bernie’s for fried chicken at some point. The “3 piece special” is the standard order, and it’s always perfectly crispy and delicious. Being over by Williams-Brice, there’s always a good crowd during the fall over at Bernie’s, but they keep the line moving. It’s the best fried chicken in Columbia. If you say otherwise, it will be pistols at dawn.

2.  Zesto’s Their trademark may be the big soft-serve ice cream cone over the building, but make no mistake – they do some serious fried chicken here. (They also own Rosewood Dairy Bar, which is excellent.)

3. Yesterday’s. Their fried chicken is topped with white gravy, but I eat it so fast, I don’t ever let it get soggy. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

4. Bojangles. It’s a national chain, but they have some awesome chicken. What I really like about theirs is the spicy rub that goes under the skin.

5. Chick-fil-A. Yeah, it’s not really “fried chicken”, but it’s so good that it deserves to be in here. I recommend the Jackie Bradley, Jr. combo. Go the one in Five Points and ask for that.

If you're looking for the top places to get fried chicken in Columbia, SC, you could do much worse than these places. I ranked both Bojangles and Chick-fil-A down because they weren't local places. If you have problem with that, start your own list, bro.

Disagree with any of this? Have I left out anywhere that deserves to be ranked higher?