The second day of this accursed year of 2017, I was in a nasty car crash coming back from snowshoeing at Trillium Lake, in which a pickup slid on ice, fishtailed over the center line and into the front of my friend’s Subaru. We had time to choke out a half scream before it was airbags and a temporary lights-out for me.
The front end of her car was crumpled like a tinfoil swan, but everyone miraculously walked away. Riding home, I realized the last thing I ate before my potential demise were some inedible dry jo-jos from the Thriftway deli in Welches. A tragic end for a professional glutton.
So here’s to Big’s Chicken, whose version of fried potato wedges I’d be happy to have as a last meal. Jo-jos are not a fancy food—in fact, co-owner Ben Dyer says they’re the only thing not made in-house. After rounds of tasting and testing, the team decided to order them frozen. This is not the place for snobbery, however. They’re deep-fried to order, spiced up with paprika, cayenne, curry, and other spices, and remain moist with the crisp edges that good jo-jos possess. That’s all a girl can ask.
Served alongside the slammin’ smoked chicken sandwich, it’s a meal I would beg someone to pick up for me if I were ever 86’d from the restaurant for being a jerk. And while it’s good as carry-out, the immediacy of a juicy sandwich and fresh-fried potatoes are best enjoyed with a draft beer inside the small but cheery location, decked out with old license plates and Smokey the Bear posters.
Opened this spring in the former Big Ass Sandwiches spot in North Tabor, Big’s Chicken is part of the Laurelhurst Market, Ate-Oh-Ate, Reverend’s BBQ, and Simpatica mini empire, and is a monument to the chefs’ love of chicken.