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What a great surprise. I have been to Port Huron, Michigan 50 times… I love going to this small boarder town for a quick shopping excursion, a place to take Amtrak to Chicago or just for the fun of crossing into the US for fun. Port Huron is located across the bridge from Sarnia, Ontario (one hour west of London,ON).
I love family travel trips that help you discover unknown places. This trip to Michigan was no exception. We were are our way home from a great day celebrating my birthday and we were hungry. Peckish would be a better world. As we were driving I saw the sign for Palms Krystal Bar and Grill and their Chicken in the Rough©..
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It said take out or eat in… I got a glimpse of people sitting in a small diner. There were cars in the parking lot. When we pulled up, there were Ontario licence plates scatter throughout the parking lot. Nice to know my pees were in the house. All signs of a good place in my opinion. The name of the restaurant was Palms Krystal Bar and Grill but the sign "Chicken in the Rough" is what drew my attention.
We decided to go for it and are we ever glad we did.
Chicken in the Rough is a franchise that was established in 1936 by a couple in Oklahoma. The interesting part is you don’t have to call the eatery the same name, it fact it is more interesting having Chicken in the Rough©. in different styles of diners.
Ours was a throwback to the 50s, an authentic diner with a counter, booths and neon signs. We were seated quickly and our waitress was a friendly women that has obviously worked here for a while… but let me tell you, there is nothing more professional than an experienced waitress.
Hubby ordered Chicken & Waffles with Honey-Pecan Sauce ($10.99): You received 2 pieces of their famous Chicken in the Rough® and a homemade Belgian waffle. Its topped with butter & Honey-Pecan sauce and includes creamy coleslaw. We added an extra piece of breast meat so that I could try it out. It was an additional $2.95 per piece.
The waffle was light and fluffy and tasted like cornbread. Having a waffles with fried chicken must be a southern thing because I’ve never had that combination. I have to admit it was pretty yummy.
Now for the chicken. It was D.E.I.C.I.O.U.S. It was super crispy (not burnt). It was super moist and had the perfect seasoning. I can understand why this has been a popular place to have fried chicken. The Palms Krystal Bar and Grill has been around since 1936… that is a long time!
Chicken & Waffles with Honey-Pecan Sauce
I ordered the Applewood Chopped Salad ($9.99) with crispy instead of grilled chicken. It was a chicken breast sliced over chopped greens, with chopped Applewood Smoked Bacon, apple slices, grapes, bleu cheese crumbles & candied pecans. Served with Lemon-Poppyseed dressing and home baked sweet bread.
I absolutely loved it and I am sure there was just a touch of bacon fat in the salad dressing. Many may not like this but I loved the smoky flavour of the bacon in this salad. This is not a large salad but it is a really reasonable salad.
Applewood Chopped Salad
My daughter ordered the "Smokin’ Burger" ($8.95). It was a prime ground sirloin burger topped with award winning pulled pork, smoked applewood bacon, smoky BBQ sauce, red onion & white cheddar cheese on a toasted Onion Roll.
Not being a fan of onions she opted out of the red onions and the onion roll but everything else was the same. It was delicious people. I mean really, really delicious. The patty was large and full of flavour. Made with real ground beef and sweet, sticky, smoky pull pork.
The cheese and the pull pork tried very hard to escape, seeping out on the side, but to no success. I have to say, if you don’t want to have chicken, this burger was THE BOMB. We are going back just so we can try other burgers.
The "Smokin’ Burger"
If you just want to have the chicken, you can order a two piece basket with fries and it will come in one of those classic red plastic baskets. So kitsch but oh, so, good.
If you are in a hurray this is not the place for you. Allow 15-20 minutes for the chicken to be served. It is worth it because it is freshly fried and served to you immediately…. steaming hot. I love this place because it was authentic, reasonably priced and the food was really good.
Would I recommend you go? Absolutely
Will I be returning? Without a doubt. 
out of 5
Palms Krystal Bar & Grill featuring Chicken in the Rough©
1535 Pine Grove Avenue
Port Huron, MI 48060
Phone: 810-985-9838
Email: info@palmskrystalbar.com
Open 7 Days.
Mon-Thur: 10 am – 10 pm
Fri-Sat: 10 am – 11 pm
Sun: 12 pm – 9 pm
Find them on Facebook
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