We hadn't eaten here for 2-3 years, but came to Pittsburg for a game and wanted to not miss Chicken Annie's. It was a terrible dining experience. We knew what we wanted, so ordered out dinner with our drinks. We got some bread and out drinks pretty quickly, but that was pretty much it for 45 minutes. We were a party of two and noticed everyone else in the room (different server) had their food and we were still waiting for the ore-dinner onion rings. At 1 hour 15 minutes we got up to just pay for what we had been served. The server appeared with our food, so we sat down to eat. The potatoes and gravy were barely Luke warm the only piece of chicken that was more than barely warm was a breast. Yes, it was busy, but it seemed everyone else was getting their food. We wondered why chicken Mary's parking lot next door was overflowing... and. Kw we know. If you are thinking about eating here...skip it and pull into chicken Mary's. A huge disappointment and poor experience. read more

As the name suggests this is the original Chicken Annie's and serves my favorite fried chicken on the planet. Having often had the chicken here as a child when visiting my Grandmother Rose, I wondered if the fried chicken would still be as good as I had remembered. The crispy brown crust is bursting with flavor and serves as a coat of golden crunchiness. The ultra-fresh chicken meat is juicy and served teaming hot with delicious flavor and moist tenderness. The favored sides are a garlic potato salad and an equally delicious garlic slaw dish. The portions here are generous and the prices are modest. For over 50 years Chicken Annie's has served up the same simple menu of extraordinary fried chicken with all the trimmings. I had to travel from Los Angeles to have this childhood treat once again. Few things in life remain the same over time, and fortunately this fried chicken keeps getting even better. read more

Not great. On a road trip. Ordered a 10 pc bucket to go since we were on the way home. Got home and were looking forward to some delicious chicken since we had heard all the hype. Chicken was moist enough but not sure if the crust was burnt or oil was old but it was horrible. No flavor but burnt. Very disappointing. Staff we dealt with were friendly. Building itself seems run down and outdated. read more

Big disappointment. Went in lot of empty tables but waitress seated us in banquet room in back by ourself. Should have left then. Ordered chicken dinner and liver gizzard appetizer. Really dark crust almost black. Not good at all. Chicken very dark too like you get with old dirty oil. Did not eat much of it. German potato salad and slaw loaded with vinegar. A lot better chicken in local restaurant at home. One of the poorest places I have eaten. read more

After all the hype we were a bit disappointed. Given it was a busy Sunday at noon could account for the soggy chicken since maybe it had set under the heat lamp a while. Chicken tenders were overcooked and the breading on all chicken lacked seasoning. Wait staff very friendly. We were told this restaurant and Chicken Mary's are very close to the same so needless to say we won't be trying it. read more

I love there chicken it's a fun old fashioned food place to eat I've been going there as long as I can remember are family will go there to eat for as long as we can hope they never close best chicken in Kansas. read more

Simply put this is the best fried chicken (and onion rings) anywhere. This is my choice if I ever need to order a last meal on this Earth.

Shoe string onion app was a little mushy, but they were still okay. I got a mixed plate which was a mistake because I like all white (duh, my fault), but the breading was good. My kiddo got the chicken tenders and that was probably the best part! They were good sized and yummy. Sides were good, and they serve been in the can, which was cute. Lol. We did try these folks before Mary's, so I'll update after that visit! read more

Where it all started. Southeast Kansas fried chicken owes it all to this place.

Lots of food for the money. Chicken was moist and fresh, great onion rings and so-so salads

We went today for my mother's birthday. Service was slow at best. Our waitress did not have much interest in good service. The people behind sat down after us. Order, ate, and packed up left overs paid and left before we got our food. The chicken was ok. The livers were very good. The chicken fingers were over cooked till dry. The cheeseburger with kids meal was horrible. The coleslaw was good. My baked potato was dry and cold. The fries were crunchy but no flavor. I told them at check when asked how our meal was it was just ok they did not seem to care and moved bbn on to the next person. Hopefully our meal w as s a fluke situation. Good luck if you decide to try it. read more

My favorite Chicken place in ALL of the United States...blows Chicken Mary's out of the water, travel channel has no clue what good Chicken is! read more

We wanted to try Annie's place after eating at Chicken Mary's a few months ago, so we drove 1 hr 45 mins. The service was great. We wanted dark meat family style that wasn't on menu... No problem. We also ordered an onion ring appetizer, baked potato, and applesauce. The rings definitely a hit, and a star higher than Mary's place. Chicken was pretty much plain Jane and just a hair overdone,but still good. Again, service was great, and food was hot coming to the table. My vote would be Mary's first and Annie's second. read more

Came for the chicken but the Onion rings were the star. While Annies is no Strouds its a nice place if you're in that part of Kansas. The sides were wonderful and the service was wonderful. Very nice people. Worth a stop in but the chicken wasnt as good as I expected. read more

Alice R - Ft Worth Texas Naturally growing up in McCune (west of Pittsburg) we would go to 'Chcken Eater's Paradise' every chance we could! Highway 69 - Here in Dallas Hwy 75 turns into Hwy 69 when you hit the OK border & onto Overland Park. (There's no place like home). Working for BNSF RR in Seattle, Denver & now here, my brother air freighted Chicken Annie's to me when I lived in Seattle (one demolished car picking it up @ SEATAC), was well worth the new car! I've hauled it everywhere I can & can hardly wait to get back for homecoming in Sept for more of this SE KS tradition. None like it elsewhere. (We do have a 'similar' family style version here 'Babe's', & Stroud's out of KC tried, didn't make it). Aunts would fry chicken dinners every Sunday w/trimmings & boy, can't beat good old fried chicken! ENJOY as I sure do! read more

I like Chicken Mary's, Gebhardt's and Barto's chicken better, but Chicken Annie's is ok.

If you are a fried chicken fan this is the place to come. Great food reasonable prices and if you like German potato salad and coleslaw you are in for a treat. Good home cafe style dining that is hard to find now days. A must if you are in the area. read more

We ate Chicken Annie's FIRST and about two weeks ago and this place is EXCELLENT! The waitress and cashier are friendly and take care of you quickly and accurately as well as friendly. We ordered an appetizer of chicken gizzards and hearts, and they were delightful. Asked for Tabasco Sauce and they had it and made things even that much more tasty. The coating on the gizzards and hearts is light and not crunchy, flavorful and does not take away from the taste of the meat. We both had Fried Chicken for dinner and their tossed salad with Thousand Island Dressing was great. Their bread is a little dry and not as flavorful as I'd like to see. Their German Potato Salad is different, served cold, with diced potatoes and so forth. Different and I probably would not order that again but everything else-- TOTALLY DELICIOUS and TASTY! We tried their competitor, two doors down, Chicken Mary's a week later and we were totally disappointed and had a terrible experience there. They also sell Lottery tickets at the cashier as well. Very friendly, great service, Superior taste and quality- still a little salty in their batter but far less than what we experienced at Chicken Mary's down the road. There is something to be said about being the ORIGINAL and this definitely is well worth the trip to go eat there. Their prices are very reasonable and slightly less than Chicken Mary's. read more

Wow, we drove about 600 miles for this? After seeing the food channel's "Food Wars" episode between Chicken Annie's and Chicken Mary's, we officially declare both participants the loser! Neither has any creativity as they both have the same hours and virtually the same menu. Other than the fact that Annie's Chicken is cooked a little longer, it's virtually the same recipe. We were there at 6:00 on a Saturday night in July and questioned where all the customers were. Although both places had some business, there was still PLENTY of seating in both. The service was quick at both, but seemed to be a little friendlier at Annie's. The manager (possibly owner) at Mary's doesn't know how to thank anyone. She seemingly figured that she was a celebrity and we were inconveniencing her by patronizing her restaurant. The onion rings were tasty at Annie's, but the rest of the sides at both restaurants were not good (to say it nicely). Also, plain old WHITE BREAD at both restaurants! For chicken flavor we will reluctantly give the nod to Mary's. But, that's only because there were only two participants; last place and second to last place. Suggestion: get with the times and make it a special occasion to eat at either restaurants because it is VERY over-rated the way it is! Way too much hype for these old, rundown restaurants with less than average food. To both of there credit, they are virtually right next door to each other and don't have another business within miles and virtually no residents. They obviously have very loyal followers as both businesses are undoubtedly thriving even though it doesn't show. If a good proprietor took over either restaurant, it would only be a matter of time before the other one would be out of business! read more

I can't not say that I would recommend Chicken Annie's to any one. Food was cold. Chicken was not even hot. Gravy was out of a bag. Big let down for us. read more

Not a fan. The chicken was good, but not much flavor in the breading. The food needed lots of salt and pepper added.

Horrible experience. Our waitress was brutally honest about the food being from instant potatoes and package gravy to imitation bacon bits in the green beans and frozen french fries. The chicken was bland so not impressed with the food then went to pay and the old man called my husband out for not paying while I was paying from our joint account. Then asked my very shy daughter to add the total and the tip together which she didnt know and then told her she need math camp. Needless to say she was so hurt and cried for 15 mins. I will never recommend anyone to go here better to just drive past and go to chicken marys. Horrible human being and restaurant read more

We have been driving past this sign for 8 years and decided today was the day to stop and see what the fuss was all about. The decor is what you would expect - lots of artifacts relating to the chicken. I just had this feeling I was about to eat a delicious piece of chicken. We decided to order the meal for 2 because 1) my husband loves onion rings and 2) this meal came with them. Ok, so the onion rings are beyond addictive!! These are real homemade - dipped in batter that is light and crispy. If the onion rings tasted thiss good, I couldn't wait for my chicken. We had a 5 piece - I took the thigh and half of the breast. I rather liked the coating - not to much and had a very nice crunch to it. Both white and dark meat were very moist. The staff was very friendly. Ok so know I know what the hype is all about and it's worth a 3 1/2 mile venture off of the highway. Next time, I have to stick with my healthy options and will have the grilled breast. read more

Tonight my friend & her family went to dine at this establishment. Her grandson has been feeling ill lately & tonight was no exception, sadly. He ran to the bathroom to be sick, where he sadly learned the bathroom was occupied. While waiting in line, he was sick. When my friend asked for material to clean his mess (despite it not being her job) the manager on duty, complained extremely loudly," AGAIN?" and began to make a spectacle of the situation. The waitress behaved in the same unprofessional and inexcusable manner. I would imagine an establishment that prides itself on being a "family friendly" establishment but doesn't actually welcome family and it also makes sure to humiliate sick children would take strides to better an already stressful situation, not make it worse. On top of all of that? My friend opted to leave the establishment after her grandson was humiliated in front of the entire establishment, she was forced to pay for a meal that was completely untouched. I do not recommend this restaurant to anyone. Simply based on the fact that any place that allows adults to purposefully humiliate children who are ill, doesn't deserve the business they receive. 12/30/2018 -- Incident happened between the hours of 6pm - 7:50PM Take note management, in case you want to better your establishment's practices by hiring staff that takes into considereation the upheavel a sick child can present, especially in an establishment with limited bathroom space. read more

Our family's favorite chicken, the original German slaw and potato salad are fantastic, and we always have to have a couple large orders of onion rings, we have been going there for over 20 years every chance we get! read more

Had to wait over an hour for our food! Our to go food was at the register way before we even got our food! I get home with my to go to find apple sauce and cottage cheese everywhere because they didn't put lids on them and my two legs and thigh were a joke! They were the smallest chicken I have ever seen! Well definitely stick with Chicken Marys! read more

OMG! That was one of the worst meals I've ever had!!! I grew up in Joplin and I remember going there a couple of times when I was a kid. I couldn't remember which one (Chicken Mary's or Chicken Annie's) that my parents preferred so my wife and I just went to the one we came to first....Chicken Annie's. After driving an hour and 45 minutes to get there we were sure hoping for a good meal...NO SUCH LUCK!! The service was mediocre, the atmosphere was non-existent, wasn't all that clean (we were there right after they opened so it should have been spotless) and the food was HORRIBLE!! Seriously, the fried chicken from ANY grocery store or even Wal-Mart would have been MUCH BETTER! It was greasy, small pieces of over cooked chicken, green beans fresh out of the can, some iceberg lettuce leaves (some of them brown) thrown into a bowl and called a salad and worst of all.....INSTANT POTATOES!!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!? You call your self an award winning fried chicken restaurant and you don't even serve real potatoes?!?!? Oh, and they also had white bread from the grocery store. The onion rings were ok but not great. My wife and I were so angry we couldn't get out of that crappy place fast enough! DO NOT GO HERE.....EVER!!!! For all of you who have given this dump a good review.....try eating at a real restaurant some time. Heck, KFC sucks but it's better than Chicken Annie's!! read more