Royal Farms is a well known gas station / convenience store chain located in the Mid-Atlantic region with locations in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, and West Virginia. The first time I was exposed to Royal Farms was during a past visit to Ocean City, MD, and one of the locals raved about their "world famous" fried chicken. I popped in to grab a 4 piece box, and did find the chicken to be pretty tasty.
So I was super excited when this brand new Royal Farms location opened up near my office in the Camp Springs, MD area. When my old office near Union Station in downtown DC relocated out to the hinterlands of PG County two years ago during the height of the pandemic, I was not so thrilled about the prospect of being out in the 'burbs; a primary reason being the utter lack of dining options. But since I returned to the office in March of 2021, I now have a plethora of lunchtime choices ranging from burgers, pizza/pasta, sandwiches, and now fried chicken.
This location is right off the freeway, so very convenient for a quick pit stop if you need gas, a bio-break, coffee/beverages, and most importantly, some food. It's still new, so everything is shiny and at least during my visit, the restrooms still very clean.
Walking in, the interior is well lit and there is lot of natural lighting from the front windows. It has all of the things you'd expect to find in a gas station convenience store. There is a beverage area to the right with coffee, soda, etc. Also a large selection of prepared "grab and go" food such as sandwiches, donuts, and the like. But I came for the chicken.
Walk up to the one of the self-order kiosks, and after touching the screen, navigate through the menus to order your meal of choice. I got the two piece dark meat meal, with the potato wedges, and roll. The order process is a bit convoluted, because after you place your order a receipt prints out, and then you walk over to the registers and use another self-serve kiosk to pay for your order; there was an attendant who could also ring people up.
My two piece meal was ready in about 4 min, so it was a short trip back to my desk to enjoy the food while still hot. The only real critique I have with RF chicken is that it is a bit on the salty side, which other folks have noted at their other locations. Other than that, I always find the chicken to be juicy and flavorful. Depending on when you visit, the skin can vary in how crispy it is, but since I went lunch time when fresh batches were being constantly fried, my pieces were just right.
I brought along a co-worker who had never been to RF and even she agreed that the chicken was pretty good. This place will definitely be in the rotation of office lunchtime spots. read more