White Fence Farm

This is basically a carryout restaurant but has a couple tables if you want to order and then take your food to a table to eat. The menu is basically picnic food; fried chicken, Cole slaw, and kidney bean salad. The food is delicious. Everything on the menu is very yummy. The chicken is seasoned perfectly, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. Their fried fish is spectacular, crunchy and flavorful. The bean salad is just like grandmas. The slaw is not creamy but very good. Now for the crunchy little morsels of heaven called fritters; oh my. They are out of this world. They come in a bag that you can put in the microwave to reheat them back to their perfect former freshness so get extra for coffee the next morning.

Best chicken in the area, no question. The chicken is beautifully moist on the inside, while still maintaining a nice crisp on the outside. The fries are about what you’d expect, and the corn fritters are absolutely phenomenal. You’d be doing yourself a disservice if you stop at White Fence Farm and neglect the fritters.
This location has a couple of tables inside, and they sell cans of soda, but it’s meant for take-​out first and foremost. The staff is typically friendly. I wish I could order in ahead, but they never seem to take very long to prepare my order either way.
They also offer fried fish and shrimp.

The fried chicken here is truly unique! We were waiting for this place to open and people were already coming in at that time. We had the chicken along with corn fritters and fries. Because we took it to go and the drive was 30 mins, the chicken wasn’t as fresh as it could’ve been had we ate there. Nonetheless, it wasn’t your typical fried texture — the batter was really flavorful and complimented the chicken as it stayed moist. The fries were crunchy and had perfect seasoning! I would love to come back and dine-​in to get the full experience of the freshly fried chicken. Definitely check this place out if you love southern fried chicken :)

We invited 6 people as guests to join us for dinner on Mother’s Day. We called for reservations and were told that we had to arrive at the restaurant two hours before our agreed-​upon time to meet our guests to get a number and then waste two hours waiting in an area where there is no shopping at all. We just sat in our car. The place was crawling with people who were waiting… maybe they want the customers to shop for two hours in their small shops or view the animals. But the area where the animals are kept is so small that it is difficult to get near the and there was nothing in the shops that appealed to us and few places to sit with so many people. Our guests arrived and we were seated after waiting another 20 minutes. Upon reading the menu, it seemed that the prices had escalated just for this special occasion. The food was truly mediocre. It was served in ‘waves’…some had food for five minutes before the rest of us were served and all of the food was cold. The waitress continued to apologize for forgetting things. After spending nearly $ 300 for dinner there, you can be assured that we will never return.

Best fried chicken in the area. Fritters are pretty good too. Rest of the sides are lacklustre. Be mindful of their hours of operation, this isn’t Popeye’s.

I keep coming back for the chicken and end up tossing the sides. I guess next time I’ll remember to order chicken only. The fish is pretty good too.

Hands down best fried chicken in the area. That includes the Harold’s in Maywood that closed down. Fritters are amazing as well.

We made a grave mistake coming to this place under a friend’s accompaniment with this order. The assumption was that all the joints are the same with the quality but that was definitely not the case! The chicken was disappointing and so were the corn fritters. Won’t recommend this establishment. You might be better off driving elsewhere that has consistent good review.
I remembered the mash potato that we ordered with the chicken was made with ramen chicken sauce packet as gravy… Good luck with your order here!

I must agree with «John D» about inept passive aggressive service. I’ve been going to white fence farm my whole life. The Joliet historic rt66 location. Where you can expect warm excellent service a home environment and excellent chicken. The chicken in riverside is the same. However the service leaves something to be desired I’ve never seen such a stark contrast in the same restaurant chain. It seems like the adults walked away and let Ill mannered adult children deal with the public.

3/5…and it’s not because I eat a vegetarian diet.
I brought a group of about 40 seniors here on a Thursday afternoon for a Frank Sinatra tribute show. The show was wonderful. My review is based on the overall atmosphere of White Fence Farms and nothing else.
Service was good. Wait staff kept food coming and they were friendly (not above-​and-​beyond friendly, just friendly). Everything was well orchestrated so that hungry seniors weren’t waiting for food. A+ there, but we did have to ask for a refill of a few side items. Since I don’t eat meat, I was only eating the side dishes.
Food I did try was tasty, but very, very heavy. Nothing was ‘clean’ or green on the table. Everything was full of fat, grease, etc. Yes, I knew this ahead of time, but I’m not going to deny seniors the comfort foods they like just because I won’t eat meat. The corn fritters are good, but more of a dessert tasting item. It was like eating a really doughy funnel cake.
Anywho.
I can’t get over the décor… if that’s what you want to call it all. White Fence’s ‘museum’ (as they call it), seems to be a dumping ground for other peoples unwanted junk. There’s stuff everywhere and the place is really outdated; wall-​to-​wall carpet on the floors (ick) and I just felt claustrophobic in there.
I realize that everything that gave me nausea are the exact reasons people like to come here. To each his own.
Would only come back here if I were chaperoning another senior day-​trip.
*Also, the Hastert Family owns White Fence Farms. Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or you aren’t from Illinois) you’ve heard about the severe allegations that a certain former House speaker is facing. Rumor has it that this location might also be permanently closing…*

This is the location I carry out from because it’s by my moms house and she loves their chicken. Everything has always been good here and if something isn’t right they will make it right! We love their cole slaw and kidney bean salad as sides! Will definetly be back as this is the best chicken in Chicagoland!

Love this place. When I want fried chicken, I go here. No where else will satisfy the fried chicken craving. The pickled beets and kidney bean salad are delicious. And the fritters? Amazing. Great mashed with awesome gravy. Delish.

Never disappoints! The best chicken in the area without a doubt and the fritters, just yummy.

Good chicken. Horrible service. Do they hire the most inept people in the area for a specific reason? I’m surprised no ones ever melted their hand of in the hot oil yet. The attitude the employees have here is just unjustified. They don’t have hard jobs and are typically open only 4 hours a day. No need for the passive aggressive anger fueled superiority complex.

I have always been a fan of WFF and have enjoyed eating at their farm on occasion. This was the first time visiting the Riverside location. The food was as expected… fantastic! The fritters were delicious! The white meat is never dry.
What prompted my feedback, though, was the service. After I placed my order I noticed that mac’n’cheese was added to the menu. I made mention of it but didn’t place the order as my card was already charged. The cashier, who I should have caught her name, brought up our order after a few minutes and said that there was a little something extra for us. A container of mac’n’cheese.
This was a very small gesture but it made a huge impact on me. That kind of service is hard to find these days and needs to be recognized. Thanks! We will be back shortly!

Had to go back for the fritters!
The Just shrimp is crispy and fantastic!

Well, I just don’t get it. Just a matter of taste, I suppose. My lunch companion and I got 4-​piece dinners and were both utterly disappointed.
The few historical photos of Chicago on the wall were interesting to look at while we waited for our order. The service was okay.
If you’re eating in, you get the same box they give you for take-​out, and you have to pick up a spork (although they will give you a paper plate on request). You open the box and find the sugary fritters scattered all over the chicken and french fries, getting sugar all over everything.
The fries were decent, despite the sprinkling of sugar. The fritters were okay. The quality of the chicken itself was fine, but it was pretty much ruined by the horrible breading. The mashed potatoes and gravy were pretty poor. We tried both kinds of cole slaw and didn’t like either of them.
Everything was edible, so I figured I’d give the place two stars, but I see that two stars is supposed to mean «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» My feeling is better characterized by «Eek! Methinks not.» I’ll stick to Popeyes. If you’re in the area, I’d sooner recommend the KFC across the street. But … no accounting for taste.

Yeah man, the chicken is great. If you’re not eating it fast, you’re doing it wrong. Great vinegar based cole slaw.

What a complete disappointment first of all: I walk in everybody is on their cell phone a bunch of kids wondering why there and definitely don’t take care of customers like they had to go out of their way to help a customer going in there for chicken, crazy lazy kids. On to the food normally chicken should have all of the fat trimmed or at least the huge strips on the Breast and on the thigh. Obviously too much to ask from white fence farms secondly the coleslaw was full of vinegar obviously someone didn’t read the recipe thirdly the fritters tasted like fry oil it was aged and they had that light burnt taste to them terrible and lastly the mashed potatoes and gravy were the best part of the meal which sorry to say that’s pretty bad when the potatoes are in line with KFC. This place blows as for the white fence farms in Denver class a joint too bad it can’t be duplicated. Peace

To give this place anything less than 5 stars is a complete injustice to humanity. The absolute BEST fried chicken.anywhere. It’s an utter tastegasm whenever my folks pick up some WFF. I thought the chicken was good… and then I savored the fritters. Delicious is an understatement. The fries are great also, really underrated. Don’t come here too much though, you can easily gain 20 pounds after a few meals!

I was soooo looking forward to coming here from reading all the reviews. I finally did. Unfortunately, it didnt meet my expectations. Chicken was good. I’ll give them that. Didnt care for the fritters though. Ate three of them and threw the rest out. If Im going to consume empty calories like that it might as well be BEER. I hated the coleslaw. It had this tangy, fruity like flavor that I just didnt care for. Im not saying it was bad. Im just saying it WASN’T MY THING. Im sure theres people out there that love the fritters and coleslaw. I just wasnt one of them. Again, the chicken was good. Place looked nice and clean. Service was GREAT. Please dont take this as a bad review because its not meant to be. Everyone just has different tastes. I wish them the best of luck and hope they have a great business.

I have been talking this place up to people for years. It’s possible I just love the original restaurant but this carry out location dropped the ball a bit.
I ordered the 8 piece meal with cole slaw, corn fritters and mashed potatoes with gravy. Everything was good except they did not actually place the lid on the cole slaw. I know the bag was not dropped at all. It didn’t even move an inch the entire way home. I had the bag on my lap the whole time and held it upright. The cole slaw spilled over our entire dinner. The bag was soaking wet and everything actually fell out onto our counter at home.
The food we were able to salvage tasted fine. I was just bummed that our fried chicken was soaked in cole slaw. I still like White Fence Farm and will go back. I will just check the bag carefully next time before leaving.
Another thing to be aware of is even though this is a carry out location they don’t accept phone orders. You need to go in and place the order in person. The food comes up very quickly though.

Finally, had a chance to stop by to pick up some chicken. My mom loves Popeye’s, but I wanted to change it up a bit.
There is a few tables for dine in, but I’m sure they mainly get carry out here. There is a parking lot too.
We went with the #1 special (20 piece chicken and 2 dozen fritters) and a pint of cole slaw. We drove all the way to Chinatown and then back home and the chicken was still good.
20 piece Chicken — Light crispy skin. It was good, but not the greatest. I believe they use smaller chickens as the pieces are a bit smaller. We couldn’t really tell the breast from the thighs.
2 Dozen Fritters — I didn’t know what to expect from these, but we all liked them. Smaller than I expected since the girl said they are like donut holes.
Cole Slaw — This was different. It had more of a tang too it. My mom said it was too sour for her. Only thing was, there was way too much liquid in it.
Overall, we liked the place. It is a bit of a drive from us, but I’ll be back!

Absolutely one the best fried chicken I’ve ever had in my life — yes even better than Popeyes! :) I first tried WFF at their restaurant in Romeoville. I was beyond excited when I found out they have this available as carryout in Riverside. We ordered the #1 which includes 20 pieces of chicken and 2 dozen fritters. Oh the fritters… deep fried dough goodness… this is a must! If you love fried chicken, WFF should be on your list.

Went here for the first time in at least 10 – 12 years — was at my mom’s and we decided to get carryout from this place. The last time I was there I recall the chicken really being outstanding — juicy with a batter that set it apart from most fast-​food chicken places.
Sad to say, it isn’t so anymore — at least on the night I went. The chicken was juicy, but it was also pretty dark in color — my mom even said that it wasn’t what she was used to (her and my brother get chicken there fairly often). The sides were nothing to write home about — the mashed potatoes were really pretty low quality with a chicken gravy that looks so iridescent that a Geiger counter could probably detect radio-​activity in it.
From the look of the other reviews, I seem to be in a minority — but I just can’t rate this place higher than 3 stars — actually it would be 2, but the fritters were pretty different and really good.