White Fence Farm

I’ve always loved White Fence Farm! They serve delicious fried chicken, corn fritters, salads, and relishes. Their staff is friendly. I never get tired of looking at their dazzling array of antiques ranging from vintage cars to dolls to fun house mirrors. They also have a number of old-​fashioned arcade-​style games, such as claw games, a foosball table, and a robotic gypsy fortune teller. Oh, yeah — and their petting zoo out back is a must-​see for all kids and kids at heart!

Best chicken I’ve ever had. Good service. Great atmosphere. Friendly staff. A great place to take the family if you have young kids. Lots of antique memorabilia from old route 66 that the kids will enjoy.

Great place to go with a group of friends and family. The chicken is so moist and I couldn’t stop eating the fritters. They also have a petting zoo in the back for kids. Awesome place!

There is so much I love about this place! First it’s a walk down history with all of the antiques to look at while your waiting the customer service is outstanding and the food never disappoints. The relish tray is great and the chicken is always crispy and juicy. Give this place a try.

The fried chicken is amazing and the corn fritters are fantastic. You can have as many fritters as you want.
The second time back here in three years and it was even better then the first time.
I think this location is also better the white fence farms carryout locations.
Bonus this place looks like a random stop on your way to a camping trip, with tons on old stuff and a mini classic car museum type area. It’s pretty neat to walk around and look at all the old stuff.

The best chicken in the whole wide world !!! Omg. I love this place. And the side are fantastic. The wait staff is super attentive. EXCELENTE !!! Lol.

The food at White Fence Farm is EXCELLENT! It’s too bad the hostess is so rude. The restaurant is huge and pretty outdated, but don’t let the discourage you.

They are finally open for 2016. Any one who goes to this location knows that they close for winter months. All I can tell you is that the ambiance of this place is truly different. Antiques from years and years ago, take a walk thru before you are seated, a visual extravaganza. In the summer months on the weekends the wait can be very, very long. You will see buses pulling in with customers coming from all locations far and near, your best bet is during the week. The chicken is served family style along with there sides, still hungry for cole slaw, cucumbers etc. just ask, they will refill. Not a chicken fan, okay, they have steak also. Fritters are part of the meal and don’t fill up on those, leave room for the chicken. They have a dessert, the name? not sure of, it is a brandy ice, what a way to finish the meal. Yes, there is a white fence in the front of this huge restaurant, you cannot miss it. Nice way to spend a weekend but go early as it will fill up pretty fast. Take out is available also if you do not want to wait at the restaurant, you can take the chicken home. Tastes better at the restaurant.

My family has been coming here for years and we just had dinner last night. I personally haven’t been here in probably five-​six years. We all had the chicken dinner, except I had the chicken tenders (I’m not a bone-​in-​meat type girl).
The food is great. I’m a big fan of the relishes (beets, vinaigrette coleslaw, corn fritters, cottage cheese). I don’t like mayonnaise so I opt out of the kidney bean salad. They serve them before the main meal, and during. However, it seemed like our second round of relishes was considerably smaller than the first round.
The chicken is consistently good, it was fresh and HOT out the oven last night. Crispy, juicy, and perfect. My tenders were awesome and were coated in the same breading as the actual fried chicken, so taste was identical, just no bone.
The mini-​museum of vintage cars and items are always cool to look at. They also have vintage arcade games available for play which is also super cool. This place is definitely unique! They have also decorated for Christmas, and it’s very pretty on the inside right now.
Service was okay. I think our server was switching between two different areas. He seemed like he was only serving our table in our area, then disappearing on the other side of the building. Can’t blame him for being assigned two different sections, but it definitely affected service.
The crowd is mixed with families and older people. We went on a Sunday night and it totally had a Sunday «Church-​vibe» going.
Things that concerned me that makes WFF lose a star: My silverware was filthy. It looks like very old silverware too. They should definitely reconsider upgrading them or their dish machine that washes the silverware. Also, the floor around our table was filthy too. I’m not sure if young children sat at our table before, but smashed french fries and crumbs were under and around our table which obviously wasn’t very appealing.

We were here on December 6, 2015 and everything was Delicious as Always. Great, Fast, Courteous service. We even met Santa. Beautiful Christmas decorations everywhere. Highly recommend

This was my first time dining at White Fence Farms and will CERTAINLY not be my last. I have not had a food baby this large since white castle had a 33 cent burger special. The corn fritters left my toes tinglin and I think I’m still saving some coleslaw in my left jacket pocket for a midnight snack. To anyone thinking about dining here. Do.

Why the long wait? Too bad I can’t give no stars! This place is a joke! Totally dated and is in need of a decorator! The place is musty smelling and the «museum» …what museum?
Fried chicken has absolutely NO flavor. You don’t even see any seasoning in the batter, not a speck of anything! Prices are outrageous for the cheapest items on the menu. First off, $ 15 for half a chicken (4 pieces). One chicken is bringing in $ 30, (4 chickens $ 120) and when there is a party of say… eight, that should be thirty-​two pieces of chicken. What they do is they stack it all on platters, and nobody is going to sit there and count to see if there ARE actually thirty-​two pieces because everybody is hungry and grabbing pieces not realizing how many pieces the other person already ate. They don’t serve each guest their own plate with four pieces. So, are you really getting thirty-​two pieces… hmmmm???
Now for the cheap quality sides. Nothing is made from scratch other than the fritters probably. Kidney beans… out of a can. Beets… out of a can, and cottage cheese??? …from plastic tubs!
First, and last time!

We came her for my parents’ 50^th wedding anniversary. It had been years since I was last at WFF. I did have vague recollections of the décor and the food.
We all ordered the fried chicken. Naturally, the usual cole slaw, fritters, etc. came as appetizers. I personally would have liked rolls over the fritters, but the fritters are what they are known for.
My side was the fries, which were coated and awesome. Others in the party got the mashed potatoes, which I heard were a bit disappointing. The chicken, however, was outstanding… and this is coming from someone who lives near and frequents Del Rhea’s Chicken Basket.
Great place to go with a big group!

Your cushioned steps are silenced by clean carpeting at White Fence Farm. The staff are formally dressed in black dresses, black slacks, black ties and even bow-​ties. Everything about them is puritanical. Perhaps it’s their formality coupled with the lack of ambient music that makes an oddly silent dining experience. Or maybe it was the marble chill (we remained snugly in our jackets). There were about five other groups of casually dressed guests that evening and we were all speaking in hushed tones.
The menu was simple. Exactly what you would expect from a place called White Fence Farm. Fried chicken. Fried fish. Pork chops and steaks. M got her fried chicken with a side of mac n cheese and with my fried fish came mashed potatoes.
To be brutally honest (and in such a church like atmosphere on a Sunday evening I feel compelled to lay myself bare), it was not the best food in the world. Their world’s greatest chicken and even the fried fish certainly had a fine, delicate crisp to the fried batter protecting the succulent interior flesh. They were cooked beautifully. But like a communion wafer, neither of them had flavor. It wasn’t marinated. It wasn’t seasoned with salt or pepper. M borrowed my pale yellow, condensed-​soup-​like gravy and poured it over her chicken. I squeezed lemon and then dollops of tartar sauce on my fish.
The mac n cheese appeared as if it came from a box (although it might have been painstakingly made from scratch) and I swear that my mashed potatoes did too. They were too perfectly composed, eggshell white and grainy to be real.
What was truly amazing were the unlimited «relishes» served to us before our disappointing entrees: Bean Salad, Cole Slaw, Cottage Cheese, Pickled Beets and Corn Fritters. Our server informed us that a relish dish was a tray with several openings for small dishes. In each dish was served a little nibble of something (such as the relishes served to us and every guest at the White Fence Farm). Now the serving contraption from which the relishes got their name is gone but they continue to call those small nibbles relishes.
Anyway, each of the relishes were delicious. We had seconds of everything except for the corn fritters (which were also splendid but like dessert). We wanted to take them home with us but due to their free and unlimited nature, we could only take chicken and fish. In fact, we were given double paper sacks for our left-​overs, restricting us to taking ONLY the chicken and the fish. Anything else would be an unattractive mess.
M admitted that for the price we could not have done better. M’s chicken was $ 15 and my fish was $ 15.75. She also got two glasses of wine for $ 4 each. FOUR DOLLARS. And not to mention all of the splendid relishes. Aaah! Those relishes. Pure, wholesome goodness. Nothing fancy.
In the end, we were the last to leave soon after their closing time at 8:00 PM. They were crawling on their knees wiping the seats of the chairs and the legs of the tables. A matronly woman counted cash at a desk behind the host stand.

So much better than Dell Rhea’s Chicken! Took grandma there for her birthday ($ 5 off on day of birthday) and was pleasantly surprised. Chicken had a really nice crispy skin. I wasn’t expecting much from the sides but they were surprisingly good. Standouts were the corn fritters, nice vinegary cole slaw, and bean salad (never thought I would like it). Don’t worry about a reservation the place can fit like 1,500. The waiter was fine when he was around but he was pretty busy and when my toddler spilled water on the table we had to get napkins ourselves. The petting zoo outside only had goats and one small spot to put your hand through the fence. As long as they’re doing it how hard would it be to get some rabbits or llamas or something. The baby goats were cute though.

Only reason I gave it 2 stars is the chicken and Fritters, one star for each. The place is absolutely disgusting. It is unclean and very unwelcoming, I beg the health department to pay a visit. After realizing I couldn’t sit in the restaurant for more than a second we got up and left and decided to grab takeout, my favorite part was ordering while a leaky ceiling dripped on my head, good thing is there is a drain right in the center of the floor. Honestly I haven’t been in a more unsanitary restaurant in a very long time.

Just go there and order the chicken and some sides. Mere words cannot describe how awesome their broasted chicken is and the sides are to die for. When you order the corn fritters just make sure and order a dozen more because you won’t be disappointed. You can eat inside or order takeout from the back. If you eat inside they have the mini museum of old cars which is a delight for the young and old. Inside eat in is a little bit pricey however the takeout is reasonable and well worth the money.

I had a really good time here. The set up and décor is crazy! White Farms can sit close to eleven hundred. They have many different rooms with themes. They love clocks, huge collection of wall, mantel, and grandfather clocks.
So I ended up eating in the red room. Went there for the chicken so I order me some fried chicken. Comes with corn fritters, coleslaw, and other garnishes. The server was really nice. Always came by to make sure things were well. My order came fast, and it was hot. It was good, but again I have had better. Gravy was OK, same with the mashed potatoes. Where ever I travel I am always looking for the best fried chicken in town. But have yet found a place that can compare to M & M Soul Food in Gardena California.
Service:
It was great, everyone was really nice. Made sure I was fine ans asked if I needed anything.
Food:
Food was good, had better. But still worth your time.
Facility:
Again, it’s crazy fun! Neat seeing all of the collection.
Had a great time, enjoyed it very much.

Our first visit here. The hostess was nice. We all had the fried chicken. It looked nice, but rather flavorless. It seemed to me the breading had no seasonings at all. The mashed potatoes were clearly from a box, the gravy was glop, the cole slaw and bean salad bland. The corn fritters were okay. Iced tea was instant, and tasted like they used only half the suggested quantity of tea in the water. One at our table requested a brand of beer, which the waitress said they had. After 15 minutes of no beer, he tracked her down. She simply told him they didn’t have it, as though that meant he wouldn’t ask for something else. When we asked for extra napkins, they brought us two napkins for a table of four people eating fried chicken.
We won’t be back.

When you’re craving for some classic fried chicken, drag yourself to White Fence Farm!
For $ 15 per person, we had the fried farm chicken dinner. In addition to unlimited portions of accompaniments, you are due four pieces of fried chicken and one side. The four pieces of fried chicken includes a wing, drumstick, thigh, and breast. Accompaniments include pickled beets, bean salad, cottage cheese, corn fritters, and cole slaw. If you finish these before your fried chicken arrives, don’t fret! You can continue to order them as the meal progresses without any extra charge. As for the side, you have the choices of french fries, macaroni and cheese, baked potato, or mashed potato. Devour all four and I am certain you will fall asleep at the table.
Generally, I am not a fan of white meat but I make an exception to White Fence Farm’s. The chicken breast is well fried without drying up the meat. The juice is locked in and each bite leaves me wanting more.
I would certainly frequent this place but I would also have to be sure to hit the gym afterwards.

had dinner there last night. The food is absolutely delicious. The chicken is fabulous… yes it is fried but it is not greasy whatsoever and very lightly breaded. My teenagers who don’t like chicken, ate every last bit. The sides are delicious and will refill as often as requested. The museum’s artifacts kept us entertained for before and after dinner. The place is a treat… I haven’t been here since I was a kid 30 years ago. and its as fun as I remember.
The petting zoo is a blast too :)

WHITE FENCE FARM! Visited again for a family meal, and felt the need to update my previous review…
This is a classic, Midwestern, fried chicken supper club experience. Do you want to go back in time? Do you want to eat ridiculously tasty cornbread fritters, relishes from the past, and fried chicken? Do you want to have access to both an oddities museum AND a petting zoo before or after your meal? Then this is the place!
White Fence Farm is an experience and a destination for the whole family. It’s rare to be able to say that about a dining establishment these days. When I was a kid, I would get SO excited to drive down from the north burbs to have dinner here with my family. It never felt like going to regular old restaurant. It was so much more. Things haven’t changed, and that is what makes this place awesome. No, I don’t want them to update anything! No new menu! No new chef! No new ideas! What makes White Fence Farm White Fence Farm is that things haven’t changed, and that it’s a classic.
Eat, have fun, have an adventure, step back a little in time, and appreciate a real family friendly establishment that is so different from the average restaurant. You can have fried chicken at a million places, but you can’t get the same experience you’re guaranteed to have at White Fence Farm.
A Chicago-​area classic!

If you are looking for some mid west country cooking, then White Fence Farm is worth a stop. The property itself is big and has the country farmhouse feel. There is a museum in the lobby that has antique cars, old photos, newspaper clipping and other odds and ends. There are multiple dining rooms with different theme each holding up to 100 people.
The menu has a variety items from steaks, shrimp, fish and their signature fried chicken. Our group went with the fried chicken and everything was served family style which included corn fritters, coleslaw, bean salad and a side of potatoes.
The food overall is good. The corn fritters tasted more like doughnuts and the coleslaw had more a vinegar taste to it, which could be a hit or a miss depending on the person. The bean salad was excellent.
When you order the fried chicken, you basically get a half a chicken, a leg, thigh, wing and a breast, so portions are generous.
There is also a small petting zoo at the back of the parking lot for the little kids.

This place is a destination, an experience. What kind of experience, you ask?
An experience in old, I answer.
Old. Old. Old! Old people for as far as the eye can see. I liken it to a field full of seedy dandelions… white puffs of fluffy spheres everywhere, each waiting to be gently blown for a secret wish. Just don’t actually do it! They are our elders and I don’t think they’d like it if Johnny-​Come-​Lately saunters up and starts blowing his sweet breath into their freshly coiffed hair. Come on, have some respect!!!
But seriously, going to White Fence Farm is a destination, an activity… an absolute joy! The museum is attached to the lobby/​waiting room, so you don’t mind if there is a wait! You have tons of old memorabilia to look at — from cars to a HUGE Raggedy Ann doll to a collection of nightmare-​inducing old porcelain dolls. Gimme gimme! They also have a lot of old games you can play for a quarter — even a Zoltar-​type fortune teller! I wished to be big and I woke up as Tom Hanks the next day. It was weird!
So old people, old stuff to look at… what else is old? The food it not old, but it’s definitely the old style of «supper club» type dinners. They bring out these amazing relishes… red bean salad, corn fritters, cottage cheese, cole slaw, and dirt. No wait, pickled beets. I hate pickled beets bc they taste like dirt, but all of the other relishes are amazing! And you get refills on them before they bring your entrée out! I could eat the red bean salad and cottage cheese all day… and the corn fritters, which are more like corn donuts from heaven. No jokes!
I’ve only ordered the chicken there as my entrée, and as chicken goes, it’s very solid. The pieces aren’t huge, but when you have like 2 gallons of red bean salad in your stomach, you don’t mind so much.
I’ve read some complaints about cost and what you get… but in my eyes what you get is a lot more than four pieces of chicken. You get to have a meal in a huge establishment consisting of crazy eclectic rooms filled with eccentric stuff from a long time ago. Not only this, but you get as much cottage cheese as you want, shoulder to shoulder with people who could potentially be friends with your grandma.
This place is awesome. I didn’t even talk about the animal pen with the llama and the baby goat. Take my money please.

I wish I could rate this place higher. White Fence Farm is so much more than dining. In fact, you could spend a day there. The layout consists of a museum, restaurant, and petting zoo. However, first and foremost it is a dining establishment, and the food didn’t measure up. Thus, the two stars.
Each diner orders an individual entrée. With that comes a series of other items served family style. Standard fare is corn fritters, bean salad, cottage cheese, and beets. The corn fritters are definitely the highlight. They are sugary and soft, like a corn dessert item. In addition, diners get an unlimited amount. When one plate is gone, they bring another for the table. My dining companions remember corn fritters, sometimes called «hush puppies», being crispy and these certainly were not. To a certain extent, I think that disappointed them. All the other items were average. It tasted a lot like buffet food. For my entrée, I ordered the chicken strips. They tasted exactly like microwave chicken strips. Perhaps they were. The chicken was chewy and had no seasoning. The pieces were not very substantial. My family and I decided we would not return to White Fence Farm. We expected more out of the food, especially since the place was featured on «Check Please!»
After eating, we explored the museum and petting zoo. That was my favorite part. The museum contains vintage cars, appliances, knickknacks, and other oddities. My photographs show some of it. The petting zoo was disappointing. When I visited, all the animals were behind wired fence and we could not pet them. I’m not a zoologist, but I think I saw a llama, sheep, and some chickens. It was no Brookfield Zoo.

I’ve been visiting WFF a couple times a year for the last 40 years. Not much has changed in that time except having a few more dining rooms and some refurbishing here and there.
The cost can be a little pricy for a half chicken and it varies per year between $ 14 and $ 16. Currently it’s $ 15 per adult. The chicken is fantastic and with the chicken gravy they put on the table it’s even better. The $ 15 includes all you can eat corn fritters, kidney bean salad, pickled beets, cole slaw, and cottage cheese. Drinks are extra. And be aware that they are on a well and the water, iced tea, and soda can taste a bit funny. Better to stick with a beer.
They also have a good dessert selection. We usually get the brandy ice cream.
New this year I see they offer soup and macaroni and cheese but none of us at the table tried any of those.
Service is very attentive but they do employ a number of new waiters and waitresses so sometimes you need a bit more patience.

$ 14.50 for 4 pieces of fried chicken? I was appalled, yet intrigued.
We stumbled into White Fence Farm on our way down to Starved Rock. (Obviously, we were insane if we thought there’d be no traffic on 55 on a Friday. Yesssir.) The menu literally has fried chicken, steak, fried shrimp and maybe a salad somewhere. If you’re looking for a healthy meal, just don’t come here. It’s fine.
All the dinners come with beet salad, cottage cheese, coleslaw, kidney bean salad and AMAZING corn fritters. Besides the beets (as I’m just not a fan in general), all the slides were actually really great! The chicken comes out pretty fast, so you’re not sitting and waiting for 20 minutes like at other places.
This chicken is REALLY tasty and somehow not that greasy. Crispy skin, juicy chicken — It was amazing. They gave us some Sweet Baby Ray’s bbq sauce, too!
Our waitress was VERY friendly and welcoming. She even hooked us up with an extra order of corn fritters for the road! Yum! Oh, and this place is HUGE and the décor is really like a blast from the early1900’s. There were tons of families and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Great start to our roadtrip!
FYI — If you’re thinking about just splitting one of the entrees because you think the food is a little pricey, just don’t do it. They charge you a $ 7 plate splitting fee (because all the sides are served family style), so it’s just worth it to pay $ 7 more to get an actual entrée for yourself.