Mr D’s Fried Chicken

Mount Locust house on the Natchez Trace. Built in 1784 and served a bowl of corn mush and a porch to sleep on for $.25 for generations.

Dinah and I are currently on the Natchez Trace Parkway, an incredible gently curving road through forests that extends 440 miles from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. It follows a 10,000 year old trail for native Americans that became the major land route between south and north through the War Between the States and beyond. Before railroads, people would sell their Mississippi rafts at Natchez where the wood would be repurchased, and then walk back north along the trail.

Mr D, who congratulated Dinah and I for our mutual love several times and serves a mean fried chicken.

On that road is the Old Country Store owned by Arthur Davis, aka Mr D. Go there for the fried chicken and all the fixings.  Alton Brown called it the best fried chicken he’s ever eaten. How could we not go?

Mr D makes everyone feel welcome and serenaded Dinah and I with a rendition of Sugar Pie Honey Bun. When I asked if he had any local Mississippi tunes to share, he broke into a song with the lyric ‘Grandma is my Cornbread’ (I can’t find it on Spotify or I’d share it).

The Old Country Store is simple, aging, humble, and a wonderful place to experience genuine southern cooking with no pretense at all. Oh yeah .. the chicken is indeed first rate.

Old Country Store. Everything on the shelves is for sale, and there is a LOT of stuff on the shelves.