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PETE TITTL: Top fried chicken in town? We may have a winner

BY PETE TITTL Contributing columnist
pftittl@gmail.com | Saturday, Sep 17 2011 11:16 PM

Last Updated Saturday, Sep 17 2011 11:16 PM

Timing and location are everything in the restaurant business. Many years ago the owners of Linda's Place opened the first chicken and waffles restaurant in Bakersfield, on Brundage Lane east of Oak Street. Though fried chicken and waffles are a popular and commonplace restaurant concept in Los Angeles, thanks to the famous Roscoe's restaurants, it just didn't take hold here despite some positive press from me.

Now you can get it at J's Place and other restaurants, so Linda's Place has expanded to include Southern fried foods such as catfish, snapper and regular chicken as well as a long list of barbecued entrees with the appropriate sides such as black eyed peas, fried okra and peach cobbler. The restaurant's motto is "Good Southern food for the Soul!" By expanding past just chicken and waffles, I think the owners stand a better shot at making it last. (The restaurant has some good barbecue vibes to work with, as it occupies Stine Road location that for the longest time was Mr. Tibbs -- in fact, the van with the former name is still out in the parking lot.)

What's interesting is that Dane and Linda Newton's four children, who were coming of age as their parents were trying to make a go of it at the place on Brundage, are the ones behind this venture. Dane Jr., Jeremy, Dana and Scotty are partners, Jeremy having gone to college to earn his business degree before starting this venture. On our first visit we ordered the fried chicken dinner ($10.95) and a combination barbecue plate with barbecued chicken and beef tri-tip ($14.95). For our sides we selected macaroni and cheese, chili beans and yams. Cornbread (dense, moist and rich without being too sweet) came with both dinners.

The best of it all was definitely the fried chicken. I've been waiting for some place to offer fried chicken on par with the dear departed Pantry on Brundage Lane for some time now, and I think Linda's may be it: crispy to an impressive crunch on the outside, hot, moist and flavorful inside, not a speck of extra grease on it. For the price, you get four pieces (two white, two dark) and, with the sides, enough for two to share.

The tri-tip was thinly sliced but, like my companion's chicken, so bathed in the barbecue sauce that I could barely taste the meat, which the menu assured me was marinated in special seasonings and slow-cooked. It was tender enough to be slow-cooked, but if I ordered it again I'd ask for the sauce on the side (if that's possible) to get more of that good beef flavor. The chicken, at least, had a nice smoky flavor that did survive and complement the sauce.

As far as the side dishes go, our favorite was the chili beans, thick with pulverized bits of ground beef and with that nice muddy sort of brown sauce that invites a nice dip of the cornbread. The yams were a bit too simple for my companion's preference (lots of brown sugar on the yams) and the macaroni and cheese was inedible -- dried out, not particularly cheesy, mostly notable for a pronounced presence of black pepper.

On another occasion we tried the beef ribs ($14.95), which are available only on Fridays and Saturdays. I had hope for Sunday, as my favorite source, The Q on Rosedale Highway, is closed, which I discovered when I had a craving after church one day and found it all shuttered. Linda's product is comparable: just as beefy, and the barbecue sauce seems more at home on these ribs than the chicken.

Now, the interior is not going to be a big draw. It's functional and not much more, with laminated pressed wood booths, a clean interior but pretty shop-worn. In the corner, a flat-screen TV was playing jazz off a DirectTV music channel. One interesting touch: The black barbecue was out in the parking lot and the wood for cooking was stacked along one wall near the counter. It's all ready to go.