Chicken Mary's or Chicken Annie's?: Travel Channel show says it has the answer

Brian Williams, a former news personality from Pittsburg who now appears nationally did several appearances promoting the show. During the show Williams compares the rivalry to baseball.

"It's like the rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees," Williams said. "You're all in."

The show aired at 9 p.m., Tuesday, and viewers saw for the first time that when the show was taped in January, there were some Vernon County people on hand for the showdown between the poultry heavyweights.

Brian Bloom, as well as several others participated in the show.

"My wife, Kristi, and my 6-year-old daughter, Lauren, were there; Jeremy and Lori Fast; Andy and Meagan Smith and Will and Wendy Smith were all there along with some of their kids," Bloom said. "They were taping all over the place, we were in Chicken Annie's and they called us out and we were shaking our fists and shouting 'Annie's, Annie's, Annie's.' And the guys from Mary's were shouting 'Mary's, Mary's, Mary's.' I think the people from Chicken Mary's were just as excited as we were."

Bloom said that he takes his fried chicken seriously.

"I have a saying," Bloom said. "You don't get between a man and his chicken and get away with it."

Jeremy Fast could be glimpsed on a clip on the Travel Channel's Web site, saying, "Chicken Annie's, hands down, is the best chicken ever."

The taping caught Vernon County Treasurer Phil Couch -- also a fan of Chicken Annie's -- by surprise. Couch showed up at Chicken Annie's when the taping of the show was wrapping up.

"I didn't know anything was going on when we got there," Couch said. "TV cameras were out there doing the filming. They seemed to be focusing on an old house there where the grass was head high and there was a burning barrel out there."

To see where people in Nevada and Vernon County stand on the issue the Daily Mail conducted a non-scientific poll, in person, over the phone and online. In those polls, Chicken Annie's seemed to have the edge. In the Daily Mail office one person chose Chicken Mary's; but there was a twist, there were a couple of respondents who said they didn't like fried chicken and seven people said they liked both.

A poll taken at another office ended up 5-2 in favor of Chicken Annie's, and the Nevada Daily Mail's online poll had Chicken Annie's in the lead by a 2 to 1 margin at 10 p.m. Local Chicken Mary's fans did not offer comments but were enthusiastic about their choice; Chicken Annie's fans, however, spoke up.

Vernon County Clerk Tammi Beach said she liked Chicken Annie's, and that feeling trumped political parties as Republicans Doug Shupe and State Representative Barney Fisher concurred.

"Chicken Annie's is my favorite," Fisher said. "I've been going to Chicken Annie's since 1951, she was still in her house then. You'd go up to the window to order, then go back to your car until they announced your name over the loudspeaker."

Fisher said he's only been unfaithful to Chicken Annie's once.

"I've only eaten at Chicken Mary's once, and that was under protest," Fisher said.

The two restaurants were started a decade apart but there were some similarities. Both of the women who started the restaurants were widows of miners and both began by selling their fried chicken to miners as a way to make ends meet after their husbands deaths.

So what's the difference, anyway? Both have similar styles of preparing the chicken, Annie's uses an egg wash to prepare the chicken for breading using simple bread crumbs. Mary's uses an egg wash that includes milk and adds flour to the bread crumbs to make the crust thinner and crisper.

Viewers had to watch until the end of the show to find out the winner, which was decided by a panel of five blindfolded individuals, including fans of both restaurants. In a 3 to 2 decision the judges chose Chicken Mary's chicken, much to the delight of Chicken Mary's fans everywhere.

But, most likely, those Vernon County residents who are faithful to Chicken Annie's were not impressed.