One of my favorite subjects

Last week, The Travel Channel presented another show in their series called "Food Wars." This particular show had a distinct local flavor. The battle was to determine who served the best fried chicken, between longtime Pittsburg, Kan. restaurant rivals, Chicken Annie's and Chicken Mary's.

At the outset, I must state two disclaimers. First, the subject of fried chicken is definitely one of my favorites. Good old fashioned "southern fried chicken" has always been at the top of my list. It is a style of cooking that is an American original.

Secondly, I will not take sides in the ongoing battle over which restaurant actually serves the best "fried chicken." I have eaten at both restaurants many times over the years, and I think they both have excellent "fried chicken."

For those of you who missed seeing the show, I will offer a few insights. The emergence of Pittsburg, Kan., as a famous location for this style of "fried chicken" dates back many years.

In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, the four-state area, which included Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri, was famous for its mining industry. Lead, zinc, and coal, were all heavily mined in this area, and coal is still being mined to this day.

Underground shafts honeycomb the entire area. They still have sink holes regularly appear each year in these crumbling abandoned tunnels. Years ago, one of my professors at Missouri Southern showed us a news clipping from back in the 1920s. It told the story of a man who rode a motorcycle through the tunnels from near Webb City, all the way to Picher, Okla.

Miners from all over the world came here to extract the minerals. At the height of the mining industry period, Pittsburg had a population near 60,000. The 2000 census listed the current population at just under 20,000.

According to information from the "Food Wars Show," and from Chicken Annie's Website, mining had a lot to do with the establishment of that restaurant. Ann Pilcher began her cooking career around 1934, following her husband's total disability from injuries he sustained in a mining accident.

The Zerngast family opened Chicken Mary's eight years later. Today these two restaurants sit just 300 feet from each other a few miles north and east of Pittsburg.

My longtime friend, Doug Campbell, has had two of his son's, Gregg and Bryan, play basketball for the Pittsburg State Gorillas. We have tried to attend most of the home games over the past few years, and this also resulted in regular visits to one or the other of these two chicken restaurants.

There is one story that happened a few years ago, when we were eating at "Annie's." Besides a variety of regular chicken dinners on their menu, "Annie's" also offers side dishes. One of these is an old favorite of mine, "chicken hearts."

I ordered this dish one time, and was surprised when the waitress returned a few moments later, without my order. She apologized, and these were her exact words...."I'm sorry sir, when I checked in the kitchen for "chicken hearts," they told me that they only delivered "male chickens" this week, so we didn't get any hearts!!!"

Everyone at our table had a good laugh over that joke. I think that is part of why people really like going to these restaurants. Sure they have good food, but the atmosphere is the real attraction. Both places are very family style oriented. It also seems that almost every time I go there, we seem to see other people from right here in Nevada. Comfort food in a comfortable setting, does it get any better than that?

Pittsburg has always seemed to be a town blessed with good eating establishments. Besides "Annie's" and "Mary's," there are other good dining venues available in Pittsburg.

"Barto's Idle Hour, located in Frontenac, has great fried chicken too. Barto's also offers a larger menu selection, plus they have regular entertainment. Sometimes this includes "Polka music." The dancers range from little kids to grandparents. It is an old style Italian place.

Our basketball trips also find us making regular visits to another Pittsburg legend, "Jim's Steak House." I have sampled steaks in different states and cities over the years, but I can honestly proclaim, that I have never had a better steak than "Jim's" anywhere.

"Jim's" like these other restaurants has been there for years. "Jim's" has also followed the same recipe for success as well. Their menu and steaks, have never changed in all the years I have been going there. All of these restaurants have that in common. Once they found success, they just kept things the same year after year.

People from our area, often ask the question, "why can't we have successful restaurants like these here in our town?" I think that there are many reasons for this, but one in particular is obvious. Pittsburg is located right in the middle of the 4-state population center.

It is a lot easier to be successful when you have more people from which to draw. Within 50 miles of Pittsburg, there are thousands of people who willingly drive there for the good selection of food.

It would be nice, if we did have a good "fried chicken" place closer to home. I can think of two great former restaurants that had good "fried chicken." Harpy's was a famous place right here in town, and MarLon in Bronaugh was very popular for many years as well.

Maybe these latest "Food Wars" will spark some interest to revive a "fried chicken" place locally. I know that if someone had good "fried chicken," they would have plenty of business. Oh, by the way, please make sure you get some hens, I would love to have some "hearts!"