Keep walking, health nuts.
Britton Road is an interesting stretch of asphalt. Past the fast food chains and the drive-thru cigarette shops, where sometimes the cars back up into the street, there are a few honest-to-goodness restaurants.
West of May Avenue is The Ranch. East is ND Foods. Down on Pennsylvania Avenue, theres Inaka Sushi & Bar.
And close to the model train store and Los Amigos Tire Shop, you will find a shack where they fry things all the things.
Cowboys Fry Shack, 1414 W. Britton Road, is, as the name implies, not much of a building. At one time, it might have been a Fotomat or, more likely, a shave ice stand.
Now, it is filled with hot, bubbling oil and baskets of food being lowered into said oil. And its flavorsome.
I dont think anyone is expecting gourmet cuisine, and thats good, because this is not that. Its big foam containers of fried food that you can do anything with.
You can: Eat it. Look at it. Smell it. Save it for later. All of the above.
My suggestion is to eat it. Look at it as you lift it to your mouth for eating. Possibly smell it as it gets closer to your face. If theres too much these are hefty portions you can save some for later.
The best of the bunch is the fried pork chop ($6 with a side of either fries or okra), which is a big, bone-in piece of pig thats dipped in batter and fried up crisp.
I love pork chops, but they are rarely done well, especially when well- done. Pork is a lean meat, and when its overcooked, its really hard to (chew and) swallow. But Cowboys version stays juicy and flavorful even cooked all the way through. Its a knife-and-fork meal use real silverware if you have it or you can eat it like an animal with your hands. Whos going to judge?
Switching from batter to cornmeal, the fried catfish ($7 with a side) is a thin cut that gets a little crispy and chewy at the edges. And thats not a complaint. Cowboys uses nice, white filets and a spice mix that is peppery and wonderful. I prefer mine sprayed down with a healthy dose of hot sauce, but your mileage might vary.
The chicken wings ($6) come with a seasoning or sauce, and I am a firm believer that if you dont get Buffalo sauce on them, youre probably secretly trying to undermine America for invasion from some undersea kingdom, like Atlantis or Scubaville or The Merpeoples Republic of Merchina.
These arent drumettes; theyre wings. Like, the whole shebang. Pull them apart with your fins and stuff the meat behind your gills ... aha! I knew you were a spy! Guards! Season this guy with cornmeal!
The chicken strips ($6) are hit-or-miss. The first batch I had were a little dry and the breading didnt get very crisp. The second time I tried them, the chicken was moist, though the breading still didnt have much crunch. If you love chicken strips, these will do you just fine. Or feed them to the kids while you enjoy a pork chop.
Pretty much everything is fried at Cowboys Fry Shack, which is why they chose the name, probably. And if you enjoy it when batter, seasoning and animals meet with hot oil, then you might think about choosing Cowboys for your next meal.
Print headline: Ropin meals, You dont have to be a cowpuncher to enjoy the delectable favorites at Cowboys Fry Shack. In fact, it wouldnt help at all because everythings great already.