Battle of the Dishes: Kennedy Fried Chicken vs. Crown Fried Chicken

Victoria Bekiempis

Finger- (and thumb-)licking good?

First a little history ...

Afghanistan-born Zia Taeb started Kennedy. He began working as a fry cook in the 1970s, The New York Times reports. At the time, there wasn't a lot of halal meat in the city. So Taeb opened his own fried-chicken shop -- intentionally riffing on the initials and colors of the original Kentucky Fried Chicken -- and business boomed. Taeb happened to be one of the only people selling hot and fresh halal meat to the city's growing Muslim population.

A lot of entrepreneurs -- mostly Afghans -- took notice, and started their own fried shops, even using the name Kennedy Fried Chicken, so the story goes. Abdul Haye was one of them: He bought one of these restaurants in 1994, and applied for the trademark about 10 years later, the paper reports. Like Taeb, who quit the business, and Haye's offering, the approach to the popular meal greatly resembles the way the chicken often gets prepared in Southern black communities -- traditionally, the skin stays on, and the pieces get a light flour coating, not thick batter. Other variations, like Crown Fried Chicken, also popped up.

Haye, who now holds the trademark to the Kennedy Fried Chicken name, has recently decided to take action against impostors, the Times notes. He's demanding franchising fees from Kennedys that have sprung up as far away as California, and threatening legal action if they don't agree.

But what about his chicken itself? We here at Fork in the Road decided to compare one Kennedy and one Crown to find out: Who's got better breasts and legs?