Ground zero for fried chicken

If fried chicken seems to be for sale on every corner in Baton Rouge, there is a reason beyond coincidence. Louisiana gave America Popeyes. Baton Rouge gave it Raising Cane's. Between them, they helped to transform comfort food into something approaching a national obsession.

Why it matters: One could reach for the familiar prescription about restraint. But this is Louisiana, where pleasure is seldom regarded as a birthright. Fried chicken belongs to a world of glorious excess—and no apology is expected.

The bigger picture: Americans have been eating more chicken since 1960. Per-capita consumption reached 104 pounds last year, about 25 chickens, according to the National Chicken Council. Chicken is cheap. Fried chicken is delicious.

The details: Some of the recent surge traces to an inflection point. On August 12, 2019, Popeyes introduced its chicken sandwich—crisp, generous, served on a brioche bun—and the fast-food industry rushed headlong into the chicken-sandwich wars. Chicken sandwich sales have grown at a compound annual rate of 21% over five years, dragging other fried-chicken formats upward in their wake.

Closer to home: Baton Rouge has kept a faithful pace with the national appetite. Blue Store has expanded. Krispy Krunchy Chicken, born in Lafayette, now operates 20 convenience-store sites in the city. Dave's Hot Chicken, Southern Classic Chicken and Chicky Sandos have all staked their claims within the last couple of years. Raising Cane's, the hometown champion, has grown to more than 950 locations worldwide and is expected to cross the 1,000-unit threshold before the year is out.

The bottom line: In Baton Rouge, fried chicken is not just dinner. It has worked its way into breakfast, lunch and brunch, too. At this point, it may also be doing its part to keep Pennington Biomedical busy.