This humble facade, presented for travelers going to the Windor Ruins or Alcorn State or Rodney, venturing off the Trace or right on 61, those lucky enough to live in the Lorman area, and those who make pilgrimage, is one of the great temples of fried chicken.
Alton Brown included a stop here on his ‘Feasting on Asphalt’ series and deemed it his favorite. Magazines have gushed over his non-greasy chicken on their glossy paper. And those of us who have been one or a dozen or more times can’t wait to say it: this is one of the top-tier chicken places in the state of Mississippi.
Right here, in Lorman, in what’s been the Cohn Brothers store since 1875:
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…and it’s just such a place, where ceramic doo-dads and flea-market lamps live in harmony on the old general store shelves, people leave examples of their handiwork for sale (a la a continuous-arm Windsor chair), and you can pick up a quilt, white tuxedo vest and bow tie, tired prom dress, or even a bejeweled Obama toboggan. There by the near wall is the sweetest gentleman who did gospel karaoke during lunchtime.
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Yes, gosh, it’s a buffet but every once in a while you just go with it and never look back.
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There are some #10 cans going on but they’re doctored, and who cares when the plate perfectly fits peas and greens, cucumbers, beans, smothered chicken, a biscuit, and are-you-crazy of course a piece of his fried chicken. It later went back for a trotter, and a slice of watermelon for dessert.
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…and somehow blackberry cobbler comes to the table, too. It was probably delicious but there wasn’t more than a half a bite taken.
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If it all isn’t enough already, Mr D comes out — he makes sure everyone is happy and even remembers us from our very first visit, so many times ago, before word had really gotten out what he was up to. And he serenades us all with ‘Mama was a Cornbread Cookin’ Queen’: