Leon Fanning wasn’t so much in a pickle as he was at a crossroads.
He and his young family had just moved back home from out of the country, and he wanted to expand his business. But not necessarily the CPA business he’d been trained for and was good at.
He wanted to crunch something besides numbers. Maybe chicken?
It was the early 1970s and fried chicken places were booming. Who knows why? Leon didn’t, and didn’t really need to know why; he just needed to know how.
So in his Claiborne Parish back yard under the old shade tree, he started testing recipes and seasoning that would prove to be a true classic. He tried and fried and fried and tried. For whatever reason, luck or fate or a talent undetected until then, he fried up a jackpot. Or pan. Whatever. It didn’t take long, maybe half a dozen tries before the taste, the texture, the spices, seemed just right.
But this wasn’t chicken destined to remain in somebody’s back yard. Leon had a vision beyond that. He called his brother, Howard Fanning, to share both the recipe and the vision — and the partnership between the brothers was born.
Between the two, well, three including Leon’s son Brandon Fanning, they fiddled around, kept planning, kept cooking, kept dreaming — and opened a restaurant. Well, not so much a restaurant as a kitchen. EXACTLY a kitchen. With a to-go window.
Southern Classic was born.
They started simple, and that’s been the recipe since. Marinated and hand-battered, chicken made as much with the heart as with the hands. And that’s how Southern Classic was born, under a shade tree with a little luck and just the right touch and taste of home.
They wanted a simple business with a simple product that served and pleased. Or that when served, pleased. A simple drive-thru and walk-up model. A business that sent people on a midday break looking for a shade tree to eat under. Or one that sent people home to their kitchen with supper already prepared, supper like mama used to make.
The sides were simple and still are. Classic Southern. French Fries, Cole Slaw, and Mashed Potatoes with Gravy, because, well, try to get good gravy on the streets and good luck with that. But ours, you could drink. We’ve added a few things, like Cajun Rice, Red Beans and Rice, Sweet Corn Grits, and to top things off, Hot Apple Pie. Oh, and don’t forget the Pepper!
Today, Southern Classic Chicken is a second-generation family-run franchise business with Leon’s sons, Brandon and Alex, and Howard’s son, Alan, at the helm.
The Fanning Boys remain actively involved in running the company’s day-to-day business — they’d have it no other way — and have expanded the footprint to include 17 corporate stores, with markets in development in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
But with expansion, the simple model and menu has basically stayed the same.
When it works, when it tastes good, simple is always best.
Our kitchen is your kitchen. A classic kitchen.
A Southern Classic kitchen.
If mama can't fry chicken tonight, don’t worry. We can.
