Knott's Berry Farm: Mrs. Knott's Fried Chicken Dinner



When family visited, we would spend the entire day at Knott's Berry Farm.  Before heading home, we would have dinner at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant.  This was before Camp Snoopy, Fiesta Village, and the Boardwalk.  I guess I just showed my age...

 Knott's Berry Farm actually began as a boysenberry farm.  During the Depression in 1934, Mrs. Cordelia Knott began to serve chicken dinners to make ends meet.  By 1937, they served 1,774 chicken dinners on Thanksgiving Day.  To entertain the thousands of restaurant customers waiting, Mr. Walter Knott introduced "The Covered Wagon Show" and a Ghost Town in 1940.  The rest is history...

 Today, Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant serves an average of a 1,000 chickens per day, making it the world's largest, full service, single location chicken restaurant in the world with seating for 1,000 in eight separate dining rooms.  The menu still features the famous chicken, biscuits, and boysenberry pie.

 We happened to be in the area and since plans had changed, we headed over to Knott's for something to eat.  I haven't had Mrs. Knott's chicken dinner in maybe 10 years.  While we were in line, found out they're celebrating their 80th year (June 1934).  We weren't there exactly 80 years of the first chicken dinner served, but today it was Sunday Supper at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant.

The Famous Mrs. Knott's Fried Chicken Dinner
$17.99 

The thing I like about this dinner set,
it's a lot of food.


See What Jay Eats...

The Chicken Dinner begins with

Chicken Noodle Soup or Cherry Rhubarb Appetizer

 I opted for the Chicken Noodle Soup


Green Salad
(Ranch, Honey Mustard, Thousand Island or Italian)

I was a bit surprised to find that they
no longer serve the Knott's branded preserves
with their fresh baked biscuits,
but I understand.


The entree is served!

4 pieces of Fried Chicken,
with mashed potatoes and chicken gravy,
and a choice of
corn or cabbage.

I selected the corn.


Each Chicken Dinner
comes with dessert,
pie or ice cream.

Of course I had the Boysenberry Pie.

Got it togo, since the dinner was a lot of food.


Before leaving, we checked out the marketplace,
bakery, and the Chicken To Go.

My friend pointed out that the Knott's preserves
are now branded as Berry Market.

It made me think,
are we still at Knott's Berry Farm?


OK, I feel better now...


Or guess we could have just bought the fried chicken seasoning...
But boysenberry pie doesn't come with it.



Knott's Berry Farm
8039 Beach Blvd.
Buena Park, CA 90620
(714) 220-5055


Monday - Thursday:  8 am - 8:30 pm
Friday & Saturday:  7 am - 9 pm
Sunday:  7 am - 8:30 pm
(Open every day except for Christmas)


It's a lot of food, but a good deal.
They do have other things on the menu,
such as chicken pot pie, chicken sandwich, etc.

For breakfast, they do have traditional breakfast menu items.
Sorry, I usually don't get up early enough for breakfast.

Is it the very best fried chicken?  
Probably not, but it's something of tradition
and is still a great value.


 Happy 80th Anniversary!

Photos by Jay Terauchi
Jay Eats Worldwide
©Jay Terauchi

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