Since June 1934, it's been the same story every day: locals, tourists and folk "just passing through" start lining up on Grand Avenue for Cordelia's famous fried chicken.
Of course, back then Mrs. Knott did all the cooking and her three daughters served the five-table Tea Room. Since 1934, over 20,000,000 guests have eaten chicken dinners in the famous restaurant.
In fact, the restaurant bearing Mrs. Knott's name has grown into one of the country's largest full-service family eateries.
Mrs. Knott's traditional chicken dinners are something to crow about just as they were that Wednesday afternoon in June back in 1934 when Cordelia served them at the Farm for the very first time. But then, why shouldn't they be, for the menu still features the same famous chicken, biscuits, and boysenberry pie.
Each dinner is made from the "just-right" plump birds she insisted upon, and the fixin’s still include
lighter-than-air buttermilk biscuits, fluffy mashed potatoes, rich chicken gravy and mouth-watering farm-fresh vegetables. The sheer goodness of the platters of piping hot chicken keeps guests coming back time after time. They always know they'll sit down to a dinner that is an unforgettable treat, at prices that make the biggest family seem small.
While the name sake dinner is still the main draw for the restaurant's 1.1 million annual customers, the menu features other items as well. These include various lunch and dinner entrees, soups, salads, sandwiches and a complete Farm breakfast featuring French toast, pancakes, and daily specials.
