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Gus's World Famous Vying for Chicago's Fried Chicken Crown With 2015 Expansion

The arrival of the iconic Tennessee chain later this year increases fried chicken options in Chicago.

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken
Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken
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Ashok Selvam is the editor of Eater Chicago and a native Chicagoan armed with more than two decades of award-winning journalism. Now covering the world of restaurants and food, his nut graphs are super nutty.

Chicago's fried chicken landscape's about to get more crowded, as Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken is poised to arrive later this year.

The Memphis-based chain, with a fried chicken recipe that dates back to the 1950s, is expanding, and Chicago's one of eight new spots. Other new locations include Kansas City, Kan., St. Louis and Los Angeles:

There's 10 existing locations including Tennessee (5), Little Rock, Ark. (2), and even one in Austin, Texas. Gus's only wrote they planned to open in 2015 in Chicago, but didn't provide an exact location. They didn't return an email for comment.

Fresh off the Boat's Eddie Huang is a huge fan, and raved about the trademark dash of red pepper. This is what he wrote for Eater about Gus's in 2011: "They do perfect down and dirty Southern Fried Chicken."

Huang and others have touted Gus's as an icon, but how will Chicagoans react to a new style of fried chicken when joints like Harold's Chicken Shack, Honey Butter Fried Chicken, Parson's and Leghorn are already here? And wasn't peri peri supposed to be 2015's chicken trend in Chicago? Sound off in the comments.