Doc Geiser's Carryout & Catering, Frederick

[ol_ironstomach]

Doc Geiser's Carryout & Catering is the renamed "Bill Watson's Original Carry Out" and home of Watson's Fried Chicken, voted Frederick's best fried chicken for 14 years running and the official fried chicken of the Frederick Keys. I stopped in Monday evening for a takeout 3-piece meal ($8.39), which comes with two sides and a soft roll. A mixed order (light & dark) gets you a breast, thigh, and drumstick. The chicken is a pretty straight-up deep fried chicken, but very lightly dredged, and the dredge itself is very lightly seasoned. It's a bit of a pleasant surprise, as I've been running into a lot of salt bomb chickens lately. The styro box does a poor job of confining the intoxicating chicken aromas. The meat inside is tender and moist, but not exceptionally so. The outer skin doesn't quite have the crackle of Red Rooster's chicken, but it's close. A good, but not superior fried chicken.

My sides were okay. The mac and cheese is typically overboiled, but the cheese at least retains some generic cheese flavor. Cole slaw is finely chopped and mildly tangy, but I thought mine was just beginning to hint at fermentation. It might just be the vinegar they use.

Doc's is at the left end of a small strip mall at 50 N. McCain Drive, Frederick. It's across McCain from the blank side of Home Depot.