3 places to get chicken picnics for Labor Day

We’ve got ideas for a Labor Day picnic where you can labor as much or as little as you want. If you wish, you can concentrate on staying safe, while someone else does most of the work for you. And, there are pickup options across metro Atlanta.

Fried chicken dinner from Joella’s Hot Chicken

If your ideal picnic lunch includes fried chicken, and you don’t want to fry it yourself, Joella’s Hot Chicken has a Family Picnic Pack that’s exactly what you need. The family pack for four includes a dozen “jumbo” chicken tenders (and, trust us, they are truly jumbo), two quarts of side dishes and two half pints of sauces. For the sides, you’ll choose from fries (both regular and Parmesan-garlic), macaroni and cheese, kale crunch salad, green beans with bacon, mashed potatoes and collard greens. There’s a bigger box, too, that feeds eight. And, if you can’t eat up everything in one meal, that chicken is as good at room temperature or cold as it is hot.

$34.99 for Family Picnic Pack for four, $64.99 for Family Picnic Pack for eight. Order online; pickup at Joella’s Hot Chicken locations on Cobb Parkway, in Kennesaw, in Newnan or in Woodstock. joellas.com.

Backyard Basics box from Smokey Bones

If grilled chicken is your thing, and working the grill is the way you like to spend your Labor Day, then Smokey Bones has what you need. Their Backyard Basics box includes four trimmed chicken breasts (flattened so they’ll grill quickly and evenly); marinade for the chicken; four big russet potatoes for baking (along with butter, sour cream and coarse salt and pepper for seasoning); a huge bag of chopped romaine lettuce, along with Caesar dressing (the classic kind, with just a bit of anchovy); grated Parmesan; croutons; and four pieces of garlic bread. Marinate the chicken ahead of time (as little as 30 minutes, or up to a full day), and, when you’re ready to eat, put the potatoes in the oven, heat up the grill and toss all those salad ingredients in a big bowl. Labor Day picnic in the backyard? Done.

$24.99. Order online; pickup at Smokey Bones locations in Lithonia, Peachtree City or Buford. smokeybones.com/bones-basics.

Whole smoked chicken from Golden Eagle

If what you’re craving is smoked chicken, pick up a dinner from Electric Provisions, the online shop of Electric Hospitality, parent company of Golden Eagle, Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall and Muchacho. The dinner comes from Golden Eagle, where they smoke a whole chicken, then cut it into parts for serving. Each piece is moist and flavorful. The sides are skillet cornbread (with a crisp crust from a cast-iron skillet), white barbecue sauce, field peas with bacon and mustard-flavored and chive-flecked potato salad. This dinner traveled well. We also tried the Ladybird Backyard BBQ board, a combination platter of ribs, pulled pork and cheddarwurst. Loved that pulled pork! Be aware that the chicken is so popular, it occasionally sells out, though it’s usually available again the next day.

$35 for whole smoked chicken dinner, including chicken, sauce and three sides. Order at electricprovisions.com; curbside pickup at Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall, 684 John Wesley Dobbs Ave., Atlanta.

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COURTESY OF ASH WILSON Whole Smoked Chicken from Golden Eagle.

CONTRIBUTED BY SMOKEY BONES Backyard Basics from Smokey Bones.

CONTRIBUTED BY JOELLA’S HOT CHICKEN Fried chicken dinner from Joella’s Hot Chicken.