Best Bets:

Fried steaks

Fat Larry’s in Bartlett sells “country fried steak,” but owner Larry Mayes said, “Ours is actually pork.”

It was great. The meat, covered with milk gravy, was lighter tasting than other renditions. “Part of it is because it’s so fresh,” Mayes said. “I trim the pork loin, slice it myself, tenderize it and dip it in buttermilk and flour and fry it. We don’t cook it till you order it.”

One customer who tried the country fried steak said to Mayes, “I want to tell you that’s a good piece of chicken.”

“That’s not chicken, buddy,” Mayes told him.

“I’m a certified chef,” the customer said. “I know my meat.”

“He argued with me,” Mayes said. Then the customer asked him for a job.

Instead of country fried steak or chicken fried steak, The Cupboard sells “chicken fried chicken.”

“We take a boneless, skinless chicken breast, pound it out a little bit,” said manager Frankie Gattuso. “We put it in an egg wash — milk and egg — and put it in seasoned flour mix, batter it well and put it in the deep fryer at 350 degrees. When it floats to the top, it’s ready.”

It’s my new favorite item at The Cupboard. That chicken was so tender it almost melted in my mouth.

If you want a one-stop spot for country fried steak, chicken fried steak and chicken fried chicken, head to Dale’s Restaurant in Southaven. The restaurant, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has them all. And you can get them with white or brown gravy or both. Or naked.

I tried the country fried steak, which assistant manager Melissa Wade said was made with a beef steak. It was excellent. I just dipped bites into the white and then the brown gravy. I even ate a few bites of gravy with my spoon.

I asked Adam Owen, one of the cooks, to tell me his favorite item at Dale’s. “If I had to pick, it’d have to be the chicken fried chicken,” he said. “You can either put it on a sandwich or eat it by itself with gravy or sauce. Any way you like.”

That goes for all the fried steaks I tried. No matter what they’re called or what meat or gravy is used, just enjoy them.

MICHAEL DONAHUE/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Melissa Wade with a country fried chicken dinner at Dale’s Restaurant in Southaven.

JENNIFER BIGGS/ THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL The “Giant Country Fried Steak” at The Port is served with brown gravy.