By Mary Sisk
Rock River Current
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You Gotta Try This is the Rock River Current’s dining feature focused on signature dishes at your favorite local restaurants. Want to see one of your favorites here? Email news@rockrivercurrent.com to suggest a local staple.
Where: Uncle John’s
Address: 1053 Logan Ave., Belvidere
Owners: Dino and Patti Ibraimi
Hours: 6 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday through Tuesday; 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday and Friday
You have to try: Wednesday’s fried chicken special
What’s in it: Half a fried chicken with your choice of potato and vegetable. It’s served with soup or salad and rolls.
Try this too: You Gotta Try This: Summer Collection at Candy Cloud in Rockford
Why you should try it: To celebrate National Fried Chicken Day, we set out to find the best fried chicken in the area and we think we did.
B103 asked on Facebook who had the best local fried chicken, and Amber Adams said Uncle John’s. So we set out to give it a try.
It turns out that this fried chicken was so popular that owners Dino and Patti Ibraimi had to extend their hours on Wednesdays.
“We’ve tried to close on Wednesdays, especially in the summertime and it’s been such a hit that we just can’t,” Dino Ibraimi said. “We’ve stayed open.”
The fried chicken has been on their menu since their opening in 1992, and the recipe has stayed the same. It’s now a fan favorite.
Uncle John’s is also a family run small business with Dino Ibraimi attributing the success to his wife and children who often help out.
“My wife Patti, who everyone knows here in town, she is the backbone of this restaurant,” said Ibraimi. “They’ve grown up in the restaurant and now they pretty much work here with us and help us out.”
B103 radio personality Chelsea Meyer contributed to this story.
This article is by Mary Sisk. Email her at msisk@rockrivercurrent.com or follow her on Instagram at @maryrrcurrent