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This is a plate of Col. Harland Sanders' famous finger-lickin' fried chicken at KFC. (Photo courtesy of KFC)
After you've had your fill of Fourth of July barbecue, you may or may not be glad to know that today, July 6, is National Fried Chicken Day across America.
If you care to celebrate, you might want to start in Birmingham, where two local restaurants -- Cafe Dupont downtown and Little Donkey in Homewood -- were recently listed on The Daily Meal's annual roundup of America's 75 Best Best Fried Chicken Spots.
In Mobile, AL.com's resident expert David Holloway recommends the old-school chicken at Mary's Southern Cooking, 3011 Springhill Ave., and the boneless chicken breast covered in country gravy at Judy's Place, 4054 Government St. -- as well as the fried bird at the Whistlestop Cafe, 110 South Florida St.; at Mama's on Dauphin, 220 Dauphin St.; and at Hart's Fried Chicken, 830 Dauphin Island Parkway, which has been serving what David says is "some of the best chicken in the world" for 50 years.
If you're near Montgomery, AL.com's Amber Sutton suggests you make a special trip for the fried chicken at Red's Little Schoolhouse Restaurant in Grady, an unincorporated community in rural Montgomery County.
RELATED: Nashville's Hattie B's Hot Chicken is coming to Birmingham.
Elsewhere, participating Church's Chicken restaurants nationwide are saluting the big day by offering customers eight pieces of Church's scratch-made chicken for $6.99.
Chick-fil-A doesn't have any particular NFCD specials today, but it did take the occasion to reveal Seven Things You Don't Know About the Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich, including the fact that it took four years to perfect the recipe.
Other fast-food fried chicken favorites from the folks at Southern Living magazine include the kickin' chicken at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, the golden-brown bird at Mrs. Winner's Chicken & Biscuits, the honey-dipped thighs and legs at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken, and, of course, the finger-lickin' fowl at KFC.
And if you stop by the grocery store on your way home tonight, you might want to pick up an order of the extra-crispy fried chicken at Publix supermarkets, a previous winner of The Birmingham News' Birmingham's Favorite Fingerlickin' Chicken contest.