Zachary S.
Yelp
I think this is one of the best restaurants in Lubbock, hands down. Dirk's is a chicken joint located right outside of downtown Lubbock. On the side of the building is a mural stylized after Dirk West cartoons with Raider Red chasing chickens, which immediately helps you understand this food is about to be heavenly.
I miss my college town favorites since moving to Austin, so it's always a beautiful moment to return these spaces especially with a friend that always generates great conversation.
Inside the restaurant are two spaces: the bar and the tables. We arrived a little after 6 pm, and the dinner rush had beaten us there, plus a large birthday party, which gave us a 30-minute wait or immediate seating at the bar. Bar it is! We were immediately seated and served water. They have a full open bar, some select bottled beer options, and draft choices from their sister location, Brewery LBK.
The decor of the restaurant is built around cartoonist and former Lubbock mayor Dirk West. The artwork, statues, and other pieces from Dirk's collection give the place a lot of great character.
Their menu is slim, and Dirk's is better for it. I love a menu that limits your options because you know everything is going to be done to the highest level. Their options span from different styles of chicken tenders and bone-in chicken, including Korean Fried Chicken and Nashville Hot Chicken, while also serving traditional bone-in chicken and chicken tenders.
I've had a few things from their menu, but this time I ordered their traditional chicken tenders with mashed potatoes topped with jalapeño bacon gravy and their fried okra.
It felt like the order was placed in front of me before I had finished ordering; it was that efficient. Places that have small menus not only seem to focus on quality, but they can also churn out meals quicker because they're always firing variations of the same thing.
Everything in front of me, from their specialty sauce to the large amount of fried okra and their perfectly breaded and fried chicken tenders, was immaculate.
The best part of all of it is the price tag. With the rising costs of fast food, Dirk's is not too dissimilar and is ultimately affordable for the value and amount of food you get.
I don't know what else to add here. If you like chicken, I cannot recommend this place enough. If you don't like chicken, you were never 8 years old before.
RIYL: Chicken with the quality of sit-down restaurants but the efficiency of Raising Cane's.