Millie and I teamed up with some buddies for our inaugural visit to Chicken Scratch last Saturday, and I am officially (extremely) smitten with the joint. Now judging from the crowd, I think most people are in on Oak Cliff’s latest low-key eatery, but in the off chance that you’ve not yet experienced its wide-open, mellow Austiny vibe or its crazy addictive rotisserie chicken, sweet and salty fries, and handmade popsicles, then I urge you to make a pilgrimage, stat.
Here’s the deal… This place is massively kid friendly, with its space for roaming (and hopscotching and twistering and bean bag throwing and just general merry making), but it’s also 100% adult friendly too. There’s a bar next door for purchasing libations, the food is interesting and tasty, and the crowd is fun. But perhaps the best part is how all those aforementioned diversions for the kiddos make it possible to actually have an adult conversation while partaking in your G&T and chicken.
The only downside was the heat (and we went on one of last week’s mild days)…I can’t imagine what it will be like in the scotch of August. Oh and there were quite a few flies* to bat away. But nothing some fan action couldn’t help resolve.
Otherwise, it was perfection in every way.
(*Note to Chicken Scratch: You might consider investing in some fans for summer and perhaps a few of those hanging plastic bags of water with the pennies inside. I’m not sure how the heck those bad boys work, but I’ve seen a lot of dining establishments use them to great effect, so it’s worth a try…)
We finally went and completely agree about the flies! Argh – they were everywhere! Definitely a cool place though.