A sign outside the Speedway gas station and convenience store on the northwest corner of 500 West and 4500 South in Murray boasts fresh, hot coffee and ice-cold beer — but it says nothing about the area’s best fried chicken found inside.
Kevin’s Fried Chicken — operated by Kevin Nguyen and his wife, both from Vietnam — is listed first on Yelp’s list of TOP 10 BEST Fried Chicken in Murray.
Nguyen said their goal is “to provide good food at an affordable price to students and workers.” The outlet inside Speedway is located just three miles away from Salt Lake Community College’s Taylorsville Redwood Campus and roughly six miles away from SLCC’s South City Campus.
In April 2023, the online site Only in Utah asked, “Would you believe us if we told you that the best fried chicken in Utah is found inside a gas station?” The solution to the mystery might be found in the roots of the owner and his family.
Twenty years ago, Nguyen’s family worked as street vendors in Vietnam, a country renowned for its delicious, inexpensive street food. Following their hometown tradition, Kevin brought the family business to the United States, with only his relatives as the employees in a gas station to keep costs down.
Nguyen and his wife are aware of the accolades their chicken has won. They believe their product is popular because they start with fresh, high-quality chicken — and then let that taste shine through.
Cook it and they will come, an ideology which seems to be working for the pair. They spend no extra time on advertisements, yet their lunch lines are long.
Customers can get bone-in chicken pieces or chicken strips — crisp and crunchy on the outside, hot and juicy on the inside.
Kevin’s sells a generous bag of strips, a potato log, and couple of sauce containers for just $7. But the real star of the restaurant is the chicken sandwich, which is often mentioned in the five-star reviews.
Be forewarned, the sandwich is huge — almost twice the size in comparison to sandwiches offered at other fast food outlets.
Bao Lam, a Vietnamese transplant and photographer for The Globe, traced out the influence of his country’s culinary tradition in the light, flaky, delicately spiced coating on the chicken.
The potato logs are breaded and spiced, giving them more flavor than your average fries, keeping them crisp on the outside, hot and fluffy on the inside. Lam believes this, too, is a Vietnamese tradition.
For Bruins with an early class, Kevin’s opens at 7 a.m. and serves chicken strips with biscuits and gravy or beef burritos for breakfast.
Omar Perez, who works at Utah’s Housing Authority, said the chicken restaurant is his go-to recommendation for out-of-town visitors. When his sons travel from Provo, Kevin’s is where they want to go.
“They were disappointed when they came one weekend, and it was closed,” said Perez.
Located at 524 W. 4500 S. in Murray, Kevin’s Fried Chicken is open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
All information and quotes from Nguyen and his family are translated from Vietnamese; a special thanks to Bao Lam for the translation.
