My, how this summer has flown by, and so has our summer food project.

Way back in June, we launched our summer-long, statewide quest to find the best barbecue, pizza, burgers, ice cream, hot dogs, meat-and-three, doughnuts and breakfast in Alabama.

This week, after covering a lot of miles and consuming untold calories, we’re wrapping it up (for now anyway) with the best fried chicken.

Already this week, we’ve revealed the best in Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile and all of Alabama.

MORE: Birmingham’s best fried chicken

Huntsville’s best fried chicken

Mobile’s best fried chicken

Alabama’s best fried chicken

Today, our readers have their say, and they get to tell us where they go to find the best fried chicken in Alabama.

Read on, and pass the napkins, please.

The ones we got right

Many of y’all agreed with our Haley Laurence that Montgomery mainstay Martin’s Restaurant fries the best bird in the state, and you also showed a lot of love for some of the other places in her statewide Top 10, including the Chicken Shack in Luverne and the Stagecoach Café in Stockton.

Elsewhere, several readers concurred with Mary Colurso’s No. 1 Birmingham pick, Eugene’s Hot Chicken, as well as Lawrence Specker’s top pick from the Mobile area, Champy’s World Famous Fried Chicken in Daphne. Betty Mae’s Restaurant, which was second on Matt Wake’s Huntsville Top 5 list, was a big hit with readers, too.

The chicken chains

Lawrence likely ruffled a few feathers when he chose the Daphne location of Champy’s World Famous Fried Chicken as the best in the Mobile area, but as he rightly reasoned, Champy’s, which only has eight locations (four of which are in Alabama), “isn’t a very chainy chain.” Whatever side of that argument you fall on, there is no disputing the fact that Champy’s fried chicken is championship quality (as are those tamales), and it was easily our readers’ top pick for the best chain fried chicken (which wasn’t really a category, but we’re making it one here.) Hart’s Fried Chicken, a small, local chain that began in Mobile in 1964, was another one of Lawrence’s Top 5 Port City picks that readers agree with, too.

Among the other chains that readers mentioned: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Church’s Texas Chicken, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, Jack’s Family Restaurants, Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken, Bojangles and, of course, the mother hen of all chain fried chicken, KFC.

The grocery stores

Supermarket fried chicken wasn’t a category, either, but Publix got so many votes from readers across the state that perhaps it should have been.

Other national and regional grocery store chains got the readers’ seal of approval, too, including Piggly Wiggly, Rouses Markets, Winn-Dixie, Food Giant, Renfroe’s Market and Greer’s.

South Alabama suggestions

Two favorites emerged with readers in the Southern part of the state — Road Kill Café in Elberta and Barnyard Buffet in Saraland. Seraceno’s Restaurant in Fairhope also got a lotta love.

Readers were also crazy about the fried chicken at Pannie-George’s Kitchen, which began in Auburn and has opened a second location in Montgomery. (Pannie-George’s previously made our statewide Top 10 meat-and-three list.)

Other readers’ picks from the Southern region include Davis Café in Montgomery, Red’s Little School House in Grady, Crowe’s Chicken in Brundidge, McLin’s Restaurant in Daleville, It Don’t Matter Family Restaurant in Highland Home, The Waverly Local in Waverly, Gaston’s Grill in Thomasville, The Front Porch of Cusseta in Cusseta, Doc’s Seafood Shack & Oyster Bar in Gulf Shores, Street’s Seafood Restaurant in Bay Minette, and Good To Go in Enterprise

Central Alabama recommendations

Lloyd’s Restaurant, an institution on U.S. 280 in Birmingham that’s been around more than 85 years, was one of the favorites of our readers in Central Alabama. (Earlier this year, Lloyd’s opened a second location in Sylacauga, so you can get your Lloyd’s fried chicken fix there, too.)

Some of the other places in the Birmingham metro area and the Central Alabama region that readers felt we overlooked were the Irondale Café in Irondale, Fried Green Tomatoes in Hoover, Magic City Grill in Birmingham, Ted’s Restaurant in Birmingham, Bevelle Family Café in Pelham, Johnny’s Restaurant in Homewood, Makarios Ranch House in Vestavia Hills, the Sawmeal Restaurant in Brent, and Hubbard’s Off Main in Oxford.

North Alabama picks

The crispy fried chicken at G’s Country Kitchen in Huntsville was a big reader favorite, and although Matt Wake didn’t include G’s on his Huntsville fried chicken list, he did feature it in his Huntsville meat-and-three picks.

Posey’s Restaurant in Hazel Green, which Matt did include among his favorites for fried chicken also received a lot of praise from readers.

Other readers’ choices from North Alabama include Claunch Café in Tuscumbia, Dot’s Soul Food Restaurant in Hillsboro, Mildred’s Restaurant in Ardmore, Sprint Mart in Madison, and Pruett’s Bar-B-Que in Gadsden.

The aforementioned Champy’s, which has locations in Muscle Shoals and Madison, was another reader favorite in North Alabama.

More about Alabama food:

12 Alabama restaurants to put on your 2023 calendar

The small-town Alabama restaurant with the big-time Cajun accent

The story behind these legendary Alabama orange rolls

68 must-try Alabama dishes