Picnic N Chicken was one of my favorite spots to get fried chicken when I was a kid. The batter was a little crunchier than KFC and bursting with more deliciousness. The 70’s were the glory days of fast food fried chicken chains with Picnic N Chicken, Pioneer Chicken, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. The last one I visited was located in Mira Mesa behind the high school. I believe it closed in the late 80’s. I was excited to learn there is one left. My friend Christie told me Farm Basket was owned by one of the Picnic N Chicken owners. I made plans to visit next time I visited Las Vegas.
I met Christie and husband Mark in the parking lot and admired the old barn like building. It looked just like the Picnic N Chicken I ate in San Diego.
I ordered an 8 piece meal for $7.99 and an order of fries. Fries were crunchy and had a nice potato flavor.
Fried chicken batter was crunchy while the meat was tender and juicy. Very good tasting chicken. It wasn’t the same as I remember though. Batter seemed to be missing some herbs and spices which gave Picnic N Chicken that delicious flavor similar to KFC chicken.
Farm Basket has very good tasting food and the girl at the counter was very nice. I still miss the delicious chicken Picnic N Chicken made.
It was nice finally meeting Christie and Mark! We all had a wonderful time chatting.
We did have a good time. 🙂
I agree the chicken is lacking something, but it was still yummy and the company was great!
Thanks again for telling me about this place. It was fun visiting! 🙂
I loved that place and I used to go to the one in Mira Mesa.
That’s great you visited the same one I did. If you are ever in Las Vegas you should visit Farm Basket.
I used to eat at the Picnic N Chicken in Escondido. I loved the 2 piece bbq and a biscuit!
Nice! Where do you go for fried chicken now?
I lived in Mira Mesa and went to the high school when it first opened, it was my favorite and there was a Picknic N Chicken in the town of Poway.
my favorite was there BBQ Chicken
That’s great you were there in the beginning David. I was just there the last 2 years. I always got the fried chicken.
I was a manager at the one at 17th/Newport Blvd back around ‘78-‘79. LOVED the chicken there even though I was surrounded by it all day!
That’s awesome you managed a Picnic N Chicken. Have you come across any chicken as good?
There was a Picnic N Chicken near Grossmont College off Lake Murray Blvd.
Cool. Didn’t get a chance to try that one.
That’s really cool but its important to notice that Christie and Mark were not owners of Picnic and Chicken, nor the original owners of Farm basket. The family that owned Picnic and Chicken and later Farm Basket is the Hutchison Family, the original owner of the last Farm Basket, which is pictured, was Mark Hutchison, my father, and it was sold to a Mr. Perrault, who more recently sold it to a Bayne family who have plans to expand. The original recipes from Picnic and Chicken are a Hutchison family secret. Sadly, my father Mark Hutchison who has always had dreams about coming back to the business recently passed away. I don’t know who this Christie and other Mark are, but they were not owners of Picnic n Chicken. Also you mentioned Picnic n Chicken being close to KFC chicken, which is not a coincidence the Co-founder of Picnic n Chicken, Louis Hutchison, my grandfather was the former Executive President of KFC. Lots of Rich History.
Thanks for the Picnic N Chicken history! It’s a bummer Mark didn’t get back in the business. Maybe you can carry on the tradition. I miss the delicious chicken.
I worked at the Picnic n Chicken in Encinitas as a high school kid in ’80-’81. I think I made $3.10/hr. I still remember making the coleslaw and chicken taquitos. Would love to find a picture of the building from that era.
Sadly I never visited the Encinitas Picnic n Chicken. Did you get lots of delicious free fried chicken while you were there?
I used to eat picnic n chicken as a kid in Spring Valley, a suburb of San Diego. I liked it a lot.
I miss Picnic n Chicken. That was some great chicken.