Who has the best fried chicken in Atlanta? We started with 12 semifinalists, asked Atlanta to help us narrow the field and brought the reader favorites to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s offices for a blind taste test with local food experts and journalists.

We cast a wide net because Atlanta’s love of fried chicken isn’t limited to the iconic Southern style. Our contenders included Korean, Thai and Peruvian fried chicken alongside soul food institutions, Southern restaurants and Publix. Yes, Publix. Leaving it out of a fried chicken conversation felt … dishonest.

Five restaurants survived the reader vote, and five chickens were ordered. But only four chickens made it to the judging table. We’ll get to that in a minute.

How did we choose Atlanta’s best fried chicken?

• We built our original list using restaurant reviews, reader recommendations and our own experience eating around Atlanta. Because our taste tests happen during business hours at the AJC’s Midtown office, restaurants also had to be open during our tasting window and available for pickup or delivery inside the Perimeter.
• Our 12 semifinalists were bb.q Chicken, Buttermilk Kitchen, CM Chicken, Harold’s Chicken & Ice Bar, K & K Soul Food, Las Brasas, Mary Mac’s Tea Room, Pelicana Chicken, Pink Lotus Thai Restaurant, Publix, South City Kitchen and The Busy Bee.
• Then we put the list on Instagram and asked readers to vote. They chose bb.q Chicken, Pelicana Chicken, Pink Lotus Thai Restaurant, Publix and The Busy Bee for the final round.

It was a wonderfully weird final five, and we couldn’t have been happier about it. Chicken can cross more than one type of road on its way to crispy perfection. For our taste test, we had Southern, Korean and Thai styles.

🍗 Read more: What makes great fried chicken, and who has the best fried chicken in Atlanta?

Sandwiched between the aisles of Al Huda Groceries on Lawrenceville Highway in Gwinnett County, Keisha Lance Bottoms on Wednesday unveiled her plan to tackle soaring grocery prices that are squeezing Georgians’ pocketbooks.

The Democratic candidate for governor is proposing to allow cities and counties to temporarily suspend or eliminate local sales tax on groceries, baby formula, diapers, feminine hygiene products and other necessities.

“This is something that can move the needle, can help relieve the cost burden for families across this state, and it can — and will — make a difference,” Bottoms said, while surrounded by a crowd of local Democratic officials.

But the proposal also requires buy-in from the state Legislature to make it a reality. Here are three things to know about Bottoms’ “Local Grocery and Family Essentials Tax Relief Plan.”

Local leaders get to decide

Under the proposal, local governments would have the final say whether to keep the grocery sales tax in place as it stands, suspend temporarily or eliminate it.

That could look like tax holidays, defined time periods where the tax wouldn’t be collected or doing away with it completely. Cities and counties could also freeze the tax when inflation spikes.

The flexibility, according to the campaign, would allow local governments that rely more heavily on grocery sales tax to make decisions that align with their budgetary needs.

State would offer one-time revenue support

The state would create a $250 million “Local Tax Relief Stabilization Fund” to offer one-time financial support for local governments deciding to suspend or eliminate their grocery taxes while they adjust their budgets.

A municipality would qualify for state assistance if its estimated revenue loss from suspension or elimination exceeds 5% of the jurisdiction’s total local sales tax and use tax collections for the previous fiscal year.

The state would backfill a portion of that loss, based on availability of funds.

“By our calculations, if every single county and locality decided to do it this year, then ($250 million) would cover it,” Bottoms said. “There are some counties and localities that may be able to absorb it without that backstop, but for those smaller counties and localities who perhaps can’t, then we’ll have that in our budget.”

The Legislature needs to sign-off

If elected, Bottoms will need the support of the Georgia General Assembly to make good on many of her campaign promises — including a grocery sales tax exemption.

The Legislature would need to approve the change to not only allow local governments to suspend or eliminate grocery taxes but also establish the $250 million fund in the state budget.

Bottoms pitches the plan as a way to give local leaders another tool to help residents struggling with the rising cost of living.

But the Democrat could face an uphill battle convincing lawmakers to back her policy agenda if Republicans retain control of both the state House and Senate.

“If for some reason it’s not this year that we take the House and Senate, then I’m going to do what I’ve always done as a leader: I’m going to work across the aisle,” Bottoms said.