Country fried steak vs chicken fried steak, explained in Panama City

Country fried steak and chicken fried steak are close cousins: a breaded steak fried crisp and covered in gravy, with the name often decided by region. Big Mama's on the Bayou, 620 W Beach Dr, Panama City, serves country fried steak under homemade sausage gravy at breakfast and lunch. Call (850) 784-6009 to confirm hours.

What is country fried steak?

It is a steak that gets a coating, a hot pan and a ladle of gravy. The crust is the point. You want it crisp where it meets the fork and soft where the gravy has soaked in.

Southern kitchens have cooked it for generations, usually as a plain, filling plate that sits next to mashed potatoes and a vegetable. It works for breakfast with eggs and grits, and it works at lunch with two sides.

How is it different from chicken fried steak?

Ask five cooks and you get five answers. The differences food writers point to most often are these:

• The gravy. Chicken fried steak is usually paired with a peppery white cream gravy. Country fried steak is often described with a brown gravy made from pan drippings.
• The coating. Chicken fried steak is often described as dipped in an egg batter before the flour, which gives a thicker, crunchier crust. Country fried steak is often just floured.
• The pan. Some writers say chicken fried steak is deep-fried and country fried steak is pan-fried. Others say both are pan-fried.

Tasting Table and The Daily Meal both lay out the gravy and coating split. Food writers do not agree on the frying method, which tells you how loose the rules are.

Why do the names get mixed up?

Because plenty of people use them for the same plate. Food Network's explainer on country fried steak says some food historians believe the two are regional names for the same thing, a breaded, pan-fried steak served with gravy. Food Republic traces the dish to German immigrants and their schnitzel, which also fits a breaded cutlet with gravy.

Texas tends to say chicken fried. Much of the rest of the South says country fried. On a menu, the safest move is to read the gravy line. If it says sausage gravy or white gravy, you know what is coming.

How does Big Mama's on the Bayou serve it?

At Big Mama's on the Bayou in Panama City, the menu calls it country fried steak and the gravy is our sausage gravy, made from scratch, never from a bag. We do not call it chicken fried, and we are not going to settle the national argument for you.

Here is where it shows up, with prices from the printed menu:

• Country fried steak and gravy, $7.25. The a la carte breakfast plate.
• Country fried steak and gravy biscuit, $7.99. The steak stacked on a biscuit and smothered in sausage gravy.
• Add country fried steak and gravy to the Lil Mama's Special, $7.25. Two eggs your way with grits and toast or a biscuit, plus the steak.
• Weekday lunch, a meat and two sides for $13.99. Country fried steak is on every weekday, along with fried chicken. A third side is $1.99 more.

Reviewers on Google mention biscuits and gravy first, then country fried steak and chicken and dumplings, so you are ordering one of the plates people write about.

How to pick

If you want it for breakfast, come on a weekday before 10:30 and decide between the plate and the biscuit. The plate is the steak and gravy on its own. The biscuit is the handheld version, and the better choice if you are eating in the car.

If you want it for lunch, order a meat and two sides between 11 and 2:30. Mashed potatoes and gravy, rice and gravy, green beans, baked mac and cheese and fried okra are on every day. The rotating sides change by weekday, so ask what is cooked.

For the weekend, call first. Brunch runs from 9 on Saturday and Sunday and country fried steak is one of the plates carried over, but the full list is not published.

Order ahead on Toast if you want to walk in and walk out, or see the breakfast menu and the lunch rotation first. Big Mama's on the Bayou is at 620 W Beach Dr in Panama City, and a call to (850) 784-6009 confirms hours before you drive over.