The phrase “comfort food” invokes a wide range images including high-calorie snacks, carbohydrate-packed pastas and breads, and your mother’s nostalgia-inducing chicken pot pie. The interpretations of the phrase, however, all share the tenant that comfort food ought to be a meal that sustains you but also offers support during life’s more stressful moments.  

As college students, life’s stressful moments often get muddied into our entire lives, making cheap, late night fare a major key to success when it comes to powering through that final project you had all quarter to work on. Enter Chicken Shack at 1925 N. Ridge Ave., open until 12:30 a.m. every day except Sunday.

The menu is simple yet comprehensive in terms of southern style chicken and fish dishes, ranging from chicken dinners — options include thighs, breasts, tenders, bone-in and boneless wings — to fish and shrimp dinners with catfish nuggets and tilapia filets.

Almost all orders come topped with pieces of white bread and fries. Alternatively, customers can order their food with a biscuit and mashed potatoes and gravy for a complete substitution, or a biscuit and spaghetti instead of fries and bread for a slight upcharge. Other sides include cole slaw, potato salad, cheese fries and onion rings to name a few. The hefty portions range from $7 to $9 for an individual, so the price point won’t break the bank

Crowd favorites include the red beans and rice side, and the chipotle BBQ wings — one Yelp reviewer spoke adoringly of the “instant nirvana” that was biting into his boneless order.

So, next time you plan on pulling an all-nighter and amping up your cortisol levels ten-fold, utilize Chicken Shack’s delivery service, and wrap yourself in the guilty-pleasure, chicken-fried, starchy warmth that is Evanston’s Chicken Shack, because they don’t want you to eat fried chicken fit for Thrillist’s 2015 “21 Best Fried Chicken Spots in America.”

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