Formerly: Joe's Place
Pittsburg, Kansas · Founded 1942 · Building: 1966
Chicken Mary's grew from Mary Zerngast's early-1940s Yale mining-camp kitchen into Crawford County's other landmark chicken-house tradition.
Chicken Mary's traces its beginning to Mary and Joe Zerngast serving fried chicken from their home in the Yale mining camp near Pittsburg, Kansas, in the early 1940s. The restaurant publicly uses 1942 as its founding year, though published accounts also cite 1941 and 1943. The Zerngasts moved into a former Foxtown Mining Camp pool hall called Joe's Place in 1945, and the present full-time Chicken Mary's restaurant building opened in 1966.
Kansas Tourism and later local reporting place Mary Zerngast's first home-served chicken dinners in 1941, after her husband Joe could no longer work in the southeastern Kansas coal mines. Other accounts give 1942 or 1943, so the exact start year remains disputed.
Source: Kansas Tourism, 'Chicken Annie's & Chicken Mary's,' November 21, 2025; KRPS, 'In southeast Kansas, a friendly fried rivalry between chicken restaurants spans decades,' July 7, 2026; The New Yorker, 'Fried-Chicken War,' March 8, 1982.
Chicken Mary's identifies 1942 as its founding year and says Joe and Mary Zerngast started the business in the early 1940s by serving customers at their home kitchen table.
Source: Chicken Mary's, About page; Chicken Mary's official website.
Joe and Mary Zerngast bought the Foxtown Mining Camp pool hall and moved their growing business to a site west of the current restaurant. The ten-table restaurant was called Joe's Place.
Source: Chicken Mary's, About page; Yahoo Finance, 'Family business: Kansas chicken restaurant for sale,' February 8, 2022.
Joe Zerngast died and Mary Zerngast suffered a stroke. Chicken Mary's closed for six months while she recuperated, then Zig and Tootie Zerngast reopened it on weekends under Mary's guidance.
Source: Chicken Mary's, About page; Kansas Tourism, 'Chicken Annie's & Chicken Mary's,' November 21, 2025.
A new Chicken Mary's restaurant building opened at the current site as a full-time business. Zig and Tootie Zerngast were joined by their son Larry and his wife Karen.
Source: Chicken Mary's, About page; Kansas Tourism, 'Chicken Annie's & Chicken Mary's,' November 21, 2025.
Anthony Pichler, Ann Pichler's grandson, and Donna Zerngast, Mary Zerngast's granddaughter, opened Pichler's Chicken Annie's south of Pittsburg after marrying, linking the two most famous chicken-house families.
Source: BBC Travel, 'America's fried chicken war,' April 29, 2020; Kansas Tourism, 'Chicken Annie's & Chicken Mary's,' November 21, 2025; Explore Crawford County, 'Home to six of the oldest chicken houses in Kansas.'
Calvin Trillin's New Yorker column 'Fried-Chicken War' brought national attention to the dispute and rivalry between Chicken Annie's and Chicken Mary's.
Source: The New Yorker, 'Fried-Chicken War,' March 8, 1982.
Travel Channel's Food Wars featured Chicken Annie's and Chicken Mary's in Season 1, Episode 3, 'Kansas Fried Chicken War.'
Source: IMDb, 'Food Wars: Kansas Fried Chicken War,' March 16, 2010.
Chicken Mary's history says Tootie, Larry, and Karen Zerngast fully retired in 2022. A contemporaneous report said the family had put the long-running restaurant up for sale; the post-sale ownership structure remains unresolved in this record.
Source: Chicken Mary's, About page; Yahoo Finance, 'Family business: Kansas chicken restaurant for sale,' February 8, 2022.
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Chicken Mary's own history, Kansas Tourism, a 2022 sale report, and 2026 local reporting agree that Joe Zerngast's health prevented him from continuing mine work, leading Mary to serve food from their home. The sources conflict on the medical detail: one refers broadly to health challenges, while a 2026 radio report says Joe had a heart attack. The candidate's black-lung diagnosis was not verified.
Chicken Mary's official website calls the restaurant 'Est. 1942,' and its history says Joe and Mary Zerngast started the business in the early 1940s. However, Kansas Tourism and later local reporting place Mary's first home chicken dinners in 1941, while Calvin Trillin's 1982 New Yorker account gives 1943. The official year is retained for indexing, but the exact first-service date remains unresolved.
Chicken Mary's own history states that the business closed for six months in 1961 after Mary Zerngast suffered a stroke. That documented closure defeats any absolute continuous-operation claim, even though Zig and Tootie Zerngast later reopened it and the business continued.
Anthony Pichler, Ann Pichler's grandson, married Donna Zerngast, Mary Zerngast's granddaughter. The couple opened Pichler's Chicken Annie's in 1970, a family connection repeatedly reported in regional and national accounts of the chicken-house rivalry.
Chicken Annie's Original predates Chicken Mary's with a 1934 chicken-dinner origin, and Chicken Mary's own history documents a six-month closure in 1961. Chicken Mary's is one of the county's best-known and oldest surviving chicken-house businesses, but it cannot accurately be described as the second-oldest continuously operating one.
Food Wars Season 1, Episode 3, 'Kansas Fried Chicken War,' aired March 16, 2010 and featured the two Pittsburg-area chicken restaurants.
Chicken Mary's describes a long Zerngast family operation through the 2022 retirement of Tootie, Larry, and Karen Zerngast. A 2022 report said the business was for sale, but the sources reviewed do not establish the post-sale owner, current legal entity, or whether a Zerngast-family member remains an owner or operator.
Chicken Mary's was definitively founded in 1941.
Chicken Mary's publicly uses 1942 as its founding year, but published accounts conflict: Kansas Tourism and later local reporting place Mary Zerngast's home chicken dinners in 1941, while Calvin Trillin's 1982 New Yorker article says 1943. The exact first-service year remains unresolved.
Source: Chicken Mary's official website and About page; Kansas Tourism, 'Chicken Annie's & Chicken Mary's,' November 21, 2025; The New Yorker, 'Fried-Chicken War,' March 8, 1982.
Joe Zerngast was disabled by black lung disease, prompting Mary to start Chicken Mary's.
Sources agree that Joe Zerngast's health kept him from continuing coal-mine work, but the reviewed accounts do not verify black lung. Chicken Mary's describes health issues generally, while a 2026 local report says Joe had a heart attack.
Source: Chicken Mary's, About page; KRPS, 'In southeast Kansas, a friendly fried rivalry between chicken restaurants spans decades,' July 7, 2026.
Chicken Mary's has operated continuously since its early-1940s founding.
Chicken Mary's own history records a six-month closure in 1961 after Mary Zerngast suffered a stroke. The business later reopened under Zig and Tootie Zerngast and moved into the current full-time restaurant building in 1966.
Source: Chicken Mary's, About page; Kansas Tourism, 'Chicken Annie's & Chicken Mary's,' November 21, 2025.
Chicken Mary's moved directly from Mary Zerngast's home to the current 1966 building.
The Zerngasts moved first in 1945 to a former Foxtown Mining Camp pool hall called Joe's Place, west of the current restaurant. The current full-time Chicken Mary's building opened in 1966.
Source: Chicken Mary's, About page; Yahoo Finance, 'Family business: Kansas chicken restaurant for sale,' February 8, 2022.
Chicken Mary's is the second-oldest continuously operating chicken house in Crawford County.
Chicken Annie's Original predates Chicken Mary's with a 1934 chicken-dinner origin, and Chicken Mary's own history documents a six-month 1961 closure. Chicken Mary's remains one of the oldest surviving chicken-house businesses, but its claimed continuous second-place rank does not hold.
Source: Kansas Sampler Foundation, '8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine: Crawford County Fried Chicken'; Explore Crawford County, 'Home to six of the oldest chicken houses in Kansas'; Chicken Mary's, About page.
Chicken Mary's survived because it became more than a single family's answer to a mining family's hardship: it became one half of Crawford County's regional chicken-house identity. Its early home-kitchen setting, 1945 move to Joe's Place, and 1966 purpose-built restaurant show a business repeatedly adapted to demand and family circumstances. The widely publicized Chicken Annie's rivalry gave the restaurant national visibility, while the marriage of Mary Zerngast's granddaughter Donna to Ann Pichler's grandson Anthony revealed that the supposedly separate chicken dynasties were ultimately connected.
Chicken Mary's publicly dates its beginning to 1942, when Mary and Joe Zerngast were serving fried chicken from their Yale mining-camp home near Pittsburg, Kansas. Historical accounts vary on the exact first year, with some placing the home operation in 1941 and Calvin Trillin's 1982 account giving 1943. The Zerngasts moved the growing business to a former mining-camp pool hall called Joe's Place in 1945, and the current Chicken Mary's building opened in 1966.
No. Chicken Mary's is not the first of Crawford County's surviving chicken houses: Chicken Annie's Original traces its chicken dinners to 1934, while Chicken Mary's publicly uses 1942. Chicken Mary's also cannot claim uninterrupted operation from the early 1940s because its own history documents a six-month closure in 1961 after Mary Zerngast suffered a stroke.
Yes. Chicken Mary's own history says the restaurant closed for six months in 1961 after Mary Zerngast suffered a stroke. Her son Zig and his wife Tootie then reopened the business on weekends under Mary's guidance, before the current full-time restaurant opened in 1966.
Chicken Mary's and Chicken Annie's became famous rivals because both grew from home kitchens in the Yale mining-camp area near Pittsburg and developed loyal followings for their different versions of Crawford County fried chicken. Calvin Trillin's 1982 New Yorker column labeled the local dispute a 'Fried-Chicken War,' and Travel Channel's Food Wars later brought the rivalry to a national audience. The families are also connected: Mary Zerngast's granddaughter Donna married Ann Pichler's grandson Anthony.
The last detailed family history says Tootie, Larry, and Karen Zerngast fully retired in 2022, and a contemporaneous report said the restaurant was offered for sale. The sources reviewed do not identify the current business owner, operating entity, or property owner, so this record does not name a present owner.
1133 E 600th Ave, Pittsburg, KS 66762
(620) 231-9510
Chicken Mary's lists dinner service Tuesday through Saturday and lunch/dinner on Sunday, with Monday closure. Confirm current hours and carryout availability before making the rural drive.