15 Greene Blvd.
Beavercreek, OH 45440
937.429.0000
website
A whole new concept has launched from the ground up in Southwest Ohio with the launch of Deg’s Chicken, created by local Dr. Naveed Haq, a Dayton-area physician, who wanted to create a new concept with healthier food. The food here is inspired with one mission in mind: bringing you a healthier meal that is just as tasty as something you’d find somewhere else. And so, flame grilled chicken smothered in spices from a few different sources and a litany of miraculously flavorful dishes follow. It’s going to be a chain that plans to expand quickly so keep an eye out for it.
The grilled chicken is what you’re going to want to try here; build the rest of your meal around that:
- Peri Peri Chicken: The restaurant’s base dish is a grilled chicken with a thick set of spices that comes together almost like a sauce. It’s what the restaurant calls “an exquisite mix of genuine raw herbs and spices” and they come in four flavors to start; the most prominent of which is spicy without being overwhelming. You almost don’t notice the chicken isn’t greasy or crispy or fried. That’s the beauty of it. The beautiful thing here is that it’s a reminder that spices and chicken by themselves are packed with flavor. Let it stand by itself. Not enough places do that.
- Wings: These wings are another good balance, grilled instead of fried, and in fact a lot of the flavor comes from them being smoked. There is a bit of sauce, but in this case as well, the food really doesn’t need it. It’s good enough by itself.
- Healthy Fries: These fries are ostensibly healthier than your typical variety, which is to say they may be lighter on the oil-soaking time. A regular order is just over 200 calories and a large order is 650. Fries really do soak up the calories, but these manage to avoid that stigma a bit.
That said, I do wish for other healthy options to up the game. Instead of healthy fries you can have mashed potatoes and brown rice, both good. But grilled potatoes? Cauliflower? There are many other choices to show the range of healthy good available out there.
If one thing has been clear these days, it’s that the Millennial generation is willing to pay for better food. But that food has to live up to the standards; it can’t take shortcuts. These days, we’re surrounded by greasy, cheap fast food and people just don’t have the palette for that kind of stuff anymore. In this kind of world, the restaurants that really win out merge their food with a little bit of conscience and some sense that there’s more to the business than the food. This is a great example of that.
Eating at restaurants without busting your gut. Not enough places in Dayton have that kind of thing in mind. Deg’s is a great example of it. I hope to see this place grow further.
Recommendations
- Delivery and pickup are available online.
- Calorie and health information is online as well.
- Brown rice, sauce free wings and other options are on tap for the fitness fanatic.
Another Food Critic 