MANSFIELD
2 Neighbor’s Southern Chicken is the fried catfish and chicken stand we needed.
It’s not a chicken tenders drive-through. And it’s not obsessed with the sweet “Nashville hot” fad.
2 Neighbor’s is an honest, straight-up stand serving huge, classic fried catfish fillets and a choice of Southern mild or spicy chicken legs, wings and sandwiches.
Once you find 2751 E. Broad St. in Mansfield and the Broad Street Commons shopping center, about 1¼ miles west of Texas 360, it feels like you’re halfway to Tennessee.
The Marshall family from Tennessee opened the first 2 Neighbor’s nearly 10 years ago in Cedar Hill and later moved it to DeSoto. The Mansfield location opened in 2025.
The chicken wings are closer to the size of a drumstick.
Fried catfish fillets, spicy chicken wings, collard greens and creamed corn at 2 Neighbor’s Southern Chicken, seen Oct. 20, 2026, in Mansfield, Texas. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com
The spicy flavor tastes more like a traditional Southern cayenne chicken, not like “Memphis-style” or “Nashville hot.”
The chicken wings, tenders and sandwiches get top billing here.
But the fried catfish fillets are a thing of beauty – large, lightly breaded with golden cornmeal and laid across a giant plate.
They are crisp enough to pick up and eat as finger food. Inside, they are pure, ivory-colored genuine catfish, not grainy or gray like those cheaper substitutes.
The sides all show special care. Collard greens are flavored with smoked turkey. “Creamed” corn has only a touch of cream and lots of butter flavor. Macaroni and cheese and fries are distinctive.
On a recent slow Tuesday night, every side tasted notably fresh.
2 Neighbor’s Southern Chicken in Mansfield, Texas, is one of two area chicken and catfish restaurants owned by a family that moved here from Tennessee. Bud Kennedy bud@star=te;egram.com
Desserts include Wanda Marshall’s “Tennessee butter cake,” a sweet vanilla pound cake with vanilla frosting. Yes, it’s more like a Kentucky butter cake, but either way, it’s a buttery, vanilla-soaked sliver of goodness.
Strawberry cake is also a dessert along with “banana pudding cake,” sort of like a banana chess.
The primary social media complaint is about the price.
True, the platters at 2 Neighbor’s can run $15-$25, although there are lunch deals and specials.
It’s cheaper than making a trip to Tennessee.
The 2 Neighbor’s in Mansfield is open for lunch and dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays and lunch Sundays; 817-225-6050, 2neighbors.com.
This story was originally published October 21, 2026 at 4:25 AM.
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Bud Kennedy is celebrating his 40th year writing about restaurants in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has written the “Eats Beat” dining column in print since 1985 and online since 1992 — that’s more than 3,000 columns about Texas cafes, barbecue, burgers and where to eat.
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