I finally got around to checking out Piece of Chicken after reading a rave from Ed Levine several months ago. This place serves quality soul food at an unbeatable price point from a takeout window on a side street in Hell's Kitchen.
For $5 I got a piece of fried chicken, mac and cheese and a few pieces of ribs. Was it good? Yeah, sure. The fried chicken is some of the best I’ve had in NYC – fresh, nicely oily, and covered in a truly tasty skin. The noddles in the mac and cheese are loose and casserole-like, and although the dish is not that cheesy, it is nicely creamy, smooth and starchy. Piece of Chicken does not use premium cuts of meat for their ribs -- there were lots of odd bones and fat bubbles in the ones I sampled -- but they are glazed with a pleasant barbecue sauce that tastes vaguely like sweet and sour sauce. Not horrible, not great, but meaty and passable for $2.
So, the food is fine, and the people working the window are sweet as pie, but man, I gotta say, this is one of the worst blocks in Manhattan to get sloppy southern takeaway barbecue from. There are no tables, chairs or benches affiliated with Piece of Chicken and it's located in the middle of a scuzzy block of Hell’s Kitchen. Your best bet for sitting down is a ratty apartment stoop, or, in our case, a bench in the parking lot of an off-off Broadway theater. Basically, unless you work in the area or want to schlep this stuff on the train back to your place, be prepared to eat your very good soul food in a completely unappetizing environment.
Btw: Amy ordered a piece of white meat fried chicken, for a dollar extra than my piece of fried chicken. The portion is generous, but the meat is dry as a bone and not nearly as tasty as the dark meat piece. Be forewarned…
Piece of Chicken
630 Ninth Ave., at 45th St.
New York, NY 10036
212-582-5973
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