Archive for 'Piece of Chicken'

Piece of Chicken Has Flown the Coop


Photo courtesy of @discskyer

Sad new from Lunch’er Alvin yesterday: “Piece of Chicken doors closed and kitchen gutted.” Even though Piece of Chicken was slightly out of bounds (and there are plenty of other fried chicken options around 8th Ave.), we always loved its pricing model and considered it an honorary Midtown Lunch. We have no clue what happened, but it will be missed.

Piece of Chicken Price Hike

DSC02237Last month I mentioned that the just out of bounds Piece of Chicken (on 45th btw. 8+9th) had raised the price of their breast and chicken livers, and now Grub Street has discovered why: “Owner Alberta Wright tells us it’s because she’s been undercharging (for the breast meat, especially) since she opened. ‘I’ve not been charging the right prices. I need to make more money on that breast,’ she says.” [Grub Street]

Piece of Chicken Redux: Finally Trying Their Waffle and Fried Livers

Last week I got an email from Lunch’er Kyle asking me if I had tried the new chocolate corn bread muffins from Piece of Chicken, the just out of bounds soul food take out place on 45th btw. 8+9th Ave. where almost everything on the menu is $1 to $3.  Why no.  I haven’t tried the new choclate corn bread muffins, was my reply.  Clearly I needed to revisit Piece of Chicken, and see what was going on.

To be completely honest though, I had ulterior motives.  Chocolate corn bread muffins sounded pretty good, but what I really wanted to try was the fried chicken and waffle and fried chicken livers, two items on the Piece of Chicken menu which always seemed to be sold out every single time I stopped by for like two weeks straight last year.  Well, it’s been awhile- but I returned to Piece of Chicken a few days ago, and both items were available.

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8th Avenue is the Fried Chicken Corridor of NYC

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I have never met a piece of fried chicken I didn’t like. Sure, there have been some transcendent fried chicken moments. My first visit to Roscoe’s Fried Chicken and Waffles in L.A. comes to mind (although you may say the waffle had a little something to do with that.) And of course there was Dunbar’s in New Orleans, which is still the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten. Hopefully the rumors of its return are not exaggerated. But I don’t mind slumming it either, and it doesn’t take much to please me. Hot Oil + Chicken (+ Salt & Pepper) = Good.

There is some damn good fried chicken in Midtown. I’ve mentioned Cafe Cello as one of my favorites (on 46th btw. 5+6th) and even KFC has gotten the obligatory mention on the site. But if you want to be at ground zero for NYC fried chicken there is only one place to go. Eighth Avenue. The stretch of that road between the Mid 30’s and Mid 40’s is jammed packed with fried chicken goodness. Here is your guide to navigating the corridor. (A Fried-Chicken-Palooza if you will)

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Piece of Chicken Gets the Ed Levine Treatment: Ed Levine heeds my advice and hits up the just out of bounds Midtown Lunch'ing favorite Piece of Chicken on 45th btw. 8+9th Avenue. "A- for the fried chicken and the mashed potatoes, B for everything else on the menu." Bonus Reveal: This is the not the last you'll be hearing about fried chicken on Midtown Lunch today.

Bits and Pieces: Chapati Roll Cart #2; Macaron; Piece of Chicken

Biriyani Cart on 46th & 6th, Midtown NYC

The guys who run the Biriyani/Chapati Roll cart on 46th & 6th have filled out the necessary paperwork for their second cart, and should be up and running the first or second week of July. The new cart (which is ready to go) will park at their current spot, and they will send this cart over to either Park Ave. & 46th or down to 43rd & 6th. They’re in the process of “negotiating” with the other vendors in the area now…

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Macaron the awesome French bakery/sandwich/salad place on 36th btw. B’way+7th in the Garment District has new salads. Not exactly sure which salads are new, and which ones aren’t- but I’m sure if you are into that stuff, you won’t mind heading over there and seeing it for yourself. I was more interested in the Doughnut Plant doughnuts they are now serving… doughnut, macaron. Marcaron, donut. I’ll take both please.

The closed, but soon to re-open Indian buffet, and piece of chicken after the jump… Read more »

Bits & Pieces (Midtown West Edition): Free Toppings at Go Go Curry, Piece of Chicken Raises Prices and more

Normally they give away free topping coupons the day after Hideki Matsui hits a homerun, but why should we be punished because it is the Yankees’ offseason?  Problem solved.  Today is free topping coupon day at Go Go Curry on 38th St. btw. 7+8th. 

The new House of Pita on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th finally replaced the Mandler’s Sausage sign.  They smartly decided to keep the H.O.P. name, and only add the “Chicken Bar” part to the sign underneath.  I guess they “discovered” that Chicken Bar already exists.

Kashmir Express, the Indian take out place on 8th Ave. btw. 38+39th, has converted to a by the pound buffet.  Looked pretty good, although having to pay for my lunch by the amount it weighs is always a scary proposition.  The $4.99 price tag is not bad, but Indian food can get heavy!  And it forces you to break the #1 rule of eating at buffets by the pound… go easy on the rice and bread.

A shot of the buffet, plus Piece of Chicken’s shocking new menu changes, after the jump… Read more »

Out of Bounds: Piece of Chicken

Midtown has its boundaries, but every once in awhile I’ll discover a place that just might be worth the extra few blocks, and profile it in a category I call “Out of Bounds”.  Since Ressie May’s Soul to Go closed, there has been a soul food hole in the Midtown Lunch’ing landscape.  Anything good and cheap would be welcomed.  A place that sells fried chicken for a $1 a piece, collards and mac & cheese for $1-2 a scoop- well now you’ve got me excited, and willing to walk those extra couple of avenues for an Out of Bounds lunch.

Piece of Chicken is that place, and their sandwich board doesn’t lie.  As unbelievable as it seems to passersby, they do in fact serve fried chicken for $1 a piece, and side dishes for $1-2.  Add to that rib tips, fried fish, corn bread and soup, sold out of the back window of a kitchen that once belonged to upscale Caribbean restaurant Jezebel (with nothing costing over $2), and you’ve got a winner.

The menu, piece of chicken porn and a +/- after the jump… Read more »