PrintRack and Soul: The Best Fried Chicken and Ribs in New York?
Rack & Soul
258 West 109th Street, New York NY 10025 (b/n Broadway and Amsterdam; map); 212-222-4800
Service: Friendly and relaxed
Setting: Funkily elegant space designed by Tony Award-winning set designer John Lee Beatty
Compare It To: Blue Smoke, Sylvia's
Must-Haves: Fried chicken, baby back ribs, pork shoulder, shrimp po' boy
Cost: $16 for fried chicken, two sides, and biscuits
Grade: A-
When it opened three years ago Rack & Soul brought together three unlikely partners: New York's legendary uptown fried chicken master and soul food truck/restaurateur, Charles Gabriel; an Alabama competition barbecue pit master John Wheeler; and last year's Memphis in May grand champ (his team was called "The Natural Born Grillers"); and restaurateur Michael Eberstadt, a Jewish New Yorker who was in the forefront of the Harlem restaurant renaissance when he opened A Slice of Harlem and Bayou just north of 125th Street almost ten years ago. Now that I'm writing this, it's clear that when you put these three characters together, you end up in a cross-cultural Obama world.
Fast forward to 2009.
The truck and then restaurant that Charles had on 155th Street and 8th Avenue are sitting dormant. A Slice of Harlem and Bayou are no more. And Rack & Soul, getting killed by the deepening recession and its inflated Broadway rent, moved around the corner to 109th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam—not exactly a restaurant row or magnet for strolling Upper West Siders looking for the city's best damn fried chicken or exemplary baby back ribs made from a genuine Old Hickory smoker.
Last week I ordered some chicken and ribs from Rack & Soul, and both were delivered by Charles himself. I greeted Charles at the door: "You're Charles." "Yes, I am," he responded with a shy smile and nod. Inspired by the fine takeout food and seeing Charles again, I decided to go to the new Rack & Soul. Because if everything else was up to snuff, I knew I had hit the Super Bowl party food trifecta: Fried chicken, real smoked barbecued ribs, and fried shrimp with oyster po' boys, which Michael Eberstadt had imported from the now-defunct Bayou menu.
Charles Gabriel makes sure fried chicken comes out perfect.
The fried chicken is most certainly the star of the show, with good reason. Charles cooks it in huge, black cast iron skillets, the way fried chicken purists and traditionalists insist it be cooked. Crisp and crunchy on the outside, it also comes out of those pans miraculously free of grease. Even the breasts are tender and juicy. This is fried chicken worthy of serious eaters' Super Bowl parties or any other occasion that cries out for great food. Charles doesn't season his chicken very much (it needs a little salt), but other than that, it's chicken for the gods.
Wheeler's ribs are smokey and tender, and maybe as good as baby backs get in this town. But they're marred by oversaucing. Come on Rack & Soul, let your serious eaters decide how much sauce they want on their ribs.
Pork butt, smoked for more than 12 hours in the Old Hickory Smoker, is just about the equal of the baby backs. Wheeler is an unsung New York pit master and I can't really figure out why. I think New York food writers are skeptical about any barbecue in this town, but Wheeler is the real deal. You win Memphis in May, you know what you're doing.
Fried shrimp po' boy sandwich.
The fried seafood po' boy sandwiches—another item like the fried chicken that most New York restaurants do not do well by—are actually damn good. The shrimp and oysters are perfectly fried, the sandwiches are properly dressed with mayo, shredded lettuce, and tomato. They almost, but not quite, achieve the right "crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside" po' boy standard of the best joints in New Orleans (like the Parkway Tavern). I don't think the right kind of po' boy bread can be found in New York.
Dessert here features a fine red velvet cake from a local Harlem bakery and a housemade frozen lemon pie, which could use a little more tang and tartness, and less sweetness.
If you're searching for Super Bowl party food options in New York, look no further than Rack & Soul. The restaurant may be harder to find now that it's on a side street, but that really doesn't matter. They will deliver the fried chicken, ribs, three sides, and biscuits for less than $20 a head.
Who needs David Chang and his pricey, fancypants Bo Ssam Super Bowl platters (which are undeniably delicious), when we have Rack & Soul, especially in these times? Not us.
Read more of Ed's reviews.
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13 Comments:
I live right around the corner from here and the best is the $6 kids meal-- a decent amount of food, especially if you get the pulled pork. I ordered the catfish strips meal once and thought they were a bit on the chewy side until I got halfway through and realized they had given me chicken strips! Getting catfish confused with chicken-- pretty embarassing!
Jenn Sit at 9:31AM on 01/28/09
All I can say is... wow!
Pigtrip1 at 9:32AM on 01/28/09
Ed, thanks for showing the love to this hugely under rated spot. Rack n Soul freekin rules.
simon at 9:41AM on 01/28/09
did you say $16 for fried chicken and two sides? there is an "upscale" comfort food place here in houston, max's wine dive, that serves a plate for $18 (http://www.maxswinedive.com/menus/dinner.php), so i guess i shouldn't complain, but i refuse to order it on principle when i go there. but it sounds pretty solid.
carriebwc at 9:47AM on 01/28/09
I should also add, the dining room is very classy and comfortable and the service is friendly and professional. I'm surprised you didn't mention the mac and cheese which is excellent, the sweet tea, and the other tasty sides (collard greens, cornbread, etc.) which are really top notch. People I know from the South say that this is where they go when they are homesick, some of whom have told me that their food is better than what they got back home. Although I am a big fan of brisket, I much prefer this place to all the hipster infested BBQ spots in the city. I think the reason they don't get the recognition they really deserve is because they are uptown, way too far above 14th street, and don't have a million dollar PR budget.
simon at 9:50AM on 01/28/09
@carrie - this is NY. Everything is expensive here. $16 for a main course, especially of this quality and in this setting, is a relative bargain. You can go to any number of restaurants in this city, not necessarily fancy ones, and pay upwards of $20 for a mediocre and/or smaller plate of food very very easily. Most places you can't get a burger and fries for much less than $16.
simon at 10:19AM on 01/28/09
@simon--yeah, i know--i lived there for a long time before i moved to texas a few years back. it's the same as my no longer being able to stand when the thermometer when it drops below 60 degrees. how soon we forget!
carriebwc at 11:36AM on 01/28/09
Ed, you got the royal treatment at the restaurant. My fried chicken was cold and had a hair in it.. And I had to argue when I refused to pay for my barely-touched entree. I can't bring myself to go back. Hair aside, a lot of chowhounders seem to agree on the cold chicken front.
Alynn27 at 12:31PM on 01/28/09
Ed- now walk a block down to amsterdam and 109th and give us a report on Bombay Frankie's Roti Roll! For those of us who love good fast food and love indian food, this place is truly Nirvanna.
mr guy at 12:46PM on 01/28/09
(Many people would argue that fried chicken is meant to be eaten cold, but that's a discussion for another day I suppose...)
simon at 12:49PM on 01/28/09
I live right near Rack & Soul. Agree that the food is solid and a pretty good deal. Much better quality than some other, more downtown BBQ places. I still maintain, though, that the best BBQ in NYC is even further uptown at Dinosaur BBQ. They don't serve fried chicken, but their wings are spectacular.
ScienceandtheCity at 5:14PM on 01/28/09
I live a block away from Rack & Soul. I am a big fan of ribs and I was excited that a BBQ place had opened in the neighborhood. I went there twice and it was very disappointing. The ribs were average and the sides were terrible. The mac & cheese was the worst I've ever had and the collard greens were pickled in vinegar!!! On top of that the food was unreasonably expensive for the quality. I was not surprised when I saw it scale down. I am glad it hasn't closed, but I've been burned twice and I don't think I'll be going again.
eatalot at 11:30AM on 01/30/09
I actually love the BBQ chicken from Rack and Soul. On the other hand, I only bought their fried chicken once. I ordered a half chicken to go. It was dry, very overcooked, cold, and was missing the thigh. I've never tried it again.
flowergarden129 at 11:29PM on 01/30/09