SSPNY Gorges on Bird at the New Neighborhood Hotspot, Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken
SSPNY Overindulges on Bird at Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken, East Village's New Neighborhood Hotspot!
The first time I ate at Eric and Bruce Bromberg's excellent Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken, they gave me my entire meal for free. Not because I'm special or anything... on Days One and Two of their spanking new East Village joint they gave away everything on the menu--all the food, all the beverages (including beer!), all the ice cream, and even take-out--to anyone who showed up. I happened to show up for that first dinner service, and, like most people that night, didn't even know what was going on until after I ordered $30 worth of food. What a great surprise, to get it all for free! Nice move, Bromberg Brothers.
Here's the thing, too. Even after getting treated to a massive meal here--the comfortable, counter-service spot is located, by the way, just three blocks from SSPNY's Elizabeth Street apartments--I was back just a few nights later for more, totally willing to pay for some of that Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken goodness. Which will come as no surprise to anyone who's tried these fried thighs, wings, legs, and breasts at the Blue Ribbon restaurants proper (there's one in Soho, another in Park Slope), or at Brooklyn Bowl, where it's by far the most popular thing on the menu. And it's just as good if not better here: the bird is fresh and full-flavored, the breading well-seasoned, the whole thing the exact right combination of crispy and moist. Add any one of the (mostly honey-based) sauces that sit at every table for any extra layer of oomph. You can order the fried chicken by the piece or in an array of dinners and buckets and such.
So the fried chicken is first-rate, as it needs to be at a restaurant called Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken, but the sleeper hit here, I think, are the chicken burgers. Not the fried cutlet affairs you might expect, these are ground chicken patties made into a half-dozen or so different sandwiches. I've had two, and they were fantastic. The Pit is topped with cheddar, bacon, and BBQ sauce, the Big Wave with roasted red peppers, arugula and goat cheese, and both were unbelievably juicy, exploding with flavor, but balanced enough to not just be a glop-fest. And they're all priced ten bucks. The sides, too, are good here at Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken, including the thin, salty, potato Fries and the Fried Dilly Beans, which come in a huge portion of these somewhat sweet, green bean-ish munchies. Welcome to the neighborhood, Brombergs.
Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken is located on Second Avenue and First Street and is open daily at 12:00 noon, and until 10:00 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays, and until 12:00 midnight on Friday and Saturday. Lots more info, including the full Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken menu, can be found here.
