Tuesday, September 7th, 2010—Bar 240
Day 240—Monday, September 6th, 2010
Sylvia’s
365 commentator Al noticed that the Collective, where I ate at Saturday had chicken and waffles on the menu. It sounds like an odd combination, but it’s featured at a lot of soul food restaurants and I’ve always wanted to try it. And I’ve heard the place to eat it is the famous, Sylvia’s restaurant, way up on Lenox Avenue in the heart of Harlem. That’s quite a trek via subway, so I decided since it’s a holiday, I’d treat myself to a cab ride and arrive quickly and in style. There’s a first time for everything, right?
As I made my way out my building, I ran into this fellow at the doorway. I promised to keep his identity secret, so we'll call him, "Stan." I invited "Stan" along, but he was heavily medicated and couldn't make the trip uptown. Maybe next time.
The sun is setting, so all is well in my world.
TAXI!
And now a few photos from the taxi ride to Harlem. Zing...
Zang...
Zoom.
And here we are at Sylvia's Restaurant. I love the lit up sign.
There's a lot of people enjoying the end of summer by eating inside.
But I need to find the bar and here it is. And I've got my choice of seats, lucky me.
Friendly bartender Andrew serves me up a bottle of locally brewed Sugar Hill beer. Andrew's a singer in the band, Stereoboro. Check them out here: Stereoboro, and here: Stereoboro on facebook.
And here I am doing my patented "pointing at the beer bottle" pose.
The bar from my point of view.
Here's the main dining room which is directly opposite from the bar.
Here's the food counter where you can eat and order take out as well.
And here's the other dining room which is located left of the main one.
Here's a photo of Sylvia with James Brown. The Queen of Soul Food Meets the King of Soul Music.
Here's a signed photo to Sylvia from the Temptations.
There's many more photos along the walls in Sylvia's.
Grissel is the lovely hostess and Ernest is one of the friendly waiters on staff for the evening.
Andrew is busy back at the bar.
And the condiments are set out for the dinner order, including Sylvia's custom made hot sauce.
First up, homemade corn bread.
And to cleanse the pallet, Grissel serves up another Sugar Hill beer.
And here's the main course, fried chicken and waffles.
Delicious! The way to eat this is to douse the chicken with hot sauce, let the butter melt on the waffles and pour the syrup on and enjoy the sweet and savory tastes.
I couldn't finish the entire waffle, but I did a pretty good job of cleaning the plate.
And for dessert Andrew poured us each a shot of whiskey on the house.
Glasses are clinked...
And cheers to you all! Goodnight, everybody!
Review
Sylvia Woods opened up her restaurant in 1962 and soon became known as the “Queen of Soul food.” This Harlem eatery has become a legend in New York City and as such it’s a must stop for tourist’s as well as neighborhood locals making the cliental quite a diverse mixture. The restaurant has two separate dining rooms and a food counter for take out and eating. There’s a small bar that seats about a half a dozen and you can eat there as well.
Speaking of the bar, it’s a full alcohol service bar, but you come to Sylvia’s to eat. So let’s get right to the menu. There’s a full breakfast and lunch menu here and the dinner entrees include: Syliva’s World Famous Bar-B-Que Ribs; Grilled Catfish; Fried or Smothered Chicken and Grilled Pork Chops. I can heartily recommend the Harlem Style Waffle and Fried Chicken. And if by any chance you still have room, there’s red velvet cake, double chocolate cake and peach cobbler for dessert.
Sylvia’s
328 Lenox Ave. (Near 127th St.)
212-996-0660
31 Comments
Reader Comments (31)
Mmm, fried chicken.
@Fat Al: And waffles!
seriously who is Roscoe?.. i want Sylvia's...
this looks like a damn fine place:)
@Gidget: Roscoe?
he owns a chain of LA based chicken and waffle houses made famous in the film Tapeheads... ok i am now offically a dork...
@Gidget: You crack me up, ha ha ha!
As James Brown from the photo might have said; "We gonna have a funky good time....
We gonna have a funky good time....
We gonna go ta SYYYYLVIA'S..."
I've heard of this place and thanks for taking the trip to share it with all of us! Waffles and chicken sound good and it looks even better! And I love the "Sweet Soul Music" video! Forgot all about that song.
When I first read "chicken and waffles on the menu" I thought the chicken would be inside or on the waffle, and nothing odd to me because we do that in Bretagne (region of France) with chicken, ham, mushrooms, potatoes, cheese or whatever you want. But the sweet waffle and fried chicken separate is odd indeed but I'm sure it's so delicious!
Few days ago I decided to sell my waffle machine because I'm retarded and I don't know how to cook... But Jason should be able to cook that !!!!! So I will keep it and @Jason: If you do that one for me, I let you watch a kitty porn with naked cats showing their 6 nipples! haha
Roscoe's is a mini chain in the Los Angeles area. Mini as in 5 restaurants,,,,I went to the original on Gower St in Hollywood. Chicken and Waffles are great,,,the crispy fried chicken with the sweet waffle and syrup is great,,,,not something you would think would taste good,,,but it does. Movie stars started going to the location on Gower and then all of a sudden there was a line out the door. So they opened another, and so on. Sylvia's has been featured on the Food Channel and it looks like a great place,,,,not sure if Roscoe or Sylvia was the first with the Chicken and waffles thing.
According to Wikipedia, Roscoe's opened in 1976 and Sylvia's opened in 1962, so she was first. To Sylvia!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe%27s_House_of_Chicken_and_Waffles
see what i started.. do we need a trip to LA Marty?
@Gidget: I don't think I could stand the sunshine out there! Come on out to New York and we'll order online, after the sun goes down.
Great post, I've never been to Sylvia's but always wanted to go. Even more now. Thanks for the trip!
PS: Check out Sam Cooke's original from a couple years earlier:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9hjmLPq6Zw
@Ken K. Thanks for the video link, YouTube is blocked here at work, but I'll check it out when I get home.
Dam , you should called me to tag along !!! , Dam , I been there only once , Dam .
Dam
OK one more time , Dam .
@marty...haha! you sounded like 'Donkey' off Shrek with your waffles call....good one mate! good joint, good chook.....& great WAFFLES!!!!!
Morning all....
I can picture the taste of the Chicken and Waffles. Wouldn't be too far removed from Pancakes and Bacon?
@Zioum Zioum: If I was in France and wanted this dish would have to order the Cock au Waffles?....sounds like Waffle Porn!
@365: Thanks for this post. I've always wanted to have soul food and this restaurant looks very relaxed. I especially like the open kitchen and to be able to sit and watch the action. It reminds me of where I work. Cool photos and staff and locally brewed beer makes for a good night out in my books.
During my apprenticeship I read a soul food cook book. I was stunned at the amount of butter and lard was used to create such simple food. As I've learned over the years is that is why it tastes so good! If you look at traditional french food it's all about the fat content...
also, Marty, I've checked the calendar and we're about 7 weeks away!!
@Tim Clack: Looking forward to your visit! Glad you liked the soul food post, you should check out Sylvia's when you're here, supposedly the ribs are great here too.
damn....Sylvia’s,,,been there done that...whatever one wants it was always great,,,only cornbread in de south /was pan fried...that looked oven baked...whatever...it all looked great (if i was a girl i'd say yummy)...got a couple of her bottles hot sauce somewhere...it is between louisiana and tabasco ...yea i know avery island is associated with louisiana...believe their sauces have a taste and use of their own ...enough...could not chime in on the "fuck you: thing...computer went down...ahhh for what ever reason....hope all the crawlers here in the u.s. of a. had a good one... damn i was trying to get one old box up and running (m not referring to my wife)....looks like 365 had a fine time over this long weekend...sorry to see jason was whining like a little girl,,,Zioum Zioum The Chainsaw a view of your future...i apologize for babbling on...like the little brook where you used to live...sorry to babylon and 365 might say i'm chasing "followers" away...365 thanks for wondering where i was when i was "down"...hell i went on a three day bender once and the wife never missed me...not sure who's bad that is...KOC
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p.s. when i first read that review of the Collective and waffles and chicken the first thing that "pop"ed into my mind ...(other than the fact it go skewered in your link) was "waffles in a bag"and "chicken in a basket"... the latter a tasty little treat...
@raginrr: Welcome back, Kotter! Her hot sauce is great! Good to see you commenting again!
Oh hell yes! You had me at chicken and waffles !! YUMMMMMMMMM
365...you would not believe how many times "99" has been "handed" around...but the cheap bastards that i know are just that...KOC
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