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Categories: Soul Food, Fast Food [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Theater District, Hell's KitchenP.O.C would like to announce that we are now offering delivery service to our neighboring customers in the area.
Announced 1 week ago8th Ave-42nd St (A, C, E, 1, 2, 3, S, 7, N, Q, R, W)
Mon-Sat. 12:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
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This place is great. $1 fried chicken! in Midtown!
Choose from either a leg or a thigh. I got a thigh, and a piece of their BBQ Chicken, which was also delicious. For sides, the mac and cheese was on point, as well as the rice and beans. On a side note, don't get the fries, they blow. Wish I would've gotten fried okra, also, but next time maybe.
Decent food at a great value, that's what I'm about.
This is a pretty solid place to grab lunch for a few bucks.
The chicken is really tasty, crispy, moist and not oily or greasy. The collard greens are delicious and the potato salad is probably the best thing on the menu. I'm not usually a big potato salad fan, but this stuff is amazing.
Super fast service. Friendly. No complaints here. Except that my waistline is gonna hate me now that I have an urge to visit this place once a week.
Not every hole in the wall is a "hidden gem". Many times, as in this case, a hole is the wall is just a hole in the wall. I gag every time I come across yet another yelp reviewer who fawns over a mediocre restaurant and seeks peer approbration by claiming they've found a hidden gem.
I came here with my wife a week ago after reading mostly positive reviews on yelp. We ordered the fried chicken, bbq ribs and fried liver.
I can see why if someone has only had KFC and Popeyes his whole life, he might enjoy this place. The chicken is crispy, not oily, sufficiently moist, and doesn't have that chain-restaurant processed flavor. The flavor of fried chicken is all about the mix of spices. This place does a decent job with their spice mix. Overall, I would say the chicken here is good, not great. While it's nice that each piece is only about a $1. I'd rather pay $2 and get better fried chicken. Another buck doesn't break my bank.
The bbq rib was appalling. Despite my wife and I both being hungry, as this was a late dinner, neither of us could bear the slight but undeniable, what I would describe as gamey, flavor in the bbq sauce. Either they used a cheap commercial bbq sauce or the ribs had been sitting around a bit too long.
I think the differing experiences between the chicken and ribs speaks to the fact that this City has quite a few places that do decent ribs but finding good fried chicken is harder, so the bar is set differently for both. Would I come back here? Probably not.
OK...why are my fellow yelpers so high on this place?
Was in the mood for chicken on my home from the office when I recalled the reviews written for this joint on yelp.
Here is the deal...
*You can smell the fried fat/lard/whatever as you approach the establishment.
*Take-out only in a dingy establishment.
*I ordered 4 thigh, 4 breast, 4 wings, mac & cheese, fries...But they forgot to add the 4 breast and 2 of the wings yet charged me the full amount.
*Chicken was extremely dry, over-fried, texture of stale bread.
*Felt kind of ill afterwards.
Ill just play it safe and hit up KFC the next time I get the craving.
Once again, THANK YOU YELP!
Ever since Jezebel closed, I've been sad that there is no place to get good chicken/soul food in Midtown, so when I found out that part of the old jezebel kitchen is still making and serving fried chicken and all the best sides, i was SO excited and couldnt wait to go.
Its take out only (but walking distance to worldwide plaza) and its fantastic and its cheap as cheap can get. The chicken, the wings, the chicken livers, the corn bread, the mac n cheese, -- just try a little of everything.
This is one of those amazing finds, hidden gems, and I still dont know why Im telling anyone about it.
Second time around, it was weird. They said they ran out of thighs when I ordered two of them. I didn't really understand what the girl was mumbling. Anyway, after the girl taking my order asked me to repeat my order three more times, I got my food, took it back. The mac & cheese wasn't bad, but this time, something was kinda wrong with the chicken. The chicken breast was too spongy, tasted gross. My problem is that I don't like wasting food, so I finished eating it. It was a bad idea. The batter was soggy on one side, seemed like it was applied in a half ass way. I could really taste the grease. You know, I think my body just doesn't like fried chicken anymore. It's nothing against this establishment. So I should actually thank Piece of Chicken for helping me make sure that I'm not into fried chicken anymore. Thanks.
The fried chicken here is good. Best of all, you can one piece for a dollar. You can't even go to… Read more »
Took an hour away from my day to get this chicken, but goddamn! ITS WORTH IT!! The chicken was seasoned well and very crispy, even though it wasn't eaten immediately. The mac and cheese wasn't as great as the other reviews made it seem, but the collar greens were spot on!
Its CHEAP too! Come through with $5 and you will leave well fed. Haven't gotten a chance to try all the sides, but trust me when I say I'LL BE BACK!
Real Cheap, Real Good.
Corn Muffins are a must!
The Chicken was juicy and delicious. Get there!
Takeout Only! There is no seating at this place, but they sure know how to fry a chicken. About one of the last places in New York you can get full on just $5 or less. They sell soul food which include fried okra, collard greens, jerk pork, fried chicken, bread pudding, waffles, and other southern combinations.
Eating here daily will cause you to gain weight, but if you're on a budget, this place is a must.
Yes it's cheap, but I don't think it's even worth it. I think it ended up being less than $15 for the two of us, but I don't think it's even worth that. Let's start with the piece of chicken...soggy not crispy skin/breading and not particularly juicy chicken meat. Not a very good start.
Then comes the mac and cheese. I don't understand why people like it so much. It wasn't very warm and it had a blend of some odd taste (I want to say it had a hint of bbq sauce-like flavor to it).
I suppose the yams were pretty good, but not enough to save this review. As were the day's rib special. The meat was rather tough and the bbq sauce was just off. It was incredibly sweet and tangy. Overall, even the price would not bring me back.
Dear Piece of Chicken,
I hate your FACE.
I am on a strict diet regimen here. I am trying to be healthy, to slim down somewhat. You are RUINING that.
Stupid $1 thighs and cheap, GOOD sides.
Don't you know that food is supposed to SUCK when it costs a dollar?? The skin on a buck piece of chicken isn't supposed to be so flavorful with just the right amount of crisp!
Your mac and cheese isn't supposed to be like down home mac and cheese, the kind one's momma makes! The yams are not supposed to make my eyes roll back in my head!
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??
You are on my way home from rehearsal. I'm ashamed to admit that I actually broke down and came to you in the middle of a workout!
UGH.
If I don't lose this weight I am coming for you...
AND your chicken.
In short: yeah it's cheap, but I've had better fried chicken
Maybe I was expecting too much when my friend and I came here craving chicken, but after some of the previous reviews, Piece of Chicken disappointed pretty thoroughly.
Yes, it is pretty cheap (I'd give it 2 stars if it wasn't), but the fried chicken was oddly tasteless and not very crunchy (come on that's the best part), and the mac and cheese was cold and had a funny seasoning to it that neither of us liked very much.
The yams were pretty good and the special bbq ribs were tasty, but nothing that deserved more than 3 stars. Personally, I have Crown Fried Chicken (see my other reviews) 3 minutes away from my apartment so I don't see myself coming to midtown anytime soon for Piece.
P.S. I did get to see one kind of crazy guy salt and hot sauce his one chicken wing for literally 5 minutes while I was standing in line so that was at least funny.
I'm from New England. I know clam chowda. I know lobsta. I know potatoes (Maine potatoes, SCREW YOU IDAHO). I know how to cook a partridge (wrapped in bacon). I know how to cook a trout (wrapped in bacon). As a young lad, I once field-dressed a deer (surprisingly, not wrapped in bacon).
Needlesstosay, I don't know fried chicken beyond KFC. So take the next statement for what it is:
Piece of Chicken has the best fried chicken I've ever had.
$1 dollar for a savory piece of chicken served up by some of the friendliest people around. The sides are delicious, but I usually go with a couple legs with a side of a thigh, or some wings with a side of a leg, if you catch my drift.
Woohoo! I'm a fan of Piece of Chicken! So I came across this on yelp and based on all the reviews, I knew I HAD to try it. And hellls to the yea, I'm lovin' it! Well, I live about two blocks away, so it is unbelievably convenient. Almost too convenient, because I know I'll want it too often.
First...... CHEAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, I am not talking manhattan, $15/person cheap, I am talking REAL cheap. LOOOVE! I got mac & cheese, yams, and a piece of chicken (with hot sauce packets) for $7. Wow! I was shocked, I had to ask her to repeat the total a couple times.
Second... real mac & cheese. Now, it was a little cold when I got it, guess they were winding down for the day, but even with the cold, it still had that real down south baked mac & cheese flavor... you know the mac & cheese that doesn't move. I don't know who told people in new york that mac & cheese should be saucy.... (and even worse made with cheese sauce) Ummmm no!
The fried chicken... also a surprise. It had real seasoning and flavors fried in the breading. The skin (the best part, i mean if I wanted to be healthy I would have a salad) delish!!!
Anyway, three for the food and boosted for the price just as another reviewer said.
Came here and got 1 regular piece, 1 honey piece, macaroni and cheese, and candied yams. It came out to well under $10 which is probably the best part! So now the part about the food, the regular piece was good...the honey piece was a little too messy, so I'd avoid that one and it just made the chicken soggy. The mac and cheese was nothing great, but the candied yams were yummy. I would definitely recommend the regular piece and the candied yams which will put you under $5 for a meal!
So yes...seating is an issue since there is none. So if you don't live by there, you can always go spend some time sitting in Times Square and watch people going to TGIF and Olive Garden as you munch on some real NY food.
I'd rate the food as 3 stars..but it gets its 4th because of the price!
A few guys and girls were sitting a few buildings away on a door stoop eating some yummy looking fried chicken. That's when I realized that Piece of Chicken was right in front of my eyes!! I love fried chicken and I've heard good things about Piece of Chicken but never got a chance to check it out. Boy was I excited.
It's an open kitchen so we were able to view a cook preparing some raw chicken, frying them and placing them in bins where all the other ready to serve foods were located. The line was pretty short and my friend and I decided to get, duh, the fried chicken. We just wanted a snack so we each ordered a piece of chicken and and split an order of wings. We made sure to put some hotsauce in our carton. Total came to $3.25.
No seats at this tiny place so we decided to walk a few blocks and find some empty stair stoop. The chicken smelled so good that my friend and I reached for the wings and walked and ate even though we got some stares. Wings were good but not great. It reminded me of fried chicken wings from a Chinese take out place. We found a stoop, sat down and digged into the single pieces of chicken. I had a thigh and my friend had a breast. The crunch of the fried skin was amazing and the thigh meat was nice and juicy. My friend liked her piece and it seemed never ending. I wound up eating half of hers. Afterward we were both feeling that we just had dinner and not a snack and concluded that we should of stuck with just the pieces of chicken. So note-the wings are not worth it but the pieces of chicken are.
Why, pray tell, did I convince my officemate to come here with me and gorge at lunchtime, rendering the afternoon completely fat and unproductive? I have no idea. But it was damn fine. A little bit spicy on the chicken, a lot of cheesy on the mac & cheese. Now I just can't eat for 5 days.
I was not expecting this. I had reason to believe that this place may have been a bit overrated but I can honestly say that I haven't had fried chicken and macaroni and cheese this good since I last went to church homecomings back down south...and that's been a long time.
Simple and straight forward and quite possibly some of the best fried chicken I've ever had.
Maybe I got a bad batch. Maybe the 10 of us got a whole big bad batch. But I'd rather go to Crown Fried Chicken. The smothered chicken I got was rough and not tender. I thought maybe it was just me. Then my friend tried her fried chicken and grimaced in disappointment. She didn't have to say anything. I knew.
You know something is bad when it doesn't taste good even though you're famished.
A dollar a piece isn't exactly what I would call "cheap" either. You ain't seen cheap if you think that's cheap. (Incorrect grammar was necessary there.)
All in all, I'll still come back to try other items, since everyone else is hyping this up so much.
I am from Houston, Texas and I love good fried chicken. All that oily greasy goodness and crispy skin with the juicy dark meat is just delicious. I found this place on Yelp and saw that it had really good reviews, so I decided to give it a try on my lunch break.
So the place like everyone says is literally a kitchen that opens into the street where you buy takeout to go. The line during lunch was about 10-15 minutes. I ordered 2 of their "Piece of chicken" for $1 each and also two orders of their wings (4 pieces).
I got a drumstick and I presume some other type of chicken I wasn't quite sure, perhaps a thigh.
The drumstick was a little dryer than I expected so that was disappointing.
The other mystery chicken piece was pretty juicy and flavorful however.
As far as the wings, they were OK and nothing to scream about, but they were pretty big and I guess decent for the price ($1.50 for 2 pieces).
Overall the place is interesting and I would recommend trying it if you're in the area and like fried chicken. I didn't try any of their sides as I saw that most were more expensive than the chicken orders themselves. I would like to try their Chicken/Waffles one day ($3) and compare it to Roscoes out on the west coast.
Solid Place. Hole in the wall, no seating, piece of fried chicken only a buck.
Well worth it for lunch during the week. Absolutely can't be healthy for you, but it was oh so good.
They have collards and the have some corn bread muffins.
Definitely recommended if you like Fried Chicken, Dirty, in a good way. The Jerk is pretty spicy.
No seats, no giraffe rating.
What a surprisingly refreshing find in the theater district! I couldn't resist the authenticity of the look and feel of the little take out shop. I had the catfish, greens and mac n cheese. It isn't exactly a chic pre-theater stop. I couldn't resist, it was the real deal and super cheap! I ordered takeout and ate on a bench on the sidewalk nearby. It was sooo worth it!
It's in my neighborhood and a fellow neighbor had suggested for me to try. It's basically a whole in the wall place that only takes cash but thankfully just about everything is a dollar.
The one thing that stuck out was that my friend wanted to order the jerk chicken and the lady told her that it was too old and wouldn't be good. I thought it was out of the ordinary for someone to be selling a product and be like 'it's awful, don't buy it'
We ended up just getting some wings and it was really good!
ok New York blows when it comes to good cheap eats. usually if its low in price, its low on the scale of edibility, unlike food cities like SF.
but this place was dope. food tasted like home cookin. and the prices?? in the big city??? CRAZE. i love when fried chicken is so well fried the skin is all crispy and brittle. the mac and cheese was cheesy as )#(%*#$ and the mashed potatoes tasted like butter, just how i like them. had the fried gizzards but they were left over pieces and kind of mehhhhh, cant complain since hte owner(?) just gave them to me for free. bread pudding was baby butt soft and so good. tough part was finding a place to sit and eat so i ate while i was walkin. im in the city for work and i gotta admit, going there 3 times in the span of 6 days is overkill but thats just a testament to how good the place is
I used to work at the theater down the block, and frequently came to piece of chicken on my breaks - they were always friendly and the food was always tasty, quick and cheap.
definitely a deal - you can have a feast for 2 for about $10.
The food is exactly what Jezebel's (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) served - delicious, well seasoned soul food - fried chicken, ribs, greens, yams, cornbread, and more (daily specials are often unique and delicious), but at bargain basement prices.
For those of you that don't know, when this place originally opened, it was just the kitchen from Jezebel's with a window to sell the food to go. You used to see the servers running in and out of the kitchen. :) Jezebel's closed sometime in 2007, and they did some renovations to Piece of Chicken in Nov. 07 so you could actually walk inside. However, as other people have noted, there's not really a place to sit - it's not really meant to be a sit and eat kind of place.
I've come here twice asking for mashed potatoes but they ran out both times. *sigh* Maybe I should start coming here before 9pm. Chicken is good, but some of the other things on the menu make me weary. For example,
Catfish - extremely fishy, me thinks it wasn't very fresh to begin with, frozen or not
Okra - probably got the bottom of the barrel, mine were all burnt and no good
Cornbread - actually corn muffins that could be from Jiffy mix
You should def give this place a try though, maybe on a night they don't run out of stuff!
Gotta go for the 5th star here. This has become my go to place for lunch. Just say "rib tips and catfish" and bring your own lemon for a $4 feast on the stoop next door--call it $5 with tax and a clank of the tip jar.
The decadent, grease-saturated air caresses your skin and incites your innards as you wait on the no… Read more »
Okay, okay, okay!
For what this place is, you really can't enter with too much expectations and I suppose it does service the need of those in the red.
But if you're going to cook and sell it to the public - make an effort!
Though might I point out, it's not one dollar for a piece of chicken it's 1.08 with tax.
My broke film students friends usually have the chicken with a side of fries or corn bread or something. They claim it's good but one friend also noted that he was sick a few hours after eating - coincidence? You be the judge.
I tried the fried whiting with mac and cheese. The mac and cheese was barely edible and the fish wasn't at all. Besides needing vinegar and ketchup so badly (ketchup is available at the counter) it was overcooked - way dry.
I'd rather spend a bit more on something that I can actually consume. Thanks but no thanks.
Not so good, but it was later in the evening (about 8PM on a Friday) and they had run out of most of their side selection and the fried chicken had been sitting out for awhile. The batter wasn't too flavorful and their was a vinegary taste to it which I didn't care for. My serving may have been contaminated from something else. I didn't finish it.
This place is real close to my house and I have to say it's my go-to place for 'fast food,' and when it comes to fast food, this is really Woohoo! As good as it gets! I get the same thing every time so if you don't like the sound of Smothered Chicken with Rice and Beans and Candied Yams then maybe you won't share my enthusiasm here.
There are a lot of places to eat in Hell's Kitchen and yet every time I'm hungry and I'm not in the mood to cook, 'Piece of Chicken' are the first three words that pop in my mind. All my family that doesn't stay in NY knows about this place because I talk about it every time I'm hungry (and that's a lot). If fried chicken is not your thing (why else are you here?), you might be interested to know that my dad enjoyed the smothered BBQ Rib Bits with Black-Eyed Peas and the Bread Pudding when he was in town. I tried the Bread Pudding and I didn't care for it.
Sometimes they run out of things (one time they ran out of chicken) so, like Alex S. said, 4 stars for the intangibles, 5 stars for the chicken and prices.
KFC doesn't hold a candle to Piece of Chicken, especially since POC does it better for a lot less money. For a place that specializes in fried chicken, this place does it just right. In most cases this place gets 4 stars for all of the intangibles (lines, food, service, etc.) but 5 stars for the chicken and the prices alone.
This place has no seating, but a drive through style window where lines tend to form during lunch time and after work. Usually around these times the chicken batches are replenished most often and are the most fresh with just the right amount of crisp. The legs happen to be my favorite, though the chicken breasts are really good as well. The wings tend to be a popular item as well, one of the few items that sells out often. Aside from the wings that are 50 cents each, all chicken pieces are indeed $1.00.
The Mac & Cheese is okay, it's usually a bit too mushy and not as cheesy as I would like it to be. It's by far the most expensive item on the menu at $2.50 for a tiny scoop. I expected better things from the potato salad, which has a little too much crunchiness from the onions embedded in the potatoes. One of the BEST items, is by far one of the simplest, which is the corn muffins. They're just addicting to me and are best eaten when fresh out of the oven. It is quite possibly one of the best corn muffins I've had.
When I first came here, chicken breasts were $3.00 a piece and Mac & Cheese was only $1.50, but now it seems the prices have been adjusted accordingly. I almost want to denote a star because their takeout menu prices are at times different than the ones on the board. My favorite corn muffins were .50 each a few weeks ago, now they're a whopping 75 cents.
The owner, who is a very nice lady, was telling me of her big ambition to make this place take off, and was in the process of taking photos of the food for a website that is in the works. Now that locals have caught onto this little cash only gold mine, it now seems to be a mainstay among Hell's Kitchen's many eateries.
Stick with the dark meat (legs, thighs) I personally thought the white meat was lame, not great at all (KFC variety). The dark meat though, crunchy, delicious and dirt fuc*ing cheap!!
(3) legs
(1) breast
(1) side of mac n' cheese
Grand Total: $6.50
Important Note: I give this place 3 stars instead of 4 because there is absolutely NO PLACE TO SIT AND EAT!!!!!
Food Decor Service Cost
[22] [-15] [6] [26]
You place your order through a "hole in the glass" at this Hell's Kitchen "soul station" that looks like it's about to be raided by the "narcotics" squad, but Piece of Chicken fans "rave" that the birds here are so good, you'll want to "divorce your wife" and "shack-up" with a "fowl." Be careful that "Colonel Sanders" doesn't catch you here, though, because if he does he'll "kick your ass."
I have sampled the mac n cheese and collard greens here but the $1 single piece of chicken is what is most worth getting here. They manage to get the juicy, crispy thing down right. I most enjoy the simple fact that you can get one piece and I convince myself only one can't be bad for me. No seating? No problem. That stoop to the right is perfect, as is eating your piece in the middle of the street, better yet- sneak it into Rudy's and enjoy it with a pitcher. I have done all three.
I don't know if you can get more barebones, unpretentious than this place. You're literally in the kitchen being separated from the deep fryer by one dude and a table.
I liked the fried chicken - just right Fried chicken at these kinds of places can be too salty or too bland. I think I had the smothered chicken, which was way too sweet. The yams were like sugar - I couldn't finish them. The mac n' cheese and collard greens though...those babies hit the spot.
How cool are you? Not only do you sell really great fried chicken, not only do you sell by the piece (which I love since I only eat the boob - breast piece for the laymen), you also only charge a buck a piece. I love you. You're not only fried chicken -- you're friend chicken!
If you're walking down here, keep in mind, there are no seats, it's purely take-out (not sure about delivery) and there is a line out the door during lunch hour. And despite all this, it's truly worth it.
A bit salty. Otherwise, they taste like my (chinese) mother's fried chicken. The batter/dip was light, tooo light; non-existent would not be out-of-order.
Can't beat the price-to-taste ratio though. That's the selling point. And, let me tell you, this place sells (for good reason).
In conclusion, if I need to manage my budget, I'll go here. If I manage my budget well, I'll go elsewhere for better fried chicken.
you can totally stretch your dollar here... each item is about 2 or 3 dollar. I can't say that it is the best fried chicken I ever had. (rather have popeyes) However, the rib tips and cornbread was good. They also have baked items as well. Plenty of choices to chose from for a good price.
OMG, Piece of Chicken ROCKS! My mouth started to water as I stood in line and could smell the food cookin'... I had no trouble deciding on what I wanted, it was fried chicken... I just love me some fried chicken... I wish I could eat it every week! When it was my turn to order, I immediately said "2 wings, 1 leg, greens and a corn muffin". Within 7 minutes I was sitting on someone's stoop chowing down.
This fried chicken was some of the best I've ever had, hot, juicy, crispy and yummy; the greens were flavored well and the corn muffin was warm and delicious. POC has a lot of other items but it was all about the chicken for me. My meal was under $6. It doesn't get any better than that. I wanted to get on line again and order more chicken for later, but, I had tix for a 2 pm matinee and didn't want to smell up the theatre. I hope POC stays in business as I will be back on my next trip!
3 words... best. fucking. cornbread.
i dont even think cornbread is on their menu but i was in the other night to pick up some dinner and there was a tray just out of the oven. a very nice woman was cutting it into pieces and decided to give a free sample to the few of us waiting in line. every single person who tried it bought some. i don't even really like cornbread-- my husband usually despises it but he ate the whole piece i brought home.
the actual restaurant brought back memories of being a shy white girl in the south... kind of intimidating... but the people exude a real southern hospitality, which is something you rarely see in the south anymore, let alone midtown manhattan.
as far as the chicken... meh. it was kind of late on saturday (9pm-ish) and it tasted like the chicken had been sitting out. the wings were totally soggy and tasted like they were wrapped in soggy bread. the "pieces of chicken" were fine... but i filled up on cornbread so i only had one. it needed some seasoning and/or ketchup but no worse than KFC
would definitely go back... with my fingers crossed that they were cookin up some more cornbread... and probably earlier in the day to get some crispy chicken pieces. although, gotta say-- even the soggy pieces were worth getting a 2-person dinner for $8
Neighborhood: Financial District
Category: Soul Food
Neighborhood: Fashion District
Category: Southern
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Neighborhood: Theater District
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