By Mashari Grissom
A dynamic soul food gem in Harlem, Charles Pan Fried Chicken is loved by New Yorkers for the past five decades and counting.
Born in 1947 in North Carolina, the James Beard-nominated culinary icon and restaurant owner, Charles Gabriel started cooking at 7 years old. His mother’s kitchen is where Charles unlocked his culinary passion while learning how to make the southern inspired soul food plates Charles Pan Fried Chicken serves today.
As a teen, Charles traveled with his brother to New York to work at Uptown’s beloved Copeland’s, another soul food eatery in Harlem. There he did deliveries, washed dishes, and successfully got promoted to run the restaurant after the owner, Calvin Copeland noticed his pure talent. After 22 years of spearheading the establishment, entrepreneurship spiked.
Folding Table to Food Truck to infinity mini-chain restaurants and beyond!
Charles started cooking out of his Harlem apartment, putting a folding table in front of his building to serve his first customers during the mid 1980’s.
This transformational journey ventured into a food truck, the Charles’ Mobile Soul Food. On his own, he continued to sell more plates of chicken, hotdogs, chopped barbecue, and more, making people yearn for more. The word spread throughout New York, and people would ride their cars around looking for him. For five years, he would park his food truck outside of parks and sometimes post offices.
In 1997, he later retired from his food truck which led him to open his first brick and mortar restaurant on 8th avenue between 152nd and 153rd street. His take-out location was then joined by his breakfast and legendary buffet. He operated all three locations for over twenty years.
Thanks to the rise of delivery apps like UberEats, Charles Pan Fried Chicken thrived when COVID-19 hit. Unlike some eateries, the pandemic sparked the idea of making Charles Pan Fried Chicken a citywide chain. His location stayed open for takeout and delivery due to the popularity of delivery apps.
Mission-driven Culinary Spirit to serve the Harlem community
Harlem Native and Chief Operating Officer, Chef Quie Slobert and Charles Gabriel collectively teamed up for the rebrand of Charles Pan-Fried Chicken. In 2021, Charles Pan-Fried Chicken restaurants opened in West Harlem and the Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York.
Through five decades of commitment and refining his mother’s cooking, Charles Pan Fried Chicken earned the respect of not just New Yorkers, but international customers across the globe. This southern-style soul food restaurant attracts many eyes, while grasping the attention from television and news stations: Netflix, CBS, MasterClass, Fox 5 News, NBC New York Live, and Eater.
In a Food Network feature, Charles narrates the story of his mother telling him ‘if you ever open a restaurant, always fry the chicken in a frying pan and not a deep fryer.’ Today, Charles continues to cook with love in the kitchen using large iron skillet frying pans just like he would at home, alwhile COO Chef Quie handles operations. Together, the great duo embodies true Black excellence with the mission-driven culinary spirit to serve the Harlem community.
When asked which celebrities visited the establishment, Chef Quie replied, “Everyone is a celebrity when they come here.” He continued, “we want everyone to feel like a celebrity when they’re at Charles Pan Fried Chicken.” Just to name a few, icons like Whoopie Goldberg and Danny Glover are fans of Harlem’s own, Charles Pan Fried Chicken.
Enjoy your favorite soul food meals and southern inspired desserts at Charles Pan Fried Chicken’s locations:
Harlem (Flagship) 340 W 145th St. New York, NY 10039
Harlem West Side 439 W 125th St. New York, NY 10027
Upper West Side 146 West 72nd St. New York, NY 10023