Charles Pan-Fried Chicken Plans 2 More Harlem Locations Amid Expansion

HARLEM, NY — The good news keeps coming for Harlemites who love Charles Gabriel's crispy chicken, smokey ribs and long-cooked collard greens.

The man known as Harlem's fried chicken king is opening up two more neighborhood locations of his eponymous restaurant, Charles Pan-Fried Chicken, a company leader told Patch on Thursday.

They will open later this year at 439 West 125th St. (between Amsterdam and Morningside avenues) and 1325 Fifth Ave. in East Harlem (between East 111th and 112th streets), according to Michael Eberstadt, the restaurant's managing partner.

News of the new locations comes just a month after Gabriel opened his latest Harlem outpost on West 145th Street and Edgecombe Avenue, replacing his longtime location on West 132nd Street that closed in 2021. Charles Pan-Fried also opened an Upper West Side shop last year, and is eyeing an even wider expansion going forward. (Gothamist first reported on the new Harlem locations.)

"People are really starting to understand his story more broadly and just really appreciate him," Eberstadt said of Gabriel, 74, his longtime friend. "He’s one of those hardcore, old-time people who have been practicing their trade in New York City for decades and working incredibly hard."

Gabriel's group is preparing to sign a lease for the Fifth Avenue storefront, which should open in three to four months, Eberstadt said. The 125th Street location — formerly home to a holistic medicine practitioner — already has a lease but will take a bit longer to build out, with an opening planned for late this year.

"Insanely busy"

Born in North Carolina, Gabriel was one of 12 brothers and eight sisters born to sharecropper parents, and grew up picking cotton with his family on a nearby plantation. He moved to New York at the age of 20, where he cooked fried chicken in a park before opening a food truck, followed by a series of restaurants in Harlem starting in 1984.

Inspiration for the expansion struck during the pandemic, when delivery sales surged for Gabriel's southern-style cooking.

"It was clear through this boom in deliveries that there something there. Customers in Harlem were definitely wanting his food," said Eberstadt, whose fellow leaders in the burgeoning "chicken empire" include chief operating officer Quie Slobert and architect Nina Kinoti-Metz.

The 145th Street restaurant kicked off with a block party and has been "insanely busy" ever since, Eberstadt said. Once they manage to get that location "under control" and open the new shops, the Pan-Fried posse may start planning additional locations, according to Eberstadt.

Meanwhile, Gabriel, after spending decades on his feet each day in his restaurant kitchens, is finally getting a sense of how it feels to let other employees cook food for him, as Eater NY reported last month.

"Charles is super happy right now," Eberstadt said. "He totally deserves this — he’s an amazing chef and an amazing person."

Related coverage:

• Charles Pan-Fried Chicken Opening New Harlem Spot This Month
  
• Charles Pan-Fried Chicken Moves Deeper Into Harlem
  
• Charles Pan-Fried Chicken Opens Up Shop On Upper West Side