Charles Pan-Fried Chicken Moves Deeper Into Harlem

HARLEM, NY — Harlemites who passed by the longtime Charles Pan-Fried Chicken storefront in recent months may have been dismayed to see it shuttered, fearing that the fried chicken master had closed up for good on 132nd Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard.

In fact, the closure of Charles Gabriel's old shop in February was only a prelude to an expansion of his chicken empire, which will begin this summer when he opens a new location on West 145th Street and Edgecombe Avenue.

The new location, announced last week by L+M Development Partners, will fill a ground-floor space and be the largest location to date in the restaurant's three-decade existence.

At the same time, Gabriel planning to open an Upper West Side outpost in the coming months after seeing a surge in demand from the neighborhood during the pandemic, Grub Street reported. (He closed down the old shop on Frederick Douglass because the landlord cut off his gas, according to Grub Street.)

It's part of a citywide expansion by Gabriel, 73, which will also include a new shop in Brooklyn.

"We are excited to welcome beloved New York City institution Charles Pan-Fried Chicken to a brand-new space in the heart of a historic Harlem neighborhood," said Joseph Milone, director of retail at L+M, in a statement.

"His old-school skillet-fried chicken has drawn long lines for years and this new space will bring the iconic soul food to even more New Yorkers."

Neighborhood blogs have been abuzz for months with rumors of Charles's next moves. Harlem Bespoke first reported that the old shop had closed this spring, while West Side Rag broke the news of the new 72nd Street spot.

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A North Carolina native, Gabriel moved to New York in 1965 at the age of 20. He began cooking fried chicken at a park table before opening a food truck, and later a series of restaurants in Harlem starting in 1984. He was nominated for a James Beard award in 2018.

The new 145th Street space will include a large kitchen, ordering counter, indoor seating and space for outdoor dining, developers said. In addition to his trademark chicken, Gabriel will be serving up smothered pork chops, chicken and waffles, yams, turkey wings and other soul food classics.