A restaurant serving what is arguably Harlem's best fried chicken now sits empty.
The doors are closed and the furniture is gone at Charles Pan-Fried Chicken at 2461 Frederick Douglass Boulevard and W 132nd Street.
But all is not lost. The beloved fried chicken joint, run by chef Charles Gabriel, is opening a string of new locations as part of a citywide chain, according to a report in New York Magazine.
The restaurant's new Harlem address will be 340 W 145th Street and Edgecombe Avenue, where hiring notices in the windows reveal an updated orange-and-teal logo.
Another location at 144-146 W 72nd Street on the Upper West Side will open in the next few months, and a Brooklyn branch is expected to follow.
Gabriel, who fries his perfectly-seasoned chicken in the pan the old-fashioned way, has moved his business a number of times in Harlem—he had a previous eatery on 151st Street—gaining accolades along the way.
He was a semifinalist for a James Beard Award for best chef in 2018, and was the subject of a profile in the New Yorker in 2014.
The 145th Street location, expected to debut this summer, will have an ordering counter plus indoor seating, with an option for outdoor seating.
While fans wait for opening day, they can follow the restaurant's new Instagram account for announcements: @charlespanfriedchicken.
Updated 4/21/21
