Last updated: August 20, 2020

In the Weeds

Near where Beatties Ford Road crosses over Brookshire Freeway stands one of Charlotte’s cultural landmarks, The Excelsior Club. This legendary establishment played host to such icons as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, and James Brown since opening its doors in the 1940s. Another lesser-known but equally important mainstay of the Washington Heights neighborhood sits just a short distance from the Excelsior Club: Original Chicken n’ Ribs.

Since the restaurant opened its doors in 1952, the only thing that’s changed is the building. Starting as a mere semblance of a structure in the early years, Original Chicken n’ Ribs now sits in a squat khaki building at the intersection of Oaklawn and Beatties Ford in the shadow of the city’s derelict water treatment plant. A small parking lot services the takeout-only establishment. Inside is a small counter, a menu, and a raucous and fragrant kitchen crowded with cooks hard at work frying up chicken and fish, flipping hamburgers, and filling up styrofoam containers with neon yellow mac & cheese and dark green collards.  

They’re most famous for their unique take on the classic American burger, they even brag about on their menu: “Home of the Fatboy.” A warm sesame seed bun is crowded with two handmade beef patties, two pieces of American cheese, tomato, lettuce, ketchup, mustard, slaw, and chili. Ask them to add tartar sauce to the burger to try it the way the restaurant’s original patrons used to have it. The extra taste of relish and mayonaise balance out the more traditional flavors of ketchup and mustard. 

The highest compliment you can bestow on a restaurant burger is the degree to which it tastes like it was homemade, and let me tell you, the Fatboy is as homemade as it gets, packed with all the flavor you would expect from a smokey backyard charcoal grill in July. It’s a whole meal unto itself and will make getting into those skinny jeans just a little bit harder, but every calorie is worth it. For a beefy alternative to the burger, go for the Philly cheesesteak, but ask for the lettuce to be left off the sandwich — it doesn’t offer anything necessary to the dish and it’s lukewarm wilt distracts from the cheese and beef flavors. 

With chicken and ribs in the name of the restaurant, you would expect it to deliver on these two dishes, and does so admirably. Fried chicken has become popular once again as Southern foodways have been deemed cool and authentic by trendmakers, television networks, and, of course, social media. But it’s easy to forget that the original ways are often the best ways. All you need for memorable fried chicken is a good batter seasoned with salt and pepper, hot oil that hasn’t been overused, and the intuitive knowledge to know when the bird is done but still juicy, and not burned dry and rendered inedible. 

The fried chicken here can proudly stand its own alongside other popular Charlotte chicken joints, with special marks going to the thighs and drums, the fattiness not overpowering and lovingly encased in a thin bark of crispy batter. With chicken breasts now the size of footballs due to growth hormones and other Frankenstein ingredients, it is always best to stick with thighs, as more fat means more flavor. The ribs lack the smokey finish that you would find at a barbeque joint but are none the worse for it. They still fall off the bone, delivering a comforting pork flavor that is heightened by a sweet and tangy sauce that sticks to the ribs like paint. 

Fried fish is also a must order here, but I would go with the perch if you have to choose. Perch offers a meaty white fish flavor without the tiny bones that can, on occasion, crowd a piece of croaker or catfish and tickle the back of your throat. The fantail shrimp with cocktail and tartar sauces are a good accompaniment for the perch, offering a more subtle and briny flavor that a freshwater fish like perch can’t deliver.

Slaw and fries come with both the chicken and fish platters. The slaw is homemade with small chunks of crisp cabbage and carrots doused in a creamy mayonnaise concoction. The slaw also offers just enough vegetable content to justify gorging on a small mountain of fried food. The fries are crinkle cut and dusted in a simulacrum of Cajun seasoning that reminds one of a certain fast food chicken chain. And you can’t forget about the hushpuppies here, little orbs of slightly sweet and oniony dough fried golden brown that release the smallest amount of oil when you bite them in half. 

Sides can make or break any Southern meal but Original Chicken n’ Ribs has things covered. Mac-and-cheese is made casserole-style with a crusty brown patina on top, the necessary grease from the cheese products, and a reasonable cheese-to-pasta ratio. The collards have a hint of sweetness, as if they’ve been doused with  spoonfuls of brown sugar. If that’s not your thing, add a few dashes of pepper vinegar or Texas Pete to even out the flavors. The potato salad is a dependable side too, offering a reliable homey flavor and rich density you would expect from this Southern summer staple. The fried okra is a heavy side that might sneak up and ambush your appetite, but the crispness of the batter cuts out the natural sliminess of the okra, offering an earthy vegetable flavor that is welcome with such a heavy meal. 

The final two menu items that are necessary for any takeout meal are the banana pudding and their take on the classic Arnold Palmer. “The Obama ” is Original Chicken n’ Ribs blend of sweet tea and lemonade that’s guaranteed to curl your lips with a citric flavor and get your heart racing with the cups of sugar in the tea. The banana pudding is served cold, the way it should be, and not hot like they like to do down east. Cold, banana-packed, with vanilla wafers still crispy, this pudding has the addition of lemon flavor that offers a nice refreshing quality to the light and airy dessert.  

There are lots of places in the Queen City doing Southern cooking now, and across the U.S. it has finally earned the respect it deserves. It can be easy to forget about the places that have been doing soul food decades before it became cool or acceptable. And let’s be honest, there is no such thing as Southern cooking without Black cooking. Black cooks and Black establishments are the backbone of Southern cooking, and it’s important to support their efforts. Grab your phone, place an order, park outside, and look in the direction of the Excelsior Club. It’s grown over with weeds now and the paint is peeling in places, but if you close your eyes you might just be able to hear the crooning wail of jazz or soul music that once filled the neighborhood with sound. Add that on top of the smell of frying chicken and cooking ribs, and you can get a good sense of what it was once like all those years ago. One Washington Heights stalwart may be gone, but Original Chicken n’ Ribs is still delivering great food at great prices to a grateful neighborhood after nearly seven decades. —Travis Mullis