Thursday, September 8, 2011

Hopscotch '11 - Eats - Beasley's Chicken + Honey

Beasley's Chicken + Honey is located at 237 S Wilmington St.
Image from New
Raleigh
If you're wandering around downtown, or even if you've recently been displaced by the unfortunate incident at Sadlack's Heroes (apparently closed after a noise complaint), fear not: right down the road is a great place to weather the storm and get your hands on some fresh brewed tea and some out of this world fried chicken.

This is, hands down, the best fried chicken I've had. Now, I don't consider myself a connoisseur exactly, but I am certainly no stranger to dipping poultry in breading and hot oil. My surprise came as Beasley's Chicken + Honey managed to take that simple concept, douse it with class and upgrade the whole concept to something purposeful and tasteful, a nearly gourmet experience. From the dijon-honey sauce to the amazing (and obviously handmade) biscuits, the chefs combine attention to detail with that feel good down home style and serve it in generous portions. Even the tea is purchased by 1/2qt in re-purposed mason jars.


With a return to homemaking-as-art, mason-jars have never been "in" so much as they have lately. But that's the strong suit of Beasley's style, it's that marriage of high-class culture and southern-style family dining that's done with such consistency, yielding amazing results. Cleverly, they've made chic accessible and made southern-style classy and contemporary. You are seated at a long, communal table made of sleek lines, dark hard wood and brushed metal, and that is just one example of their dedication to principle. The wait-staff had a dress code that could only be described the same way: contemporary trends served up southern-style.

Of course, this sort of style comes at a not-unreasonable cost. With my gigantic chicken biscuit ringing it at $6.75, and a 1/2qt of tea adding a $1.00 onto that, I can't say that it breaks the bank. Terry got the highest end of the orders, which included the other entree option for $7.50 and a side of biscuits for 3, along with the other 1/2qt of tea, brought his total to just under $13.00 after tax. The price is completely warranted, and if asked to return today, I may hesitate, but I'd eventually succumb to the promise of another chance at that fried chicken and honey.

Update (3:17pm): @hopscotchfest tweeted: "bring a Beasley's receipt to Wristband City sing yr fav Hopscotch song to DJ Mollypop win 2 VIP tix from the R-Line! Now!"

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