(This venue is closed.) Purely in the interest of research, I got a double dose.
Carl Redding, who founded Amy Ruth's (and sold his interest a number of years ago), now caters to the community on the former site of the short-lived New Wing City. On a menu well-provisioned with ribs and fried seafood, an excellent value is the "piece of chicken" ($2.50) — which means either a thigh and drumstick (above) or breast and wing (below), plus soft, peppery fries that are very good for this style. The light and dark meat seem to be prepared in separate batches, so while the breast was salty and on the dry side, under skin so taut it might have been painted on, the thigh and drumstick (which I prefer in general) had crisper, thicker-battered skin, and they were much moister and salted just right. With either, Doc's tart version of sweet tea (20 fl. oz.; $3) will be welcome by your side.
Desserts vary somewhat from visit to visit; my favorite so far, which bore the label of someone named Chef Nur, is a cinnamon-and-nutmeg-inflected pie (not shown; $3) whose central ingredient is navy beans.
Doc's
1902 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. (115th-116th Sts.)
212-531-8770
Closed Sunday after 3:00 and all Monday
