RSS FeedWho Are You Calling Chicken?
We owe this post to PQDad whose wife (PQMom?) told Mrs Columbo about this a few months ago. That’s right, months… we’ve been holding out on you. That’s because there was a split in the Columbo household about the quality, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. After learning a few months ago that Central (1001 Pennsylvania Ave NW, corner of 11th & Penn) was now offering buckets of fried chicken and mashed potatoes to go we had to give it a try. Even if the surrounding community was glad to see it go, this blog has mentioned the pain we felt when Popeyes left. The lack of good fried chicken has been sorely missed, and attempts to find a replacement have ended with disappointment.
And this is the split in the Columbo household. Central has sold fried chicken for a long time as a dinner plate, maybe since they’ve been open, and we’ve never been a huge fan. Mrs Columbo, on the other hand, loves their fried chicken. So when we found out they sold buckets of the stuff we gave it a go for Mrs Columbo’s sake. The bucket is advertised as a “lunch to-go” special where you can order ahead for pickup. Thirty dollars gets you the six piece bucket of chicken (3 breast & 3 thighs), 6 chicken nuggets, dijon-majo for dipping, and a side of mashed potatoes.
First impressions were good: The plain white bucket is sturdy and fun, the chicken is hot & crispy, the nuggets are cute, you’re given a substantial amount of dipping sauce, and the potatoes… well if you’ve never had their mashed potatoes you are in for a treat (and if you have had them you know they can substitute for dessert).
Those were the first impressions, but the critic in us had a few other thoughts upon closer inspection: The chicken breast, while moist and tasty, is boneless. Outside of a chicken sandwich, who wants fried chicken that isn’t on the bone? [Mrs Columbo, as it turns out, which means probably a lot of other people too]. The dijon-mayo is way too heavy on the mayo, we’d have preferred something tangier like mustard. They don’t allow you to call ahead for the bucket in the evenings, you must order in person; that seems strange but it does give us a chance to down a few Bluesser’s and chat with our favorite bartender Nikki while we wait.
So what’s our final verdict? The bucket of chicken from Central doesn’t call our names the way Popeyes chicken always did, but it’s impossible to give it a thumbs down. When you want a bucket of chicken (even a $30 bucket) you want a bucket of chicken, and now we have that option just a few blocks away. It’s hot, crisp, and comes with the best mashed potatoes around. And really, what’s better than a picnic the next day with cold fried chicken and a bottle of vinho verde?
DC Link Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
Photo: A new office building developed by Skanska is getting closer to completion at 10th and G Streets NW.
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Here’s what we were reading recently about neighborhood news in DC. Have neighborhood thoughts? Leave them in the comments!
Mount Vernon Triangle – Renderings are available for 433 Massachusetts Ave, the Ledo Pizza building. They show a nice blend between old and new. Will the building ever shake that name? [The Triangle]
Penn Quarter– Pizza! Pizza! Get your fresh hot pizza! Depicted above is the building built by Skanska at 733 10th St NW (cross street: G St NW) and we learn there will be a wood burning pizzeria going in somewhere in the edifice. There is no shortage of places to find pizza in Penn Quarter and we think that’s fine. [Prince of Petworth]
Shaw– Beau Thai, a relatively new Thai restaurant on New Jersey Ave NW, gets its liquor license. We haven’t tried the place yet but it does look good. Have you? [Renew Shaw]
All Over DC – WMATA, our beloved public transit system, announces its public consultation and hearings schedule for the upcoming budget year. The meetings run from tonight through May 19. [WMATA Press Release] & [WMATA Formal Hearing Home Page]
H Street NE – Penn Quarter Porter from DC Brau is available at H Street NE taverns. [Frozen Tropics]
Hill East – The DC 101 Chili Cook Off is this Saturday at RFK Stadium. This event used to be downtown at the DC CityCenter parking lot but there’s a whole lot of digging going on now. A number of good bands are playing…Weezer, Seether, and Panic! At The Disco to name a few. [DC 101 Chili Cook Off Website]
Ledroit Park – A most unusual visitor, Prince Charles, makes it over to the Common Good City Farm. Oh my! [Left For Ledroit]
L’Enfant Plaza – Roti and Potbelly open across the National Mall from our neighborhood in the renovated L’Enfant Plaza Promenade. [Southwest…The Little Quadrant That Could]
Central Souvenirs Adjusts Signage
Kim, from The Location blog, wrote in to provide an update on the historic Central Liquor sign. It appears as though the “liquor” part of the sign was swiveled out of its housing to reveal the plain-white backside. Here is a closer image of the sign as it appears right now in a permanent maintenance mode.
The sign, which is historic, is to be removed from the building and stored until a new location can be identified for its display. The main issue seems to be that no one wants to pay for the sign’s costly removal.
In these times where people treasure the historic characteristics of buildings, one does have to wonder if there is any problem with leaving the Central Liquor alone? After all, Woodword and Lothrop maintain a presence on their former building.
There’s A New Sheriff In Town
See that nondescript building building in the above photo? That’s where we’ve been spending the occasional Saturday afternoon for the last six months with our rifle, Agnes. After finally getting the required training to legally own a firearm in DC last August, we made it all of three months before we pulled the trigger (ha!) and purchased that Henry lever action 22 we’d always wanted.
Right around Thanksgiving we took our newly purchased Golden Boy (or Gal, as the case may be) out for her first few hundred rounds. We decided on Silver Eagle Group (SEG) because it was just a few miles away from the Leesburg Outlets which was the only way we were able to convince Mrs Columbo to come out that way with us. Continue Reading >>