Beasley's is part of three establishments opened in 2011 in one corner spot in downtown Raleigh. The trio is owned by local chef Ashley Christensen, who also owns the very popular and previously blogged Poole's Diner. Beasley's focuses on fried chicken - serving a quarter chicken standalone, a chicken biscuit, or the combo chicken & waffles. The chicken biscuit is an entire fried chicken breast served on a huge buttermilk biscuit served with a fried green tomato, dijon mustard and honey. The chicken and waffles is by far my favorite - the waffle is so soft and flavorful, and the combination with the moist fried chicken (with your option of light or dark meat) make it extremely craveable. This picture below was taken on a Friday night (alongside a moonshine margarita...), and I went back a week later and couldn't order anything else....and was just as delicious as I remember.
In case you want to branch out from fried chicken, the pork shoulder meatloaf, served with charred onion gravy a top a bed of whipped yukon potatoes. The flavorful gravy truly brings this dish up a notch. The man sitting next to us, who is a regular who always gets the fried chicken, said he was not disappointed on his opportunity to branch out.
Now what would a southern food restaurant be without its sides? Sides are served a la carte, but you can buy a trio of sides as an entree. The sides seasonally rotate, such as sauteed summer squash, watermelon with sea salt & olive oil, and stewed field tomatoes & vidalia onions, but the staple is the Ashe County cheddar pimiento mac and cheese custard. It arrives at your table in a block of glory, and the pimiento gives it that added kick. I'm not ashamed to say when I offered to split a side of it with a friend, we ordered a second helping because it was that good (and I think I got one forkful of the first serving...)
They go old fashioned by serving Nehi, RC Cola, and North Carolina favorite Cheerwine all in glass bottles, and also make fine cocktails as well like the moonshine margarita pictured above. They are open for lunch every day and serve an additional brunch menu on Saturdays and Sundays until 4pm.
When I went to Beasley's, my expectations were not as high as when I went to the sister restaurant Poole's, since I left disappointed. However, Beasley's simply blows all expectations out of the water, and think Beasley's far exceeds Poole's. I will put the chicken and waffles up against any I've had - even at the famous Roscoe's in Los Angeles and Hash House in Las Vegas. And the mac & cheese here is better than the mac & cheese at Poole's, which is what they are known for. If Ms. Christensen can keep up this high quality southern food, I will be channeling my inner southern girl more often, and I'll be saying "y'all" before you know it.
Beasley's Chicken + Honey
237 S Wilmington Street
Raleigh NC 27601
