Hatties is for Lovers

Sooner or later I'm going to have to accept that I don't live in New York City anymore and start talking about restaurants which are near me. So for my first review Saratoga Springs Ol' Dirty would like to talk about Hattie's Restaurant. The other day a girl was talking to me about what her and her bf/hookup/whatever you kids call it these days were planning on doing that night. As I pretended to listen she started to talk about which restaurant they should go to, which got my attention. Without hesitation I mentioned Hattie's. After a short pause she said "isn't that a Chicken place?" When I told her it mainly was she responded "I can't look sexy eating fried Chicken, its not date food" The first thing I thought was I would never date this girl she hates fried chicken, and second I thought she could actually look pretty sexy eating fried chicken. The truth is I have been around Downtown Saratoga eating out. I went to Max London's, I went to the Adelhpi, I went to Ravenous. Your going to get the most satisfaction for your dollar at Hattie's eating fried chicken with your hands. And its not even like Hattie's is some chicken joint like this girl was making it seem, its a well run restaurant with an upscale atmosphere. I've never stuffed my face with chicken in such a classy environment, I felt like the clothes I was spilling grease on weren't expensive enough (a lot of this probably has to do with the fact that it was race season and the crowd was upscale). Don't think Hattie's is unfriendly though simply because it is well decorated, the waitresses were more then willing to explain the menu items which only a regular or a southerner would know. The massive chef was even walking around talking to diners (note that if your fried chicken chef is fat its a good thing). I later found out that the chef, whose name is Jasper Alexander even gained his credentials at NYC restaurants like Gotham Bar and Grill, and Gramercy Tavern, which satisfied the NYC snob side of me. Of course the atmosphere and the staff wouldn't matter if the food was bad. The Hattie's chicken recipe was brought from the South by Hattie Gray in 1938, and I doubt it has changed much since. The chicken is no frills, moist on the inside, flaky on the outside. When we are talking about American fried chicken the only really important thing is the balance between moist and crisp and Hattie's handles the balance beautifully. There are no revolutionary seasonings or sauces its just good fundamental chicken. Pair the chicken with a side like coleslaw and mashed potatoes. Obviously there is more on the menu then chicken but in my opinion going to Hattie's for anything but chicken is like watching a porno movie for the acting. No matter what you get your going to leave stuffed and satisfied and maybe even...sexy?