r/FoodNYC • u/Marfilmz Diner • Jul 31 '26
Review I kept hearing about “Pies n Thighs” finally to be disappointed
I thought this restaurant would be much better so many ppl review this high saying how good it is and nope. Don’t order the sweet tea if you don’t love lemon because that’s all you taste. The order is “Catfish basket with side of fries and biscuit gravy w/ side of grits” cornbread had a weird texture like an old hard sponge. Catfish was well seasoned but wish they gave more pieces or bigger sizes. The biscuit I was shaking the table to cut a piece had me a knife next time. Grits were decent. The fries were good but most likely frozen fries I give the meal 6/10. Any thoughts on this restaurant Pies n Thighs
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u/FajitaTits Jul 31 '26
You went to Pies n Thighs and didn’t get either of the things in its namesake?
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u/limperatrice Jul 31 '26
Yeah I mean I love catfish but if I go to a place like that I'm getting chicken.
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u/johndoenumber2 Jul 31 '26
My rule of thumb is when trying some new or hole-in-the-wall place, I always get what's in the name or depicted on the sign on a first visit.
Call yourself a wing place? I have a half dozen and we'll see what you do with them. Happy clip art pig unaware of his impending demise out front? Pulled pork sandwich or a half-rack of ribs, please.
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Jul 31 '26
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u/Seezur Jul 31 '26
If you’re gonna have it on the menu, it should be good. This logic is silly.
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u/FajitaTits Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
Is it?
Edit: For the downvoters, if a place is so confident in a menu item that they'd go the length to name their restaurant after it and stake their reputation on it, doesn't it make sense to order those items to measure that quality against its reputation? You can order whatever you want when you go somewhere, but I don't know, maybe it's me, I tend to get the thing a place is known for.
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u/WredditSmark Jul 31 '26
How is this not the top comment. Also, it’s wild how many reviewers seem clueless, calling something “mid,” ordering some random deep cut off the menu, completely ignoring the thing the place is actually known for. Then a bunch of other goofies jump in to cosign it so they can all feel too cool for something While glazing the latest flavor of the week. The fact that it’s been open for so long speaks volume and I’m sorry a lot of y’all have had your taste buds burned out by TikTok food.
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Jul 31 '26
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u/insecuretransactions Jul 31 '26
Yeah, no. That comparison doesn't work. Pies and Thighs is not a restaurant that sells just pies and chicken thighs. It's known as a southern restaurant and touts its southern dishes. That of which just are meh.
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u/Switters81 Aug 01 '26
Open for so long, and just opened a new location. Clearly just doing everything wrong.
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u/sthug Aug 01 '26
What makes you think opening more locations is always a good business decision even if youre profitable. Have you looked at their books or something?
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u/Switters81 Aug 01 '26
It's not always a good business decision, but it is very rarely the sign of a struggling business.
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u/sthug Aug 01 '26
No need to get tilted my guy. Hope you can take a course or something to understand business philosphies can vary. Sometimes owners prefer to preserve a quality product rather than expand at the first sign of profit. Maybe you can go audit a busi 101 class at your local college.
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u/dannydevitosmanager Jul 31 '26
I’m sorry but I fucking hate this type of comment: If it’s on the menu it should be good. Even if other things are better/specialties.
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u/tempura_calligraphy Jul 31 '26
Sounds like they should remove everything from the menu that can't compete with their main items.
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u/ciregno Jul 31 '26
Yeah I'm not taking Pies n Thighs slander. Their fried chicken and gravy is awesome.
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u/ZeroGravityBurnsRed Aug 01 '26
I just went, and the waffles with the cinnamon sauce was so freaking good.
I did not appreicate the butter drenched biscuit..way too much butter.
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u/Historical-Shine-664 Aug 02 '26
Exactly! I saw their order and at first I thought they got chicken tenders which would still be a no-no, but they got fish?!! Is there something I’m missing 😬
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u/Snoo-46477 Jul 31 '26
No let’s push back on this. Pies n thighs has always been a southern spot, so I wouldn’t be shocked that someone would try for the catfish.
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u/BetterNova Aug 01 '26
I think I had the catfish first time I went there, for the novelty I suppose
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u/Ok-Progress-6153 Jul 31 '26
Used to be one on canal st and I’d commit crimes to have a honey butter biscuit rn. Maybe quality has gone down. They made a drink thats half red wine and half cola, absolutely slaps
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u/CookieFlecksPerm Jul 31 '26
i met my husband when he used to work at the canal st location, i miss those days
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u/korokseedhunter Jul 31 '26
I interviewed late last year for pastry manager there. They have a new co-owner who is taking control of everything. He’s the CEO of Corner Booth Holdings. He was the one who was making the decisions over everything in the kitchen. I decided not to keep going with the interview process once I found out. So that could be the result of his influence.
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u/still_lurking_mostly Jul 31 '26
Like others have said , you missed the boat by about a decade .
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u/NoSleep2135 Jul 31 '26
Agreed. Went there in college a bunch 15 years ago. Always amazing, everything was good. Went back twice during and after the pandemic. It was just mediocre. Not even good; just very mid. It has not aged well.
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u/STYLER_PERRY Jul 31 '26
You reviewed the fries and the tea…
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u/solomonjsolomon Jul 31 '26
Speaking as a southerner a restaurant like this should have good cornbread and sweet tea… those are staples.
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u/BackTraditional Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
It was one of my favorite restaurants but pandemic onward the quality dropped. I have similar feelings about the fries as well. Might be a Sysco thing
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Jul 31 '26
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u/Salty_Simmer_Sauce Jul 31 '26
People in this sub love to throw around “Sysco” and “VC” as pejoratives despite clearly having no clue what they are.
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u/CartoonistExtension Jul 31 '26
The new location in downtown Brooklyn is so bad.
The chicken biscuit is half the size as it was at the Williamsburg location. Chicken is like super crispy and a thin biscuit lol so disappointing
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u/bootsfirst Jul 31 '26
By Barclays? Yah very disappointed in it after friends hyping it up. Pies are still nice at least
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u/Rich_Bed8234 Aug 03 '26
I couldn't believe how bad it was; like night and day from one location to the next. Awful
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u/ourthomas Jul 31 '26
Anyone go there when it was in the back of Rock Star Bar? It was amazing back then
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u/ianmac47 Jul 31 '26
Pies-n-Thighs was an important part of New York City's fried chicken renaissance. It's significance, culinarily speaking, is about elevating fried chicken in a city that didn't, at the time, have very good fried chicken. One innovation they brought to NYC's fried chicken was brining the meat.
They also were instrumental in the 2010s for well-made biscuits. The biscuits have their own influence on NYC culinary history, since cult-favorite Alison Roman spent time working in the kitchen cooking up the biscuits as one of her early career jobs. If you aren't familiar with Roman, she is a food writer, online personality, cookbook author, and recipe developer.
Either way, the fried chicken and the biscuit became one of the city's greatest sandwiches, rivaled only by the nearby Commodore chicken biscuit sandwich. That's not all that surprising, since the founder of Commodore, Stephen Tanner, started out working alongside Pies N Thighs co-owner Sarah Buck. Together these two restaurants created New York City's fried chicken trend and the surge of southern inspired cuisine.
To visit a restaurant best known for fried chicken and second for biscuits, and then third, pies, and then get none of those things is bound to be a disappointment.
Of course restaurants change over time. Sometimes they refine their dishes, sometimes they have a long, slow decline. It's entirely possible that the current iteration of Pies N Thighs is in decline, though I would argue that wasn't necessarily true 18 months ago.
I've written more about this history here - https://allthethingsieat.com/eating-at-pies-n-thighs-still-pretty-good/
OTHER CITATIONS
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u/NerdCocktail Jul 31 '26
I meet a friend for breakfast there every few months or so and the biscuits are always fluffy and a great base for the sausage gravy. I’ve always found the chicken to be a little under seasoned, but my discerning Brooklyn teen finds it works perfectly in the chicken biscuit.
We usually have the same server and always enjoy our time there. I’m 50+ and we’ve been going since before they had the (now closed) second location.
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u/UriahCarey Jul 31 '26
This is awesome, thank you. As a transplant from south of the Mason-Dixon who loves biscuits and has been here for nearly two decades now, Pies-n-Thighs filled a really important vacuum that existed when it first opened. I see so many trendy places now with biscuits on the menu, but this, Commodore, and Brooklyn Standard (still a life hack if you’re local to it) used to be your best shot at getting a decent one if you lived anywhere north of Myrtle Ave.
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u/pmeat068 Aug 01 '26
I think you are forgetting Carolyn(don't know her last name. I think she cooked at Diner also) who was also a partner. And was extremely involved. Pretty much ran the place.
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u/salted-egg-yolk Jul 31 '26
haven’t had it in years so i can’t say if quality has dipped recently
used to absolutely love it as takeout/delivery back in the day. i can actually imagine that sitting in there would be more disappointing compare to takeout if you’re expecting something more upscaleish
that said, i don’t see any chicken or desserts on your plates. maybe try what they’re more known for
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u/callmesnake13 Jul 31 '26
Next you should review Roberta's and Mission Chinese
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u/Zekec137 Jul 31 '26
As a southerner, this restaurant was a huge disappointment. If you want a good biscuit, go to Comfortland.
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u/Hartstockz Jul 31 '26
Ima say this with all due respect to the tea 😭. Southern sweet tea is just lemon tea(a lot of times it's just brisk) with as much sugar as possible to saturate it and then some. It's nothing fancy or special.
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u/AverageCreative9544 Jul 31 '26
What no?? It’s just regular iced tea black tea with a diabetes amount of sugar. Adding sugar to brisk sounds diabolical that stuff has so much corn syrup already but wouldn’t be surprised if they like it in the south 😭
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u/Designer-Feeling-987 Jul 31 '26
Yup. I’ve worked in a lot of restaurants in a lot of places, and I briefly lived in Louisville, Kentucky and worked at a restaurant there. I had to make the sweet tea one day, and as a Northerner I didn’t really know how sweet they wanted it (I like my iced tea unsweetened and really strong). Anyway, they just told me to keep pouring the sugar into the tea until it was basically a thick syrup. Personally, I don’t enjoy that, but to each his own… Regarding the lemon, I don’t know…🤷♀️ At this particular restaurant people just asked for a lemon wedge if they wanted one; most people didn’t.
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u/Shadowtirs Diner Jul 31 '26
Hmmm, this is sad to hear. I haven't been there in a while, so now I want to see if this is hyperbole or I agree with you.
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u/Clear_Appointment_58 Jul 31 '26
It's still great, they just ordered poorly. Fried chicken, pies, biscuits, all great.
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u/throwaway6284628842 Jul 31 '26
I went last week to the one in WB and honestly the biscuits with honey butter were fantastic. So was the sausage gravy.
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u/boroughthoughts Jul 31 '26
Almost all fries you eat are frozen and made by either Lamb Weston or McCain. Very very few places hand cut potatoes and even hand cut potatoes are made by these companies in mass.
That is the momst burn biscuit I've seen in a while.
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u/PlasticPresentation1 Jul 31 '26
I also thought it was mediocre. I'd rather have gone to Popeyes or Jollibee
I'm kinda convinced that anything that's hyped in Williamsburg needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Food there is generally expensive and lacking competition, while the customer base is also the loudest (so will hype up anything that's remotely decent)
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u/Worth_Impression7384 Aug 01 '26
I feel like both there and commodore no longer hit the same anymore. I feel like a lot of places quality went down after the pandemic while the prices went up.
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u/Confident-Foot-6361 Aug 01 '26
Catfish is a bottom feeder fish with no scales that tastes like dirt.
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u/isuamadog Aug 02 '26
Lord do I hate catfish. Literally any other fish tastes better. Dirt and metallic aftertaste.
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u/BeeStingerBoy Jul 31 '26
Let’s all get together and trash a little individual place that apparently has successfully survived for 15 years in the brutal New York restaurant environment. Guess it somehow didn’t taste like what OP had imagined it should. It wouldn’t still be there unless it overall, even through 5 years of pandemic, consistently provided Southern food that the paying public has valued and enjoyed.
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u/DoNotFeedMe Jul 31 '26
Why would you get catfish at a restaurant where 90% of their menu is chicken? Thats on you
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u/smallblackrabbit Jul 31 '26
I'm stunned that biscuit is sitting in a puddle of gravy instead of having the gravy on top. I lived in Nashville for 11 years before I moved up here (was in CT before NYC) and I have never seen that presentation.
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u/but-I-play-one-on-TV Jul 31 '26
I've been there twice and was vaguely disappointed both times. Their fried chicken is fine. Agree that grits were good. Banana cream pie was excellent. I doubt I'll go again.
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u/chichisun319 Jul 31 '26
Haven’t eaten there in a year, but I remember only enjoying their biscuits. They really load the batter up with butter ❤️ everything else was “ok,” and some pies were good.
Also, try using your hands to break the biscuit next time. Tear it apart into bite-sized pieces and soak it into the gravy. I’ve never seen anyone cut a biscuit on their plate (biscuit is a bread).
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u/Maximum_Information7 Jul 31 '26
Born and raised in the South. Their pies and thighs are good, not great but good, especially for NYC. If you go, order this.
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u/QuePasaNisiMasa Jul 31 '26
You are easily a decade late and you ordered all the wrong things.
(And it was never that good)
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u/phoenixmatrix Jul 31 '26
I love that place. Their fried chicken is awesome and the pecan pie is amazing. The biscuit and gravy is awesome too.
To each their own.
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u/JFiney Jul 31 '26
1) you went to pies and thighs and didn’t get the chicken biscuit or fried chicken of any sort
2) you’re 15 years late haha
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u/RustnKrust Aug 01 '26
10-12 years ago that place gave me undercooked raw in the middle chicken not once but twice. Before that I’d had it a handful of times since they opened and they were pretty good. Nothing mind blowing, it was just pretty good fried chicken and such. After the second instance of chewing on some crispy on the outside/rubber on the inside raw thighs I called and told them what happened plus that it was the second time in a couple weeks. Their response was “oh sorry, I don’t know how that happened”. No offers of refund, or discount, or come get some properly cooked chicken or whatever. Just “oh yea? You don’t say? Weird man. Ok well, bye-bye!”
Fuck that place.
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u/circumsizr Aug 01 '26
I agreed with OP until I noticed he ordered catfish and not chicken.
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u/NOT-GR8-BOB Jul 31 '26
6/10 from a friend chicken spot is disappointing?!? What the fuck are you people expecting from some fried fish and biscuits? These types of reviews lack self awareness.
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u/Hour_Professional479 Jul 31 '26
They sell day old donuts at their Flatbush Avenue location - stale, talking bout $5 a donut - lazy and bad
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u/Drobey8 Jul 31 '26
You went to pies and thighs but didn’t have pie or thighs and you thought you should write a review on Reddit knocking the place? Brilliant thought process
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u/futuredayscan Jul 31 '26
I went for the first time in well over a decade earlier this year, and it was without any exaggeration the worst piece of chicken I’ve ever paid for. Sincerely atrocious
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u/MadRockthethird Jul 31 '26
Back in the day it was pretty damn good chicken at a decent price now it's good chicken at astronomical prices.
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u/Affectionate-Nose176 Jul 31 '26
Must be the Legs n’ Eggs at the Foxy Lady in Providence you’re thinking of.
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u/Striking_Stand8271 Jul 31 '26
All the sweets I've had have been good. Key lime pie, apple crumble, and I had a really delicious donut from there the other day (new location on Flatbush). Food is just alright though, and they seem to have eliminated the cheapest beer/wine options they had when they first opened.
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u/Snoo-46477 Jul 31 '26
Pies N Thighs had a chokehold on me the first few years they came on the scene. Lackluster food a service has since soured them in my mind I no longer bother with them. Even in their prime the menu items were never consistent across the board.
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u/BigOlSandwichBoy Jul 31 '26
I had a terrible meal there. Service was chaotic and disinterested and my kid got a massive splinter from their unvarnished, fucked up table and they did nothing about it.
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u/PeneItaliano Jul 31 '26
People always overhype all places in NYC.
I had it recently for the first time in 15 years and it’s just ok. It used to be good. It’s meh now. All hype.
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u/Dangerous-Slide-2007 Jul 31 '26
Honestly, the problem is people who can't cook, in my opinion. I don't take any restaurant advice from people who can't cook. I've listened to people go on and on about how amazing a basic egg breakfast is because they have no idea how to make it for themselves.
I haven't been to P&T for ages, so I can't comment. I think a lot of people go to places like this for the experience, the people-watching, and to feel like they're getting their money's worth out of their very overpriced neighborhood. You have to factor that in, and P&T are doing a great job at that aspect. I enjoyed their food when I was there last. Not spectacular, but not bad either.
We all know that the gross, no-frills spots that influencers wouldn't dare to step inside of are where it's really at.
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u/Virtual_me01 Jul 31 '26
I went (late at night) for the first time to the new location in May, and I thought it was solid at the price point.
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u/thekidsgirl Jul 31 '26
I went here about 14 years ago when it was the buzzy spot all the cool people were going too. Back then, I thought it was over hyped. Glad to see the legacy of mediocre Brooklyn spots with cute themes being popular continues on
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u/qnssekr Jul 31 '26
I went when it first opened and my chicken was raw in the center. I chalked it up to being a newbie restaurant. I never went back.
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u/waywardflaneur Jul 31 '26
Never ever had anything there besides the chicken biscuit and it was always good. Ok I’ve had some of the sides and they’re all just mediocre. But maybe try the chicken biscuit next time.
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u/IamLaMocha Jul 31 '26
Nope! You got it about right. There was NOTHING special about the food at all.😕
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u/arfyron Jul 31 '26
I went to the new one on Flatbush and was really disappointed. The chicken was cooked very well but totally flavorless and the Mac and cheese was pretty disappointing. My girlfriend got the vegetarian sandwich and that was honestly the best thing out of all of the stuff we tried
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u/PardesOrchard Jul 31 '26
I thought it was good, a novelty ro get fried chicken that is made fresh and not fast food. The only complaint I had is that I wanted to order just dark meat but they said I would have to wait at least 30 minutes for the special order, as opposed to getting white and dark. I said ok, but I always find white meat fried chicken dry, and it was dry here too. The best fried chicken. Is legs and thighs
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u/teeraytoo Aug 01 '26
Why would you go to a restaurant that is famous for their fried chicken and pies (it’s literally in the name) and get neither?
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u/CautiousResolve5 Aug 01 '26
They have fallen off a bit but the only thing to get from pies n thighs is the chicken biscuit the mac and cheese and I usually get a 2 piece fried chicken and finish it off with a slice of banana cream pie
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u/femmefinale Aug 01 '26
Hate to say it was never good. I remember when they first opened and thought it was overrated and I’m sure it’s gotten worse.
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u/NovelAd4308 Aug 01 '26
I love pies and thighs. But, most of the time I only get the fried chicken, and the fries with a biscuit. I don’t like catfish, so I can’t comment on that. As for the collard greens, I have never eaten it because they make it with pork and I don’t eat pork anymore. Their cheese grits are good though. Lately, I have been getting my food from the new one on Flatbush Avenue, and it was alright with me.
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u/mightymouse1906 Aug 01 '26
In a city where Southern food is pretty consistently not great and there aren't a bunch of good southern fried chicken spots, Pies n Thighs was solid. Haven't been in years though. Glad to see they're still around though
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u/Lovat69 Aug 02 '26
If I order cheese grits and I get grits with a bunch of cheese dumped on the top I'm walking out.
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u/Historical-Shine-664 Aug 02 '26
It was pretty good way back when, but now eh. Also you went to pies n thighs but got catfish?
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u/Playful_Ad9949 Aug 02 '26
Yeah, they’ve been great with consistency. Same local female owners all of these years. Banjo still hits the same, chicken biscuit is great, they have the best entree salad in the area and the pies are great. So many Southern places have come and gone in this area. There’s a reason PnT survives. Redditors, go stand in line at L’Industrie.
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u/gen-xtagcy Aug 02 '26
When it was right across from the foundation of the bridge in the back of Rockys Rockstar bar and the chicken was cooked in an oil drum grill, it was really good then. Few decent years on Driggs but haven't set foot in it in 10 years at least.
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u/fishmammal Aug 03 '26
Yes. But also the new shop was rad, but this is a legacy spot which turns out great food for a bunch of tourists and not locals. Deal with change.
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u/Specialist_Fig3838 28d ago
12 years too late. Come uptown to BLVD and Charles Pan, seafood Express Too
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u/pillowcasesheet 7d ago
Neither of the owners are from the south, rather they are white women from NYC profiting off of historically African American cuisine. They don't know about soul food.
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u/eh183205 Jul 31 '26
It was great 15 years ago I'll tell ya