Everybody’s Flocking to Streetbird

By Gregory Cagle

Red Rooster has become one of New York City’s most popular restaurants and owner/chef Marcus Samuelsson is using his popularity to make his latest Harlem venture shine.

Streetbird Rotisserie opened April 2, 2015 on 2149 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, at the corner of 116th Street. For the past several months, it has paid homage to the neighborhood, getting inspiration from Harlem’s diner culture, old school neighborhood cookouts and 1970's/ 80’s hip hop. The restaurant has a more affordable menu than its predecessor, without sacrificing on taste and quality.

Now that fall has arrived, lots and lots of hungry diners are flocking to Streetbird proving that Samuelsson hasn’t lost his touch.

Streetbird, a rotisserie chicken restaurant, has its roots in street food from around the world. The menu focuses on rotisserie of course, but also incorporates cuisines from around the world. The chicken is rubbed with brown sugar and salt and served with a choice of sauces like a Jamaican jerk and paired with everything from Chinese to Ethiopian sides. “There’s always been Chinese restaurants in Harlem, and Latin food…right here, we’re in little West Africa,” Samuelson told NY Eater.

Diners seem to like this eclectic mix. At any given time the wait to be seated can vary from immediately to over an hour. Most think the food is well worth the wait. Atiba Nichols, 27, single mom and Ph.D. student at Teachers College says, “This food in this place is delicious. I had the half rotisserie and the hot wings, along with veggie sides. I inhaled everything.” “The food is reasonably priced and amazing,” Nichols adds. “I didn’t mind the wait.”

The restaurant, equally an interactive art exhibit, has been covered in graffiti art done by founding creative director of Def Jam Recordings and street artist Cey Adams, vintage photos, and hip hop posters. Doors to a section of the kitchen come from a 1980’s era subway car, with the original graffiti still left on. A drum set hangs from the ceiling, remade as a chandelier and church pews were recovered for the booths.

It takes someone with experience to understand what goes in to making an experience special. Mau Sharpton, 25, club manager/promoter in the meatpacking district and Atlanta native says, “this is what I call a perfect restaurant with the perfect vibe.” Sharpton is use to the high-end clubs/restaurants that come across stuffy and pretentious. “Streetbird has a laidback feel but still does not lack the bells and whistles to make a statement.” He adds, “the crowd was really diverse, probably the most I’ve seen at any Harlem restaurants, which is cool.”

The one drawback to all the success would be the reviews about the service and servers. Most people think that if it was not for the food they might not return. On Yelp Laura says, “Either this restaurant needs to replace the entire staff completely, or train them vigorously.” Also on yelp Nivea says, “There was no one at the front to greet us so we kind of just stood there awkwardly looking around for a couple minutes.” The issue of the negative reviews are in the hands of Streetbird business manager Kaysilyn and has apologized, but more importantly plans to rectify this situation.

With the success of Red Rooster Harlem and now Streetbird Rotisserie, Marcus Samuelson is hatching one great eatery after another.