Sylvia's

Sylvia's Restaurant Review:

This Harlem institution draws big crowds every day, and owner Sylvia Woods knows how to handle them, serving up huge portions of soul food in a comfortable, down-home atmosphere. The menu here features some of the city's finest ribs (spicy and a bit hot) and Southern fried chicken served either alone for lunch and dinner or with hotcakes for breakfast and Sunday brunch. The collard greens stewed with smoked turkey are blissful. Other tempting specialties include chicken livers sautéed with onions and peppers, and topped with gravy; the grilled Atlantic barbecue salmon; and, of course, the beef short ribs prepared in Sylvia's secret brown gravy. The peach cobbler and sweet potato pie are dessert favorites. Though lines can be long for the Sunday gospel brunch, it's well worth the wait; on Saturday afternoons there's live jazz from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.