The Resy Guide to the Best Roast Chicken in New York

Has there ever been a roast chicken more name-dropped than this one? A half bird loaded Italian-style with salsa verde, Barbuto’s chicken may very well be chef Jonathan Waxman’s magnum opus. (“You know, there will probably be a silhouette of a chicken on my grave,” he told us.) And it certainly helps when your purveyor supplies you with “the most pristine, healthy birds on the planet,” from the same Pennsylvania Amish farms Barbuto’s been relying on for well over a decade.

See also: Another chicken making waves — the butter chicken Hollandaise at Nura, with collard greens, fenugreek roti, and schmaltzy potatoes.

When you promise to bring a true taste of France’s brasserie culture, you best make sure your poulet rôti is on point. Suffice it to say, Le Crocodile passed, and with flying colors. Set on a large oblong and scalloped plate, the half chicken is textbook perfect: utterly crisp skin and tender meat, all resting in a pool of herb jus — and no need for bread to soak that up: a mountain of golden fries comes on the plate, too.

Some things are worth waiting for, and when you’re at Pinch Chinese, that’d be a 45-minute wait for the Wind Sand chicken. Marinated for three days in a blend of spices, then air-dried, and basted in hot oil, this Lancaster bird is a true Hong Kong classic that arrives beautifully cut and covered in fried garlic, mimicking the appearance of grains of sand after a storm. A technical feat, this is one of the few Cantonese banquet-style dishes you can find in the city.

What happens when you cook chicken drenched in vinegar in a tandoor oven? It melts in your mouth. But beware: for its fiery-red tandoori poussin, Adda seasons a whole young chicken with fresh red chiles, black salt, vinegar, and yogurt for that melty-moist and spicy feeling. If you can’t take the heat, look to some raita on the side for dipping and sweet relief.

See also: Another delicious, chicken from the Adda team at Dhamaka — the Afghani chicken, a young whole chicken smothered in cream and yoghurt.

The Upper West Side used to be dotted with Chino-Latino restaurants, and one of the few remaining OGs can be found on West 100th street. Chinese and Peruvian dishes are listed one after another on Flor de Mayo’s four-decades-old menu, and it doesn’t get better than the “Pollo a la Brasa” section: half of an incredible Peruvian rotisserie chicken with a side of fried rice, a hybrid combo that makes glorious sense.

You don’t go to Congee Village and not order the house special chicken with garlic. Served by the half or whole, the bird arrives butchered and ready to be inhaled. The crisp and caramelized skin packs garlic and soy like no other, resulting in intensely flavorful and tender meat — to order with one or two bowls of rice.

The queen of Peruvian rotisserie chickens is Mama Juanita, and you can find her hallmark birds at all eight locations of this local empire, which got its start in Queens. Marinated in a mixture of Peruvian beer, cumin, and garlic, these are some expertly roasted birds with charred skin that crackles with every bite. Do grab the house’s famous spicy green sauce to amp it up.

You haven’t truly lived until you’ve devoured an entire foil container of Peppa’s jerk chicken, late at night. Best inhaled with rice and peas (do throw a festival in, too), this is one of the best renditions of Jamaican jerk chicken around. Washed in white vinegar, then rubbed in a world of secret spices, the chickens are then beautifully smoked and grilled, for a tangy, charred finish that brings on the heat (read: always say “yes” when asked if you want sauce).

If you can snag one of Oxomoco’s chef’s counter slots, you’ll get front row seats to the roasting action, where a string of golden birds is lined up over a roaring wood fire. The pollo a las brazas promises a half chicken glazed in local honey, heaped with salsa and pickled onions alongside a basket of fresh tortillas and crispy red rice, effectively turning this rotisserie order into a DIY taco feast.

At the regional Italian gem that is da Toscano, you’re going to want to get cozy with the garlic- and butter-stuffed chicken for two. Accompanied by a seasonal panzanella and sweet potatoes, this is one succulent bird that is seasoned simply but copiously, with the most tender and juicy white meat to prove it.

A Cantonese roast meats hole-in-a-wall with a line you’d spot a mile away, Wah Fung’s one of your best bets in Chinatown for the kind of delicious no-nonsense hawker stall fare you’d find in Hong Kong. Get the soy sauce chicken* over rice and cabbage, and do ask for extra green sauce — a vivid garlic and scallion schmear that cuts through the rich meat and takes it to the next level.

*Technically braised (not roasted), but too good not to include in this guide.

Yes, the pork chop is a must, but have you tried Vinegar Hill House’s chicken? Roasted and served in a cast iron skillet — alongside a whole onion that falls apart and a cloudy, shiny, sherry vinegar jus that simply begs to be sopped up — the chicken possesses the sort of crispy skin that crackles and bubbles up.

In the tried-and-tested farm-to-table haven that is Cookshop, you can rest assured that your chicken has led a happy coop life. Spice-rubbed and spit-roasted, this chicken excels in its simplicity, but what may surprise you most are the vegetables (sometimes carrots and turnips, sometimes cauliflower) that come alongside, which are tantalizing and roasted to perfection.

If the chef’s name is part of a dish’s name, you know it’s going to be good. Such is the case at Andrew Carmellini’s Locanda Verde, where the namesake AC’s fire-roasted garlic chicken (option of having it for two or one) reigns supreme. Prepared in Locanda’s wood-burning brick oven, the chicken is heaped with rosemary, garlic, and seasonal vegetables that melt in your mouth.

Pulling from her Persian and Yemeni roots, chef Einat Admony reimagines the brick chicken at Balaboosta with muhammara — a spicy red pepper dip — in mind. Brilliant pomegranate seeds, flame-licked seasonal greens, and fragrant yellow rice complete the picture.