The fried chicken at this great soul food cafe in the Wakefield section of the Bronx is buttermilk-marinated, and hence a little darker than most — and it’s damn good. And so are the whiting sandwiches, mac and cheese, banana pudding, and-do-it-yourself carryout seafood boils from owner Omar Bailey. There’s another location in Hackensack, New Jersey, too.

This renegade branch of a Dominican restaurant chain produces some very fine fried chicken at bargain prices. The skin is thick and crisp, and the bird is routinely served on a luxurious bed of rice and peas, but a steam table holds other potential sides in a Latin Caribbean vein. If it’s too late and this store has closed, tried the Inwood branch, open 24 hours.

After a years-long hiatus, chicken impresario Charles Gabriel returned to Harlem (with a branch on the Upper West Side) recently, with a revamped and expanded menu that included barbecued ribs, smothered chicken, fried fish, and pulled pork. But the heart of the operation is still lightly dusted pieces of chicken, skin intact, fried in a series of skillets by the old-fashioned method that came here from the Carolinas long ago, requiring constant surveillance on the part of the cook.

The fast-food Filipino chain Jollibee — whose mascot is a radiantly happy bumblebee — has long been established in Woodside, but it took years for its Manhattan branch to open in 2018, and then two more appeared in Jersey City, one inside the PATH station at Journal Square. Good fried chicken sold by the (largish) piece is its raison d’être, but the sides are also worth ordering. These include a very sweet spaghetti with tomato sauce topped with cheese. The peach-mango fried hand pies are also estimable.

This classic Korean fried chicken chain located in Koreatown double fries birds to order, so your poultry will be super fresh, with a very crisp and slightly sweet crust, whether ordering the spicy version or one doused in soy garlic. Sides include kimchi coleslaw and pickled daikon radish, and the Parmesan-heaped french fries aren’t bad, either. There are multiple other locations, including in Brooklyn and New Jersey.

A cemita is a Mexican sandwich hailing from the state of Puebla, made with a distinct round roll heaped high with cheese, avocado, black beans, tomatoes, mayo, and papalo leaves, which have a wonderful tarry taste. Woodside’s Cemitas El Tigre offers an unusual cemita that features fried chicken as its principal component. Great fried chicken tacos and fried chicken burritos also available.

This Korean chain, which styles itself as the King of Chicken, offers the usual assortment of bone-in and boneless chicken pieces, and batters that can vary in levels of crispiness and spiciness. In addition, it also provides dipping sauces in flavors like camembert, honey garlic, and scallion that enliven the poultry considerably. Other locations in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn.

The wait list to order the fried chicken from this Eleven Madison Park alum is long but worth it. Chef Eric Huang offers three pieces of fried chicken — spiked with Tianjin chile and Szechuan peppercorns — with three rotating side dishes such as smashed cucumbers or a seasonal salad. During much of the pandemic it was exclusively carryout and delivery, but a brick-and-mortar location is forthcoming.

This microsized spot in Alphabet City specializes in frying two types of proteins: chicken and catfish. The chicken is simple and crisp-skinned, with little fuss made other than very careful cooking. The sides are also great, especially the lighter-than-air biscuits and hearty mac and cheese. Kale and Caesar salads are also available, and there’s a Jersey City location, too.

The spicy fried chicken sandwich (banh mi ga chien sa ot) has tons of fans at this Lower East Side house of Vietnamese comfort food with a recently revamped premises and menu. It’s made from a big, big thigh that’s marinated, deep-fried, and then loaded with pickled jalapenos, lime-leaf aioli, the usual pickled veggies, and cilantro. The shoestring fries served on the side seal the deal.

This tiny Chinese bakery covers a lot of culinary bases, from sponge cakes to baked bao to little custard pies, both Hong Kong and Macao (Portuguese) style. One sidelight are sandwiches, including a fried chicken sandwich on a sweet torpedo roll made in-house and garnished with mayo, iceberg lettuce, and the kind of jarred dill pickles that send a chicken sandwich into orbit. At $2.75, it may be the best sandwich bargain in town.

Gage & Tollner opened on the ground floor of a commercial building in 1879, and its landmarked interior has been preserved, despite a rocky history that has seen it closed for years before recently reopening. It was once home of the legendary Black chef Edna Lewis, whose spirit still hovers over the kitchen. Fried chicken is one of the menu’s offerings, buttermilk marinated and served with hush puppies and kimchi slaw, the latter a touch of modernity in a historic plate of food.

Expect fried chicken with a Haitian influence at Grandchamps in Bed-Stuy. That means it’s served with the spicy slaw called pikliz, along with white rice and twice-fried plantain. The bird is spare, crusty, and utterly delicious. Other Haitian standards like griot are available, and a selection of Haitian groceries is displayed on the counter.

Bed-Stuy mainstay Peaches Hot House’s business actually thrived throughout the pandemic, and one main reason is its fried chicken, served as a Nashville-style hot chicken plate or as a fried chicken sandwich. This neighborhood spot offers decent-sized portions that are reasonably priced, but most of all, the Southern-inspired recipes are no fuss and exactly what is expected of stellar fried chicken: crispy, flakey, juicy, and perfectly fried.

Park Slope’s 5ive Spice did what several other Vietnamese restaurants in town have done recently — incorporated freshly fried chicken cutlets into the country’s sandwich formula, on a good baguette with pickled and shredded carrots and daikon, thick mayo, cucumber spears, and fronds of fragrant cilantro. On top of that, the sandwich is overstuffed with not one but two cutlets.

Unbrined and coated with a miraculously thin, crisp crust that’s mainly skin, Mitchell’s bird is supremely flavorful, and it's served with all the traditional soul food sides, plus some less-usual ones like tomatoes and okra, and beans flavored with ham. Other classic mains are also recommended, especially anything involving pork chops, at this courageous, decades-old Prospect Heights stalwart.