brunch, dessert, dinner, fried chicken, la canada, lunch, pie, southern

Honeybird @ La Canada Flintridge

Best Thing: The Chicken.  Hands down.

Might Not Like: If you hail from the lands of southern food, Honeybird is close, but not quite.

I have to preface this review with two important comments.  One, my family is from Alabama, so southern food is the food of my people.  And two, I never thought I’d be reviewing a hot new restaurant in La Canada, but here we are, and I’m happy to be here.

Honeybird is new, like brand new, and it is a more than welcome addition to the sleepy little village of La Canada. Honeybird is a darling establishment. The décor is totally comfortable, endearing, and on fleek. From the white farm chairs to the wooden countertops, this place is the closest thing for miles around to feeling like you might be near an actual farm where actual food comes from. The space is pleasant and inviting and when you drive by, you know you want to check it out.

Honeybird has a menu of southern-style food that is firmly situated around the southern staple of fried chicken. And boy is it good fried chicken. Organic and marinated for hours in a blend of spices, these crispy pieces of the bird are so well done and positively delicious enough to serve at a backyard picnic on a hot July day in the land where the Tide rolls.  RTR.

Part of the delightful, home cooked ambiance of Honeybird is the display counter with all the sides that accompany those tasty clucks lined up in beautiful serving dishes and dutch ovens like they are ready to be delivered to your grandma’s Thanksgiving table. And I mean really, who doesn’t love to eat something that came out of a dutch oven? Not me. And Honeybird does dutch ovens proud. Their garlic mashed potatoes are nice and creamy and their collard greens are a welcome sight for this transplanted girl’s palette.

But not all is perfect in Honeybird land when it comes to emulating southern food. The collards, while well cooked are seasoned with some spice, but a little too much sweet. And the macaroni and cheese is surprisingly uninspired and lacking that crunchy, creamy, crumbly combo that lets you know it’s been bubbling away in the oven all afternoon waiting for you to devour it.

Even with these shortcomings, there is no doubt that Honeybird is a great place to satisfy those southern cravings up in the distant regions of LA. With watermelon salad, curried potato salad, and a chicken sandwich piled high with slaw and pimento cheese that begs to be washed down with an iced tea and a piece of homemade pie, Honeybird is one bird that I am happy came to roost in this part of the woods.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Honeybird. You’re a real tweet.

http://www.honeybirdla.com

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Honeybird

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Honeybird 34.201449, -118.194213