Sassy Southern Cooking with a French Twist

More Hubee D’s, Please!


Every once in a rare while, a restaurant comes along that transforms the usually healthy eating me into a virtual glutton. Hubee D’s is the latest cruelly delicious contender. I visited it three times this week, even in the fattening wake of Thanksgiving indulgence. I was so pleasantly and guiltily sated every time I started fantasizing about shouting Weee Weee Weee all the way home, just like Max the pig in the Geico ads.

So be it. Hubee D’s is just that delicious, or “Deelicious!” as their logo accurately deems this exclusively chicken – of the (mostly)fried kind – palace. Co-owners John Ferguson and Dana Sinkler, both Charlestonians and seasoned veterans of the restaurant scene here, wanted to come up with a restaurant concept that reflected Charleston. At first they thought about burgers, given Five Guys and others success, but then the idea morphed into all chicken, until finally they winnowed it down to their winning formula: fried chicken and wings, according to Sinkler. The unusual but highly memorable name comes from Ferguson, a collector of old trucks, like the one pictured above. When he saw it, he declared that it looked like something that should be called a Hubee. After that they tagged on the “D” for delicious.

Back to delicious! You’ve never had wings or sauces this good, anywhere. They come from Sinkler’s family reipe file are honed with his talent to perfection. All of the sauces (save the Honey Mustard) are his creations. I cannot get enough of the Lowcountry Buffalo Hot (it also comes in mild and very hot) or the Black Tie Bourbon. The first plucks at your tongue with deep notes of vinegar and its rich coral color is a feast for the eyes, while the latter is deeply sweet and savory all at once. All the chicken comes from a SC chicken farmer and can be mixed and matched at the succulent “sauce bar”.

The fried chicken (either tenders, nuggets or sandwiches) takes a long bath in buttermilk before getting dipped in a thick batter that crisps to crunchy perfection in a fryer – all made to order along with the hand cut fries that are served heaping and hot in every basket. The Hubee Sauce that comes with all of these is another huge Hubee winner. All smoky and slightly sweet, it reminded me of a smoke-infused Russian dressing. It’s highly unusual and entirely irresistible. Sizes and prices for the items range from an easy $3.99 to $6.99. And, Hubee’s throws in a crispy, tangy red cabbage, green cabbage and carrot slaw, cake-like sweet cornbread for added delicious good manners.

Hubee’s has successfully usurped my long-standing wings King (Buffalo South)and sent it tumbling from its still tasty throne to mere Prince status. Hubee’s are more meaty and come either slow smoked in hickory wood or simply dry rubbed style or “naked”. Then there are all those delicious sauces for dipping.

Hubee’s joins new restaurants Yobe yogurt and Pizza Pie pizza at the newly formed mini-strip mall at the renovated St. Andrews Shopping Center in West Ashley. A kind of celebrated food courts of sorts, Hubee’s looks so franchise-like and impersonal from the outside (save for that cute truck) that I automatically wrote it off as same and thus avoided it until I kept reading all of Marion Sullivan’s (Charleston Magazine’s Food Editor) enthusiastic tweets about it. Even though it has the franchise look, it doesn’t have the franchise taste. Not by a long shot!

It is a little like Five Guys in that sense, except it tastes extremely homemade and real. There is no production-line aura and nobody screams at you when you place your order. Indeed, service is extremely pleasant and personable, the restaurant is spotlessly clean, and the food comes fast (but not rushed), even when it’s busy. Sit back and nosh on the salty boiled peanuts and take in the nostalgic country mural while you wait. The biggest mystery of all to me is how Hubee’s smells completely clean and fresh, even with all that frying going on. The only answer is very clean and well-tended fryers, which makes being bad taste so very good.

Speaking of baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad, so bad I haven’t yet done it, dig into D’s Famous Fried Banana Pudding ($4.99). It’s Sinkler’s “de-constructed” version of a Charleston dessert staple, banana pudding. His version pools a cloud of cool vanilla pudding with a beignet batter-dipped banana that is fried and served hot with a dusting of crunchy vanilla wafers and hot chocolate and caramel drizzled over the top. C’mon now! As Sinkler says, “It’s a great dish to share with friends.”

If you want to be a little kinder to your waistline, Hubee’s also serves three knock-out fresh salads and you can take that sandwich grilled, if you like. Kids will revel in the kids basket ($3.99) while the assorted size platters will likely be the hottest ticket in town come Super Bowl Sunday.

Hubee D’s
975 Savannah Highway
St. Andrews Shopping Center, West Ashley
(843) 556-0330
www.hubeeds.com

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