Harlem Eatery Serves Its Last Fried Chicken
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A soul food restaurant that survived rioting and looting could not survive gentrification.
Copeland’s held its last brunch Sunday, closing for good after 50 years and bringing an end to one of the greatest restaurant runs in Harlem history.
“It’s a sad occasion,” diner Gloria Jackson said. “You feel like a celebrity when you come here. They always cater to your every need.”
Owner Calvin Copeland, who opened the place on 145th Street with $850 in savings and saw it overcome hard times such as the riots of 1964, said changing demographics no longer made it viable. In recent years, middle-class black and white families have bought Harlem’s handsome brownstones and fixed them up. They just didn’t crave his savory fried chicken anymore.
“The transformation snuck up on me like a tornado,” he said.
