Sylvia’s Restaurant

Sylvia Woods bought this Harlem luncheonette from her employer in 1962, borrowing the money from her mother, who mortgaged her own farm to cover it, and paid it back within a year. A 1979 profile in New York magazine crowned her the Queen of Soul Food, and the kitchen still turns out what earned it: fried chicken, smothered turkey wings, collard greens, mac and cheese, candied yams. The restaurant has since expanded into the building next door and is run today by Woods's son and grandson. Reservations go through Resy, or there's a to-go window for takeout.