Freight Fried Chicken 312 Pearl Parkway, Building 6, instagram.com/freightchicken. In addition to her flagship The Jerk Shack, Chef Nicola Blaque brought her new fried chicken concept to the Pearl’s Bottling Department food hall in early 2024. Freight Fried Chicken draws inspiration from Black women known as Waiter Carriers who sold food to rail passengers traveling through Gordonsville, Virginia, in the years following the Civil War so they could gain financial independence. The new joint serves chicken fried in a dry batter similar to the one used by the Waiter Carriers. Credit: A.J. Creative for Freight Fried Chicken

San Antonio Chef Nicola Blaque next month will open Freight Fried Chicken, a new concept in the Pearl Bottling Department food hall that will serve her nationally lauded dry batter fried chicken.

Freight will replace Blaque’s current food hall spot Mi Roti, located at 312 Pearl Parkway, Building 6. That eatery, which serves Caribbean-style wraps made on roti flatbread, will close Dec. 31, Pearl officials said.

Freight draws its inspiration from post-Civil War Black women known as Waiter Carriers who sold fried chicken to rail passengers traveling through Gordonsville, Virginia, Pearl officials said. Their recipes enticed travelers from far and wide to go out of their way for a taste.

The sale of fried chicken allowed formerly enslaved women to support their households and create racial progress during a fraught time in U.S. history — a story Blaque believes is worth telling.

“I’m really excited about Freight Fried Chicken, because it’s about more than food. It’s an opportunity to tell the story of women I identify with, people who had a vision to create something and found a way to support their families while also uniting communities,” Blaque said in an emailed statement. “I admire women like the Waiter Carriers and Emma Koehler at Pearl who found a way to not only overcome hardships but to give back to their community in the process.”

Freight Fried Chicken is the latest concept from San Antonio chef Nicola Blaque. Credit: A.J. Creative for Freight Fried Chicken

Freight will fry its chicken in a dry batter similar to that made famous by the Waiter Carriers. Guests can also expect to see fried chicken tenders and a sandwich on the menu, along with sides including seasoned fries and macaroni and cheese.

Blaque is the restaurateur and chef behind nationally recognized eatery The Jerk Shack, known for fried and jerk chicken, braised oxtail and other Jamaican-inspired eats. She opened Mi Roti in 2020.

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This article appears in Dec 13-26, 2023.

Nina Rangel uses nearly 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry to tell the stories of movers and shakers in the food scene in San Antonio. As the Food + Nightlife Editor for the San Antonio...