Verified in 2 cities.
City chicken is a signature dish of United States; we have verified places to eat it in Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Pork cubes skewered on a stick, breaded and pan-fried; a Polish-American Depression-era dish that mimics chicken using cheaper cuts.
Pork cubes skewered on a stick, breaded and pan-fried; a Polish-American Depression-era dish that mimics chicken using cheaper cuts. A Slavic Village family-table staple.
City chicken emerged in Polish-American kitchens in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Detroit during the Depression of the 1930s, when chicken was more expensive than pork. The recipe stuck through the 1950s and remains a fixture at Slavic Village family tables and church festivals. Sokolowski's University Inn ran a weekly version until its 2020 close; Rudy's Strudel and Seven Roses in Slavic Village still rotate it through the cafeteria board, and the dish appears on every Polish parish fish-fry and pierogi-festival lineup.
Where to eat in Cleveland:
Where to eat City chicken in Cleveland: the editor picks
Breaded and fried cubes of pork and veal on a wooden skewer, despite the name containing no chicken. A Depression-era dish from Pittsburgh's Eastern European and mill communities.
City chicken was born in Pittsburgh and the wider Rust Belt during the Great Depression, when pork and veal were cheaper than chicken. Cooks cubed the meat, skewered it to mimic a drumstick, then breaded and fried it. The dish persisted in Eastern European and Polish households and on diner menus; it still turns up at old-school restaurants and family Sunday tables across the region as a nostalgic comfort dish.
Where to eat in Pittsburgh:
Where to eat City chicken in Pittsburgh: the editor picks
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