The Fat Ham

Portion and price does not match up for a southern place. I was taken back by how small the portions were. Pretty disappointed with TFH BBQ. Ribs were little dry and pulled pork still tasted much like the liquor it was made in. The Hot chicken is not what you should get. Comes out bright red and tastes like Hot Fries. watch out it spicy. Mac and cheese is average and cornbread salty. The place is pretty small but has a huge whisky and bourbon selection. Staff is quick and check up on you often. Overall 2 stars

Great food, good location good service. I recommend this highly. The servings are perfect sizes.

My absolute favorite southern restaurant in the city. Nice ambiance, good service, huge whiskey selection and some delicious finger-​lickin good southern food that left us more than satisfied. To try:
— Lavender honey wings: SO GOOD! The lavender honey is fragrant and sweet, and surprisingly complemented the spices perfectly.
— Hot chicken: lives up to the hype! You only get two pieces of chicken atop a toast with pickles and a ranch dressing, but the flavors are so rich and not deathly spicy as it looks.
— Chicken liver mousse: amaaazing! Super rich and creamy and packed with flavor. I could eat this as an entrée all day.
— Creamed kale: creamy but not heavy; comes with a runny sunny side-​up and is great to break up the deep fried morsels.
— Shrimp and grits: a southern meal isn’t complete without some delicious hearty shrimp and grits, and this placed totally delivered with succulent deveined shrimp & buttery grits.
The only downside is the cost — our bill for the above came out to be $ 74 (tip&tax incl.). The prices would be considered as average IF they were for full-​size dishes. But given that they’re small plates, I feel some type of way paying $ 19 for shrimp and grits that are half of what you’d get in the South.
BUT — since the flavors are so amazing I don’t have a problem giving this place the full 5 stars and will happily empty my wallet in future visits.

Jesus this place is expensive lol. The BBQ dishes are definitely some of the best I’ve had though. We went with the wagyu slider, TFH BBQ, and skillet cornbread. Know going into this place that it’s tapas style, so everything is in really small portions.
The slider was succulent and delicious but so small. It’s literally a single slider for $ 5. The bbq consisted of a tiny rack of ribs and a small pile of pulled pork. The cornbread was one piece of cornbread. All of it was delicious. I cannot say that I would be willing to pay the money again, but it was worth the experience.

A friend found this place online and decided to give it a try.
The Fat Ham was a very cute, urban, chic, modern place. We tried the signature drink-«Low Country Punch» It was very good and very strong (if you go, get this). It really complimented the semi-​southern flare of the restaurant.
At first glance, I thought the prices were very reasonable. However you don’t get a lot of food, our meals were tasty, but it just left us wanting to order more, but we opted not to.
We tried the Shaved Catfish and Shrimp and Grits. The Catfish was seasoned perfectly and a good amount of crunch to it. It came with a mayo based sauce that was pretty good.
The Shrimp and Grits was really good, the grits well a little cheese, and a little sweet it would work for the Salty or Sweet Grit lover. And again that portion size was also small, but it was really good.

The whiskey list is exceptional; I’ve come here a couple of times to sample more unusual bourbons and whiskeys, and the bartenders are consistently friendly and knowledgeable. The atmosphere is quite unexpected, quaint, and pretty unique. The food is a consistently solid twist on southern comfort food, though often greasier or saltier than I would prefer (understanding that these traits are expected with «southern comfort food»).
Unfortunately, I had a very disappointing experience tonight. A group of coworkers and I went for early drinks and dinner, and half-​way through our meal (we had started with appetizers and were ordering additional dishes after), the waiter started informing us there would be a reservation coming in and began to repeatedly rush us to finish. I was particularly bothered by this given that there were 2 – 3 empty tables. I definitely plan to come back to the bar, but will be unlikely to do a walk-​in sit down meal again any time soon.

Absolutely delicious.
The Fat Ham is a cozy, attractive restaurant, with a small bar off to the left. They’re unique in the sense that you don’t often run across southern fare served tapas style (i.e. small plates). We ordered the corn bread, humus, mustard chicken wings, macaroni & cheese, hot chicken and short ribs. Everything was excellent. On top of the fantastic food, they have an exceedingly generous bourbon selection. If I had one complaint, it’s that our food came out too fast. We didn’t have chance to finish our first plate before two more were placed in front of us. At one point we had all six plates on the table, without having had time to even finish the first. That aside, I would highly recommend The Fat Ham.

I had the chance to try Fat Ham this past Saturday night. I called to make a reservation but was told that they don’t take reservations, except for those made through the app called Reserve, and then only on a limited basis.
Luckily I was able to secure a 6:30 reservation through the app and when we arrived we were promptly seated. The first thing I noticed is that all of the servers were wearing plaid and all of the men had beards. I briefly felt like I was surrounded by lumberjacks, especially when I noticed the giant saw they had sitting next to the bar. That feeling quickly dissipated upon viewing the drink menu.
Their drink menu was absurd. Clearly they had lots of whiskey choices, but they also had lots of cocktails and wines to choose from. I got to try the low country punch (which was my favorite drink of the night) and also a variation of a Moscow mule, which was blueberry flavored.
Because my husband and I were with another couple who enjoy nothing more than eating their faces off, we had the chance to try a toooonnnnnn of things from the menu. Here’s what I can remember:
— Skillet cornbread
— Shrimp and grits
— TFH BBQ
— Dirty rice
— Baked mac and cheese
— Collard greens
— Wagyu burger slider
— Brisket slider
— Mustard BBQ wings
— Gooey cluster cake
— Buttermilk pie
Let’s start with the «meh» :
The cornbread, dirty rice, and mac and cheese were all disappointing. The cornbread had no flavor and only tasted like a greasy cast iron skillet. As someone who LOVES cornbread and possesses a truly kickass recipe, this was a let-​down. The dirty rice barely had anything but rice in it, and the mac and cheese was basically just noodles with some plain cheese.
My favorite dishes of the night:
The TFH BBQ, collard greens, and brisket sliders were my favorite things. I think it’s absolutely no coincidence that the BBQ dishes were the most well-​executed of all the items we ordered. The place smelled like BBQ when we walked in, and they did those dishes well.
The desserts here were all served in small mason jars. The «buttermilk pie» was basically a lemon pie with some strawberries, and the gooey cluster cake consisted of chocolate cake with salted caramel, peanuts, and marshmallow. The buttermilk pie was delicious, refreshing, and light, whereas the gooey cluster thing was super heavy and rich.
Overall I really enjoyed my meal here, but my main gripe has to do with the cost of everything. This is a «small plates» restaurant with regular plate prices. Everyone out with us agreed that the cost for the food was really way too much, and we wouldn’t return based on that alone. I know there are tons of other tapas restaurants where you can get the same amount of food for a fraction of the cost. The ambiance (lighting, décor, mis-​matched fine China serve wear) was great, and the service was good, but neither of those things make up for the cost of these tiny dishes.

Came here for a post-​brunch drink and was in the mood for some cornbread. Unfortunately, fixe-​price menu on Sundays only. No a la carte cornbread :(Still an exciting menu! Just wish it wasnt so restrictive on Sundays.

After a wonderful experience at Sbraga, I had high hopes for The Fat Ham. I called on a Wednesday for a 6:45 reservation for 2 people for Thursday and I was in luck. Upon entering the restaurant, there was a good vibe going and while it was pretty packed, there were still tables and seating at the bar available to anyone doing a walk in. The menu looked very appealing, and while I am not a wing person, the lavender honey wings sounded fab, but as I was preparing to place my order, the table next to me received their wings and it was just way too much for one person. I opted for a hot chicken slider, baked mac and cheese, and the skillet cornbread. I know it may sound like a lot, but the portions are very small. I thought the cornbread was ok, but it doesn’t even come close to the cornbread at Rex 1516! The mac and cheese was good, but I have had much better. As for the slider, being from Chicago, where we have The Roost Carolina Kitchen, which is known for their nashville hot chicken, I was very disappointed in the slider at TFH. For starters, it was so salty, my heart started to race. My waiter Sean K was gracious enough to have the kitchen prepare me another slider and while it was a little better, it was still salty as hell. I have recently cut out adding additional salt to my meals and maybe this could be a reason that the slider tasted bad, but I have read other Unilocal reviews and I am not alone in my assessment.
I ordered the TFH chop salad to go for lunch the following day, but was very disappointed in the size; it looked like a kids serving. I ordered it with no bacon and it came with bacon minus the smoked chicken… sigh. Of course, it went back.
For dessert I went with the buttermilk pie and by far, it was the best part of the meal. While I really have no plans to return, I could be persuaded to share a plate of wings with a friend; the lavender honey wings sounds just too damn good.

Finally made it to Fat Ham after many failed attempts. It was worth the wait though. The venue is on the small side and is decorated with a rustic, country quality. Loved the slider sandwich and their BBQ platter. Will need to return to try all their variety of fried chicken. The short ribs were soft and fell off the bone.

If you’re lucky enough to get a table at this tiny University City restaurant, you will find yourself engulfed in a rich and smokey atmosphere steeped in bourbon and pork. And if you were expecting a huge pig with an apple in its mouth, rotating on a fiery rotisserie, you’ve been mistaken. The Fat Ham is a small plates restaurant consisting of modern renditions of classic southern dishes.
For Cocktails, we tried Charleston and Stars Fell on Alabama. The Charleston, which is somewhat reminiscent of a Manhattan, was tasty but completely overshadowed by a deep floral tone that in my opinion, took away from the bourbon flavor I was hoping to wet my whistle on. Stars Fell on Alabama however was the better of the two. A bit similar to an Old Fashioned, this drink took that old classic 3 steps up with the Absinthe and orange flower.
For Snacks, we got skillet cornbread and hummus. Of the two, the hummus was by far our favorite. Consisting of boiled peanuts as opposed to traditional chickpeas, this hummus was more like the creamiest of peanut butter you’ve ever had. Every single smear in that bowl was scraped up with the grilled bread it was served with. The cornbread on the other hand was more of an afterthought, especially since the bottom was almost completely burnt and dried out. If it weren’t for the finger-​licking molasses butter, I would’ve sent this back.
For Plates, we got the shrimp & grits. Although this was delicious, and served with a good helping of perfectly cooked shrimp, it lacked that poignant savoriness I look for in something so indulgent as shrimp & grits.
For Sliders, we tried the shrimp, brisket, hot chicken, and pulled pork. Out of the 4, I’d rank the shrimp my favorite, then the pork next, followed by the chicken and the brisket. I didn’t think the chicken was too hot at all, and the brisket was simply ok. So I’d recommend the pork and shrimp if you’re into sliding.
For Sides, we tried the baked mac & cheese. I mean, how do you resist ordering mac & cheese anywhere. This one particularly did not disappoint. With a luscious creamy interior, protected by an outer layer of smoked cracker crumb, this mac was savory and filling. Surely the most attractive side on the menu.
Although, I felt a little rushed by our server who seemed as if he was looking to turn and burn us at light speed, I really enjoyed my time at the Fat Ham. It felt more like an experience than a meal. It might not be my new favorite restaurant (sorry Marc Summers), but I would easily and gladly return to imbibe and sample the other southern delicacies.

I’ve been meaning to stop by the Fat Ham for awhile. But frankly and shamefully, I tend to stay within the corridor of Center City proper. And while the Fat Ham recently hopped on the Reserve bandwagon, the inability to reserve a table previously resulted in a few unsuccessful waits that were over an hour long.
Granted heading over during the Happy Hour rush isn’t the best strategy and it’s not to say we didn’t enjoy ourselves while we attempted to be seated for a table. With a fairly extensive bourbon list and with great cocktails, what’s not to like? The interior is wonderfully designed, with a quaint Southern feel and a gorgeous bar wall.
Memphis Mule [$ 10]
Basil & grapefruit infused vodka, citrus, ginger beer
Speaking of drinks — do try their take on the mule, which features basil and grapefruit-​infused vodka, ginger beer, and citrus. Subtly sweet, this was light and refreshing.
Diamondback [$ 12]
Rye, apple brandy, chartreuse, sassafrass

The Diamondback featured Old Overholt, with the apple brandy smoothing things out. The sweetness of the chartreuse helped it along, with some spice coming through from the rye whiskey.
Pro-​tip: If the weather’s nice, be sure to enjoy a drink on the front porch!
Sunday Supper [$ 30 pp]
The best tip though? Head over for their weekly Sunday Suppers — a steal of a deal at $ 30 pp for 9+ dishes from Kevin Sbraga. And with the ability to make a reservation using the Reserve app, there’s no excuse now! Fair warning — the dishes come out as soon as they’re executed by the kitchen so be prepared for an onslaught of food!
Pimento Cheese
Grilled country bread
You’ll likely start off with the pimento cheese along with some lightly buttered and hearty country bread. The perfect vessel for the slightly smoky, sharp, and peppery pimento cheese. It’s no wonder it’s a favorite bite during Happy Hour!
Squash Dumplings
Granny smith apple, toasted pecan
The squash dumplings reminded me of spaetzle. Tender and emanating squash essence, the tart Granny Smith apples were a nice counterpoint, with the toasted pecans providing texture.
Blackened Catfish
Comeback sauce, okra, walnuts
The catfish was moist and well-​seasoned with blackened spice. The okra was expertly cooked, without much of the mucilaginous texture one usually associates with the greens. The «comeback» sauce had a nice bit of heat that played well with the components of the dish.
No. 20 [$ 11]
Bourbon, aperol, averna, lemon
The No. 20 was nicely citrus forward, with a great juxtaposition of Italian apertifs and digestifs.
Skillet Cornbread
Tasso, molasses butter, fine herbs
You’ll also likely receive the cornbread and for good reason. The crisp edges were where it was at, with the sweetness of the corn coming through. Slathered in the gorgeous tasso molasses butter? Let’s just say it was hard not to inhale the entirety of the cornbread in a single bite.
Baked Macaroni & Cheese
Butter bread crumbs
With Fat Ham’s take on mac, there was great bite to the noodles, which were dripping in liquid gold. The buttered bread crumbs offered nice texture.
Collard Greens
Pork shank, potlikker
A wonderful counterpoint to the richness of the supper, the vinegary collards were much needed and especially enjoyed. That’s not to say that there weren’t any tender pieces of pork shank topping the dish. I couldn’t help but slurp some of that potlikker broth as well. Easily my choice of palate cleanser.
Smoked Pork
Sweet potato, parsnip purée, granola
The gorgeous hunk of savory, smoky and tender pork had a nice interplay with the sweet potato. The bits of granola offered some sweet balance in partnership with the parsnip purée underneath.
Hot Chicken
Brioche, ranch dressing, dill pickles
There’s a reason hot chicken is the Fat Ham’s most celebrated dish and is essentially becoming the new pork belly. The chicken was moist and expertly fried with a great crisp. But the star is that cayenne-​saturated heat, which will creep up on you! The dill pickles were much needed, attempting to provide some vinegary balance. I also appreciated the thin toasted brioche which had enough substance to stand up to being inundated with the ranch and spice-​laden sauce. Much better than simple sandwich bread. Expect the spice sweats — that’s a good thing!
Gingersnap Tart
Eggnog cream, citrus segments, nut tuile
Our dessert was a gingersnap tart that featured the spice within the crust. Wonderful palate cleanser. The eggnog lightly permeated the cream, with the candied citrus elements brightening up each bite.
Hat’s off to the staff on this particular night. While the initial onslaught of dishes was a bit jarring at first, the fact that one server and manager were taking are of all the diners at a relatively relaxed and comfortable pace was commendable. And perfectly delicious execution at $ 30 pp? There’s no fault there! Highly recommend the Fat Ham’s Sunday Supper — I know I’ll be back!

Small but intimate space, the fat ham has been on my list of must try. Today is my birthday and finally got in without any wait, so worth it!
We had pimento cheese starter (my fav), butternut squash succotash, shrimp slider (so good), burger slider, hot chicken platter (so so so spicy but so so so good), Mac & cheese.
Highly recommend this place, everything was perfect.

Out of all the restaurants in Philadelphia, my friend and I picked the Fat Ham for our night out in the city. We wanted something trendy, casual, and an experience. The Fat Ham fit the bill.
We made reservations for 9 pm, although when we arrived on a Friday night, we realized we didn’t really need them.
We were seated at one of the small tables, in the middle of the restaurant. The dining room is pretty narrow, which I found out when the servers kept knocking my coat off of my chair. It would have been nice if they had offered to hang it somewhere or put it on a nearby table.
Two waiters kind of, sort of, waited on us. Honestly it was confusing and kind of a pain. I ordered a beer from a brewery in my hometown called Voodoo. It was their Pilsner. I understand the cost of craft beer but the less than a pint I received for $ 7 was a little disappointing. My friend ordered their Mule and loved it.
One of the waiters suggested ordering 4 – 6 plates. Oh, boy. I’m glad we only ordered four in the end!
We ordered the skillet corn bread, mustard BBQ wings, baked macaroni and cheese, and one of their specials — half a grilled chicken served with coleslaw.
Skillet corn bread — would definitely order it again and it’s not something that I usually order! YUM. Melts in your mouth. Very flavorful.
Mac and Cheese — nothing special. This was my friend’s choice. I don’t order mac and cheese at restaurants. And it definitely hadn’t been baked. It was just served in a cast iron skillet and the bread crumbs on top might have been toasted in the oven briefly.
Mustard BBQ wings — YES! ORDER THESE. They were my favorite. Great quality wings. Crispy. Just a little spicy.
Grilled Chicken Special — YUM, YUM. I wish we could have eaten more. It was the last thing to arrive and we were so full because the wings are huge! Served with vinegar based slaw that was a little limp.
The tables are way too small for the timing of the dishes. We needed more time so that we didn’t have plates crowded into each other at the table. I felt like I was going to knock my glass off of the table multiple times.
Prices were good — besides the mac and cheese. The serving was really small for $ 9, even though the pasta was unique. The wings were a great value because they were so large and tasty. The cornbread might be a little high too, it’s pretty small for $ 8. Even $ 7 would make me feel better about ordering it again.
I would streamline the service and maybe find a place to hang coats since the dining room is so narrow.
Great experience. Food was freshly prepared in the visible kitchen and good enough to go back!

The food at Fat Ham isn’t bad, it’s just incredibly overpriced. To account for small portions and exorbitant prices they say that they’re «tapas» style. It’s literally just an excuse to charge a lot for small portions of basic food. As a Philadelphia «Southern» restaurant I was somewhat disgruntled by their adoption of Spanish tapas style.
Anyway, I came here with a friend on a Friday and we ordered the skillet cornbread (8), oyster slider (6 each), mac and cheese (8), and hot chicken (15). It came out to about 50 dollars with tax and tip, which I found ridiculous for the amount and type of food (we were both still hungry after).
Cornbread: The cornbread looks a lot bigger in the pictures than it actually is. It’s about 3×4 inches, or about the size of an iphone 6. I get paying a lot for appetizers when there are a lot of fresh ingredients or it takes a lot of prep time, but this is literally a piece of cornbread…8 dollars for mixing margarine, cornmeal, eggs, a few other dry ingredients (probably in bulk), and then throwing it in the oven.
Oyster Slider: Crispy fried oysters with slaw. It was good, but again, tiny as hell. You’ll eat it in two bites.
Mac and Cheese: For a southern place it was way below par (…also, wait for it… incredibly small). Under-​salted and underwhelming
Hot Chicken: Two pieces of spicy chicken on ranch, cucumber, and white bread (just straight up square white bread from the store). The chicken was pretty good but nothing to run over there for.
I know that there isn’t a lot of southern food in Philly, but if you’re looking for a fix, this probably isn’t where you want to come.

Very nice experience for NYE. We ordered a variety of tapas and everything for the most part, was amazing. We started with the Fat Ham board, which came with prime meats and pickled veggies. Other tapas ordered, Skillet Cornbread with molasses butter, Pulled Pork sliders, Lavender Honey wings, Mac n Cheese and Surf and Turf. I loved everything especially the Lavender Honey wings and the Fried Lobster tail, that came with the Surf and Turf. For drinks, I had the Mobile Mule, if you like ginger beer, this is the drink for you. The food and restaurant overall, was great but the friendly wait staff just made the experience, PERFECT!!! This is going to be a place I visit often in 2016. I’m definitely in love…

First time visitor. Interesting Sunday menu. They are tasting portions of what they say are key items on the regular menu. All that for 30 dollars.
I personally enjoyed all the dishes we were served. The cornbread was amazing. The Hot Chicken was indeed hot. The mac n cheese was seasoned. The dumplings and squash. Considering I thought I did not like either of them they were very good. The roast was cooked well but very tender. The Collard greens were good but you will taste the vinegar in them. The shrimp was very tasty. And desert was Chefs choice. And it was a Butter cake with Carmel, pears with honey ice cream on top. And that was awesome. Amazing taste to it.
This is a very nice place. The interior is small, and can get full quickly. I am sure they have a take out as well. Cause this place can get crowded fast.
I will definitely be back to this place.

The Fat Ham
PA: Philadelphia Century City
6:30pm Sunday 25^th October 2015
Five Stars
You can literally smell the bacon wafting down the street. There is a lovey wooden front porch complete with 2 white rocking chairs. Inside is a mix of four top tables, booths, high top tables, a bar island, and an 8 person wood top bar. On Sunday, they do a Sunday Supper Pre-​Fixe meal for $ 30. They have plenty of whiskey: old overholt, whistle pig,
Course 1:
The crispy, slightly charred grilled country bread served warm contrasted nicely against the cool creamy, orange pimento cheese.
Course 2:
The corn bread was served in a mini cast iron skillet and topped with melted molasses butter. There was mild sweetness compared to the generous amount salt and meat flavors from the Tasso Ham inside. The bread had firm structure and crumbled into buttery morsels.
Course #3:
The cajun style catfish was beautifully blackened with a nice crust of salt and spice. The fish was moist and flaky. The dish had complexity with spicy mayo, Beet-​pickled cauliflower, okra, and walnuts.
Course #4:
The butternut squash dumplings with fresh slices of granny smith apple and toasted pecans were my favorite dish. The dumplings were smaller making less doughy and more fluffy. The sauce was creamy with plenty of butter. This exactly what autumn should taste like.
Course #5:
The Fat Ham classed up a Nashville classic «Hot Chicken.» The cayenne marinated chicken breast was deep fried to golden brown perfection then served on top on brioche with a creamy herbaceous buttermilk sauce and dill flavored cucumbers. The poultry was spicy … like really spicy. That goodness for the bread, pickle, and ranch accompaniment. The breaking had above average adherence to the skin and meat. The had boneless chicken was moist and flavorful.
Course #6:
The Pork Butt was slow cooked and then crisped on a wooden plank. It was less tender and more caramelized. The Gravy was thick and tasty but I wanted more of it. The home fries were cut uniformly and freshly fried with similar delicious qualities. The fresh turnip leaves were a interesting addition.
Course #7
The Collared greens were supple with a bit of crunch. The pork shank was meaty. The best part was the vinegary, mineral-​y potlikker, which is basically the remaining water that boiled the greens. I felt it needed some black eye peas.
Course #8
The Mac n cheese was served in a shallow rectangular baking dish. The spirals were covered in cheesy creamy sauce with a sprinkle of bread crumbs. The dish was almost too classic for this place.
Course #9: Dessert:
The Kentucky butter cake was a large square of dense, super moist, almost oozing butter, sponge cake. The three halves of strawberries had slightly sweet syrup. The Chantelle cream was good.
Beware it is a lot of food for a great price. Plus the service Was great. They got me fed was in 45 minute so that I could catch my train.

Everything good, delicious and tasty you’ve heard about this place is true. We went on a rainy Friday drive time evening coming in from jersey. After a challenging drive not only did we find a on street parking but right across the street from the joint «Whoa». Cozy little place but just enough room to get comfortable and enjoy «The Fat Ham». Really hard to pick a favorite as all dishes are absolutely a culinary experience. Your mouth explodes with every bite no matter what you order. Their signature dish «Hot Chix» is cooked to perfection with just the right touch of heat. Cornbread is a meal in itself. Loved the consistency of their creamy grits topped with large shrimp. Portions are small but that encourages you to try more dishes. Staff was super friendly and accommodating. In the words of the terminator…
I’ll be back!