Celebrate the ‘Every Day’

Which Came FiRST…

While Birds & Bubbles’ time in New York City has come to an end its legacy lives on in all of CITY GRIT Hospitality Group’s restaurants.

The idea for Birds & Bubbles arose from CITY GRIT NYC’s “Sunday Suppers.” Back in 2013, these ounce-a-month, family-style dinners were held at CITY GRIT’s SOHO schoolhouse location. Chef Sarah Simmons routinely cooked some of her favorite dishes from when she was growing up in North Carolina & South Carolina, including her version of her Grandfather’s fried chicken. One week, a guest brought a bottle of Champagne they had brought back from France as a gift for Sarah and she insisted they open it that night to enjoy it. Why? Because champagne’s acidity and effervescence pair perfectly with the crispy, salty, fatty fried chicken. This is where Birds & Bubbles was born.

Was the idea for champagne and fried chicken born here? Nah. Who knows who came up with that idea. But out of this idea arose a concept for a Southern restaurant unlike anything else in NYC.

In September of 2014, Birds & Bubbles open in the Lower East Side in NYC. The restaurant was immediately well received for its thoughtful champagne heavy wine list and elevated Southern Cuisine, which included Sarah’s cast iron-fried chicken. Over the next 2.5 years, Birds & Bubbles became known nationwide as the OG Fried Chicken & Champagne restaurant, helping bring the concept to events all over the United States and even a 6 week pop-up in Hong Kong.

In 2017, after a series of pipe breaks and floods, Birds & Bubbles was forced to close. After a period of planning with their insurance company to relocate or reopen, Sarah and Aaron decided to relocate full time to South Carolina to focus on their future there.

CITY GRIT Hospitality Group currently offers a range of Birds & Bubbles experiences via our catering company, CITY GRIT Catering, including a full Birds & Bubbles dinner and champagne pairing.