Chicken Salad with Fried Oysters - William Penn Inn
Food History Restaurants
Virtual
Chicken Salad with Fried Oysters - William Penn Inn
This historic inn is one of the few places that still serves what is sometimes called the Philadelphia Special, that is, a dish that has cold chicken salad on one side of the plate and fried oysters on the other. It goes back to the days when oysters were plentiful and inexpensive and chicken was costly, as it was an attempt to make a good meal affordable. I love it! (The nearby Blue Bell Inn also has it on the menu.)
Publication date Jun 24, 2018
Property ID: 64
Updated on: Apr 14, 2019
This historic inn is one of the few places that still serves what is sometimes called the Philadelphia Special, that is, a dish that has cold chicken salad on one side of the plate and fried oysters on the other. It goes back to the days when oysters were plentiful and inexpensive and chicken was costly, as it was an attempt to make a good meal affordable. I love it! (The nearby Blue Bell Inn also has it on the menu.)

info

Location:
William Penn Inn - Established 1714 , 1017 DeKalb Pike , Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd, Pennsylvania, 19436, United States
Listing Category:
Food History Restaurants
Virtual / Real:
Virtual
Created Date:
06-24-2018
Created by
plaquemaster
All locations from this user

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Name : William Penn
Email : 27thpal@comcast.net
Comments : First saw the Oyster/Chicken Salad dish on the menu of Dukes Seafood (long gone) in Philadelphias Tacony neighborhood in the early 60s. Recently (2011) saw and ordered it at the legendary Crab Trap Restaurant in Somers Point, NJ (delicious). The waiter wasnt familiar with it being called the Philadelphia Special, but he knew it was a Philly dish. He said it was on the menu of several Jersey Shore seafood houses he had worked over the years.
Date : 2011-10-13

Name : Foo-Dee
Email : chmielewski@cpcuiia.org
Comments : See the entry on best pecan pie, from William Penn Inn, elsewhere on Cyber Plaque.
Date : 2014-01-25

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : The Blue Bell Inn reopens next week without the fried oysters and chicken salad plate, or the sautéed calves liver and onion plate. The nearby William Penn Inn still offers both traditional Philadelphia fares on it lunch menu. [5/5/14 update - fried oysters with chicken salad is on the lunch menu at the Blue Bell Inn. Maybe I did not scroll down far enough before, as it is the last item on the online menu.]
Date : 2014-04-04

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : //media.thereporteronline.com/2014/09/09/photos-days-gone-by-lansdale-and-its-surrounding-areas/#10, from the Lansdale Historical Society.
Date : 2014-09-11

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : //articles.philly.com/2009-09-20/entertainment/24986899_1_oyster-house-lighter-touch-bar.
Date : 2015-05-05

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : fried oysters and chicken salad. It sounds ridiculous, nonsensical and strange. But its a classic, and it is amazing.
Date : 2015-05-08

Name : Francis Chmielewski
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : Some of the comments from when an earlier version of this site did not transfer over well. To see them for this inn and the nearby Blue Bell Inn regarding fried oysters with chicken salad, see https://web.archive.org/web/20160727071546/cyberplaque.com/comment/9.
Date : 2018-11-29