RESTAURANT REVIEW: Ceci's Chicken & Waffles in North Little Rock

Maybe there's hope yet for the lowly chicken gizzard. Sure, there's that unappetizing name, but in a dining age when sweetbreads (the thymus or pancreas of calves or lambs) and head cheese (jellied calf or pig head meat) are haute cuisine for adventurous diners, maybe the gizzard's turn in the spotlight is coming soon.

Or maybe not.

It's a gizzard, after all, a digestive organ that grinds up food in a chicken (and in other birds, along with some fish, reptiles and even at one time in some dinosaurs). Like chitterlings, haggis or any other culinary oddity adored by some and abhorred by many, a chicken gizzard is not food for the masses.

And the gizzard's name is not going anywhere. (Though, if the Patagonian toothfish can be branded as the Chilean sea bass and enter superstar status, maybe the gizzard's got a shot, too.)

Perhaps there's a different approach to all of this, though. Maybe if more restaurants fried gizzards the way Ceci's Chicken & Waffles in North Little Rock prepares the chicken organ, the gizzard could become highbrow.

Ceci's dishes out impeccable fried gizzards, lightly shrouded in a crispy, peppery crust and so tender they almost melt in the mouth. Nothing like the tough, chewy gizzards that many gas stations serve from under a row of heat lamps.

How does Ceci's make its gizzards so tender? I asked a cook on a visit. "You know I can't tell you that, man," was the reply, which should have been expected.

Maybe they are soaked in salt water and then poached in milk? Who knows? I didn't consider my question too long as I happily finished my Fried Gizzard Dinner ($10.95), a basket full of freshly prepared gizzards, two sides and cornbread.

Every third gizzard or so I shot with hot sauce from an unlabeled squirt bottle. (It could've been Louisiana Hot Sauce or Crystal, though my money is on the former.) The hot sauce's mild heat and bright flavor perfectly complemented the gizzards.

With my gizzard dinner, I chose greens and macaroni and cheese as my sides, which also can be ordered separately for $2.99 each and also include cabbage, candied yams, green beans and purple hull peas.

The macaroni and cheese equaled the greatness of the gizzards. Though not as creamy as most macaroni and cheese dishes, Ceci's version delivers a subtle, rich cheese taste while the noodles retain their texture. And though I've never been a big fan of greens, Ceci's greens at least kept me interested with a slightly sweet taste, with a vinegary end note.

The cornbread? A burned-bottom afterthought on this dish.

Of course, gizzard nonbelievers can find more at Ceci's -- opened in November in a low-slung, unadorned building that used to be Northside Catfish -- than just fried gizzards; namely soul food that is likewise divine.

As I sat in one of Ceci's two dining rooms, the delectable smell of waffles filled the room, making me wish I'd ordered the restaurant's namesake dish. So I did on a second visit, when I was joined by a companion.

Called the "House Special," a regular Ceci's chicken-and-waffle meal is $8.99, with a flavored chicken and waffle dish costing $9.99. Flavored? Yes, Ceci's offers sweetly flavored waffles, including chocolate, Oreo, strawberry shortcake and more.

My companion went with Belgian as his flavor with five fried chicken wingettes and drumettes topping a plate-covering waffle and drizzled in syrup. Despite the mess, it was a combination that struck the right balance between sweet and savory, he said. His Belgian waffle was well-cooked but basic, but he proclaimed the chicken "perfect, perhaps the best I've had in the city."

"I am excited to see what else comes out of that fryer," he said.

I ventured out and ordered the Red Velvet Chicken and Waffles, a sticky concoction of wingettes and drumettes dribbled with syrup and a cream cheese icing piled on top of a photogenic, bright red waffle.

The icing added a little too much sweetness, along with the sugary waffle and syrup -- which saturated the waffle -- but the chicken was sublime. The crust was thin and crispy, and infused with a palate-pleasing salty and peppery blend. Underneath the crust, the meaty chicken still retained its juiciness and tasted glorious mixed with the brittle bites of the seasoned crust.

Ceci's fryer also produces meals such as a Fried Chicken Wings dinner ($8.99) minus the waffle, and a Fried Pork Chop dinner ($9.95). Both dinners come with two sides and cornbread. Chicken wingettes and drumettes also are available on their own ($7.99 nine pieces, $18.99 20 pieces).

But don't think this soul food joint is all deep-fried food or served with waffles. A lunch special rotates throughout the week. One day it might be neckbones; on a Friday, fried fish.

And there are five salads, including a Salmon Salad ($10.95) with blackened salmon, cranberries, red onion, parmesan cheese and croutons. The menu also features a handful of sandwiches served with chips, and a kids' menu.

Drink choices are fountain soft drinks and tea.

There's nothing impressive about Ceci's atmosphere. Patrons enter through a steel door (not the glass one). Inside it's clean, and the walls in the first dining room display a trio of cheetah paintings -- the same painting repeated three times, it should be pointed out.

The second dining room is lighted with natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows covered in security bars. That's it for the atmosphere; nothing more. The grind and purr of nearby Interstate 30 -- it's one block away -- is overpowered by the music that Ceci's plays.

One orders at the counter and sits -- though Ceci's also does a brisk carryout business. The food is brought to patrons and there's table service, which, on my first visit, was attentive but not overbearing. The second visit also was marked by comfortable service with drinks being refilled in a timely fashion.

Tables come furnished with napkin dispensers and -- thankfully -- towelettes, perhaps the restaurant's one indulgence besides its food.

There's not much fuss at Ceci's, and there doesn't need to be. It's a low-key joint, and not a place one goes because they want to be pampered or wowed by the atmosphere. The focus at Ceci's is on good, hearty soul food with just the right flourishes.

Ceci's boasts that it's a restaurant "where all you need is your fork." A fork's helpful, for sure, along with an appreciation for heavenly soul food -- and even gizzards.

Weekend on 05/19/2016