Hip-Hop will never die...unless it eats at Hip-Hop...

There are a lot of dumpy places along the Tennessee Strip in Tallahassee that trade real character for cheep beer. The rule of thumb in places like these is that the music, ambiance and drink selection are secondary to the attraction of vacuous co-eds in search of a place to hang out the shingle. Nothing wrong with getting a little loopy and getting your swerve on, no, but that kind of thing can get a bit old once you're out of your early twenties.

Until the luster leaves the veneer, however, anyone who partakes is going to need greasy places to flush out the juice, so to speak. Happily, the Tennessee Strip is replete with places only too willing to add to your premature arteriosclerosis by way of seared beef, deep-fried chicken or braised cheese on soggy bread. At one time I was sure that the king of all of these places was Guthries, what with their Gut Box (an almost perfect 'drunk food'), but my bleary notions of sodden perfection were shattered at a stroke once I set foot inside of Hip Hop Fish and Chicken.



There's no obfuscation to this place at all; it is exactly what the rather odd name implies - a fish and chicken joint. I always expect there to be Hip-hop blaring out of hidden speakers in there when I walk through the door. Instead, there is only the smell of grease and fish, the deadpan disinterest of the counter girl and the inane blaring of the laugh track of whatever show happens to be on Fox just then. It's like stopping by your gross aunt's place for a nibble after you've been to the bar.

Does that not sound like the kind of place you'd want to stop and eat? Good - you're normal. But I'm telling you, after a night of boozing and hanging out in noxious clouds of second-hand smoke, when you're firmly in the grip of the grape and your throat is sore from attempting to converse over music you don't even like at low volume, after you've quit the pub and shambled toward home only to realize you're too hungry to sleep, Hip-Hop Fish and Chicken delivers the best late-night snack you can get in Tallahassee.



My recommendation? Get the Tilapia and chicken tenders. They're served over white bread (to soak up the grease) and fries (to add additional grease), and I like to put the Hip Hop Hot Sauce on everything, just to add a little additional grease-cutting power to my meal. This place is a bit out of the way for anyone who doesn't live in either a dorm or one of the many student ghettos close to campus, but it's worth the trip if you've got both a heavy drunk on and a designated driver (all of these qualifications are utterly moot, however, if Mr. T's BBQ is open. That place trumps any other place in town, at any time of the day or night, under any circumstances short of the death of a loved one. More on the phenomenal Mr. T's later).