ROANOKE, Va. – Which came to downtown Roanoke first, the chicken or the egg?
“If you’re familiar with the market building, there’s a restaurant in here called Scrambled. Before an egg gets scrambled, it has to hatch. That’s why we’re here. This was the perfect opportunity for us to put our stamp here in the downtown area.”
Parry Restaurant Group already has its stamp on some Roanoke classics, including Tuco’s and Beamer’s, but they wanted to add something different.
The Hatch came to be less than a month ago. Owner, Jo Jo Soprano, says Roanokers are already flocking to favorites.
“The Hatch – believe it or not – our signature which is crispy fried chicken, house pickles, remoulade, and a pimento cheese that we make in house that we slap on there.”
In his words, “Cheese and chicken. You can’t go wrong.”
Another kitchen classic has become ‘The Soprano.’
“Fried chicken, some mozzarella on it, sauce and a little twist with some pepperoni.”
If you’re looking for something a little healthier or non-poultry, Soprano says there are other options.
“Vegetarian dishes. For instance, we had fried eggplant. And people pointed out, ‘Hey, why not do some fried green tomatoes?’”
A sign of a great restaurant is one that not only has great food but one that welcomes community feedback to its menu.
“People are used to the great quality and the great atmosphere when they come into a restaurant that we have.”
Soprano also says The Hatch plays off the charcuterie board trend with ‘The Hatch Board,’ which has everything from mac n’ cheese to corn on the cob.