Code 3 -the Fire Shop - Newark

Oh My God! When I say this is by far the best chicken and rice Ive ever tasted from a restaurant before..I really wish that the owner expand his business (please consider South Orange/Maplewood area? I will definitely be back and back again! Code 3 is a WINNER ME!

6:00pm on a Tuesday and closed and no one picking up the phones. Was supposed to pick up an order, yet no one is there terrible service.

I stopped by this place last Friday and ordered a whole chicken, mac and cheese and greens. The food was very tasty and seasoned just right. The owner is very friendly. I will definitely be back!

Very very good food! Extremely nice owner. Highly recommended

I had a unique opportunity to stop into Code 3 for some food and, in the process of getting said food, talked to the owner and learned about his philosophy, his past, his menu... little bit of everything. I always appreciate those moments and I am grateful for the time he spent. Understanding that my food was sitting for at least a half hour between that talk and my drive home, I am not going to comment on temperature or doneness. Let 's go down the list. Mac n cheese: I appreciate that they made it from scratch, but it was a little overdone for my liking. Plenty of cheese though. Pleeeeenty. Rice: Not just plain rice. You can eat this without seasoning, but I poured the bottom of the collards in for more oomph. Collards: Flavorful. They use chicken instead of ham, in a very one meat philosophy to the place. But when you do chicken right, you can get away with this. It was just on the right side of salty. I approve. Beans: Have not yet tried. Hot sauce: Not hot enough. I forgot to ask if they have anything even hotter. But dang, is there ever a lot of flavor in this sauce. I would get a pint of this to keep dunking the chicken in. Mashed potato: Weakest side of the bunch, just creamed with a bit of brown gravy (I assume chicken gravy . I wish it had more potato character to it, but it 's like Boston Market or any other whipped potato side. Chicken: Ah, chicken, the differentiator. It was good. A bit heavy on the breading, but that 's Nashville Hot for you. Breading is flavorful, but not in the least hot, and as noted, the sauce didn 't fully make up for that. I don 't want to judge the chicken too harshly since I didn 't eat it fresh off the... whatever it 's cooked on... but it was a bit dry and overdone by the time it got all the way home. Look, I 'll have to come back and try it fresher next time. There 's a star hanging in the balance, and while I 'm at it, maybe I 'll finish with some Nashville Fried Oreos. (I made up the Nashville part. But ya know, coming straight off the McCarter freeway, you will do just fine by stopping here on your way into the city instead of parking first and then figuring out where to eat. Save on traffic, save on parking, all those headaches, and get yourself some quality eats. To be continued...