Willie Mae’s Grocery & Deli

This place is god awful… if I was in charge I would fire the entire kitchen staff… me and my son’s waited hungry for 45 minutes for fried chicken… there was 13 ppl in the entire restaurant… the server told us that our food would be out soon and that cooked in batches… unacceptable!!! So when I was leaving they tried to stop me and the cook yelled at me that the food was coming! I told them that I was a chef, which I am, and it doesn’t take 45 minutes to fry chicken. There is 13 ppl in the entire restaurant here! Last time I went the food was great but me and my 2 sons went hungry and the cook yelled at me so I will never ever go back… and I will tell everyone that I come across not to go there either I hope the place shuts down and that cook loses his job because I know I would fire him if I cared about my business.

My wife and I love love Willie Mae’s Scotch House and drop by every time we’re in the city. The chicken is some of the best we’ve ever had and the red beans and rice are excellent.
We had mixed reactions when we heard about another location opening Uptown. The original is an important part of the surrounding neighborhood and we like supporting those types of businesses. On the other hand, we don’t like waiting in line if we don’t get there right when it opens.
Crowds aren’t an issue at the new location. In fact, if the number of customers dining at the time we did is any indication (there were one or two other tables), I question whether this location is going to make it. I hope so, because it’s a nice alternative to the original location.
The building, although larger, is actually quite similar to the original place. It has some of the same charm (some might call it «dirt» or «filth,» but it was fine to me) of the original with a similar paint/​decorating scheme.
They had issues with the carbonation in the Coke machine, so I had iced tea instead.
Our server was decent. Not as good as most of the servers we’ve had at the other location, but not bad.
After much debate, we ultimately decided that we’d likely come back to this location next time we’re in town. The food is really close to the original place. The slight difference is offset by the ease of getting here (we took the streetcar here, instead of taking a cab to the original place) and the lack of a wait for a table.
If you’re looking for some excellent fried chicken, this is definitely worth your time!

Went here for lunch yesterday. It was absolutely delicious. The chicken is to die for and the staff was very attentive. Awesome location just off the street car line.

The food was awesome but the service was horrible.
The green beans were terrific, which I only had because they were out of Mac and cheese. We did have a large party (9) but we waited for over an hour to get a table. Once we were sat we waited 20 minutes for someone to take our drink order. We spent over two and a half hours here. And it really wasn’t that busy. No since of urgency at all. I had to ask 3 times to have my drink refilled.
The waitress is very lucky that the tip was included in the price.

This place has a better ambiance than the original. It’s spacious and clean. No stick floors. However, there is something missing from the chicken. Maybe it was just a bad day, but the chicken was missing something. It wasn’t as crispy. Overall, it’s still good chicken.

I finally… FINALLY tried Willie Mae’s…
Most important things… There was no line at this one, which is wonderful. No fighting with the crowds so this is a great location for your first try. There is ample street parking in the area so you should have no problem in that department. There are no private lots FYI.
Service. Service was good, we were seated and served quickly. Given recommendations on sides and staff was friendly.
Atmosphere. It was a very chill atmosphere with some good R&B lunch time music that had me wanting to start singing. Mixed vibe of friends and family at this location. They could accommodate small groups of 2 to 5 in my opinion based on their table set up.
Food. The chicken was very good. I honestly didn’t have high hopes at first, but it was seasoned to perfection and was a deep fried. I enjoyed it thoroughly!!! I had the Macaroni Sides, that actually had a little spice in it as well, which I found pretty good. Food was great!
Tips. Go at lunch and if you are a white meat person, keep in mind it will be an additional $ 3 charge.

I’ve read about this fried chicken being the best in the country for over a decade.
It was much too SALTY, too dark (old grease) and my hand was covered in oil. As though I had dipped it into a bowl of oil. It is obviously fried ahead, then refried with NO draining.
Enough Said
The sides, and I tried five were from good, some bland, some better then good, the butter beans were great, the Mac n’Cheese overcooked mush and greasy bland aka horrible. Albeit, most arrived cold.
The corn bread was also cold, bland, and they forgot the butter.
The service is abysmal.
ABYSMAL.
20 minutes for a soda in an empty restaurant, no silverware with food, no followup on requests, no glass with bottles of soda, no ice, no straw, no clue. 20 minutes to place an order.
If you can track down a server, they still won’t bring what you request. The manager was surly, indifferent at best, and had no personal skills whatsoever… this was consistent over three visits. It has the taint of reverse racism… you know it when you experience it…
There is little to no waitstaff or front of the house training and they have no interest in their reputation amongst costumers. The customer at Mae’s in never right and we are told we are expendable.
Skip It!

Absolutely horrible.
First off, the service sucks. I’m almost positive the kid waiting on us was coked out of his mind. I’ve never seen someone speak so quick and curtly and walk so slow in my entire life. We had to get up to receive drink refills, and it took almost 5 minutes for the cashier to fill up an ice tea and bring out a bottled water. There were only 4 tables in the restaurant with 3 servers and a bus person on the floor from the looks of it. I watched my food sit in the window for a good few minutes before anyone started moving to bring it to the table. Our meal took over an hour.
What’s with the disgusting canned peas thrown on the plate? Nobody wants to eat that.
The mac and cheese was ok, not great, but not bad. Sweet potato fries were actually the best thing we ate.
Now, let’s move on to the chicken. It was the greasiest fried chicken I’ve ever eaten. I love some greasy foods too, but it was so greasy I probably used about 15 napkins per piece of chicken. The batter would have been good if the seasonings were mixed properly. I had some areas where it looked like there were clumps or patches of pure cayenne.
We put in a to go order with our food for a friend at home. Upon finishing our meal, our server comes to inform us that the side we asked for wasn’t available. So after watching the entire staff just standing around doing nothing while we ate, we had to wait even longer for our to go order.
Overall, they did not live up to the hype. In fact, I wish I could have skipped that meal. My bowels would have at least appreciated it.

It is delicious. Just plain delicious. The chicken isn’t greasy. I just can’t figure out how they make such awesome food. Keep it up!

We tried this place after reading about the original Willie Mae’s Scotch House located in the Treme area. We didn’t even know they had a second location until we saw an ad in one of the local magazines. This location is conveniently on the St. Charles streetcar line. Thank goodness we decided to try it. It was, by far, the absolutely best fried chicken we have ever eaten. It was crispy, hot, juicy, spicy (but not too spicy) and it tasted like heaven on a plate. The sides were good as well — especially the mac and cheese. That was also some of the best we have had. The service was excellent as well, but then again, anytime you get great service along with sweet southern smiles, it just makes you happy.
Get more chicken than you think you want, and take the leftovers home. It is even great cold the next day!!!

Maybe more like 3.5 stars. I have eaten at Willie Mae’s Scotch House a few times in the past. This grocery and deli location is definitely much less crowded. This location is a bit bigger too. Definitely a plus, as it was always frustrating at the other location that you couldn’t relax a bit at your table after your meal. They would always rush everyone out to accommodate the long lines waiting outside.
We stopped in on Saturday for lunch. You order at the counter at this location and they bring your order to you. I got the fried chicken and paid the extra $ 3.00 to get white meat. The rest of my group all got fried chicken as well (one upgraded to white meat and one did not). My boyfriend got the fried shrimp. We all got different sides to split/​share.
I was not as thrilled with the fried chicken as I had been in the past. The breast seemed small and didn’t have as much meat. The sides were all fine. I probably liked the green beans and rice best.
It’s kind of pricey for the little amount you get. I would go back again, but not anytime soon.

I think the poor misguided folks who wrote bad reviews for Willie Mae’s had a different expectation than I did. Y’all, I am a fried chicken connoisseur. This chicken here is the same recipe as the original location and with no hour-​long line in the scorching sun. It’s fantastic. Not only that but,
*The staff was friendly.
*The Mac and cheese was excellent.
*I loved the red and white beans as well, but I’m typically partial to white with a shake of crystal hot sauce — which they have on all the tables! WooHoo!
*The sauce on the bread pudding is made with condensed milk so if you’re old-​school NOLA and want a taste of home, try it!
Caveat: There was a long wait for the chicken. It’s made to order. It takes time. Come with that in mind and a smile on your face and you’ll enjoy it as much as I did! Can’t wait to go back!

Total dud… so glad I didn’t wait in a long line for this. I have no idea how this place made it on the «21 best fried chicken spots in America.» The batter is just way too salty… and I like salty foods! The saltiness was so unbearably that I couldn’t eat the skin, when usually the skin is the best part of fried chicken. The crust definitely had a good texture, nice and crispy, and the interior moist. Just too bad that it was soooo salty.
My mother ordered the fish and that too had a salty batter.
As for the sides, the seasoned green beans was another dud. The rice with gravy was good; I ate it all. The mac & cheese was okay.
This place was NOT and winner.

We’ve been dying to try this place and thankfully, we finally did!
We went to the St Charles location, I believe there is another elsewhere but I’m unsure where. Two minutes down the road from Loyola University and just before you hit the end, prime location right on St Charles.
The interior looks great. The walls are filled with a variety of paintings for sale, tables and chairs fill the center with a row of walled chairs lining each side. There is also a bar section to eat at too if you’d like. Very nice interior.
Onto the food! I ordered the three fried (the other option is grilled) chicken tenders with a side of mac and cheese. Unknowingly though, the mac and cheese comes with peas. I would’ve preferred to lose the peas and double the mac and cheese but whatevs. I also tried a bite of their banana bread, it was just okay but a little too dry. The chicken was fantastic, a nice crunchy skin with soft meat inside with a slight spice to it, very pleased with it! The mac and cheese was pretty good also. I’m not a fan of peas but they were there so I downed them anyways. I also ordered their house lemonade, was good!
Overall, I’d definitely recommend Willie Mae’s to someone. The establishment itself looks great, the chicken was superb, and the meal sizes were decent. I didn’t finish mine so I’ll be having the left over tenders for lunch tomorrow.
Only downside for me were the unexpected peas and dry banana bread. Everything else was great!

3.5 stars. Came here because the original is closed on Sundays.
PARKING: Found parking easily on the street just a block down from the restaurant. It doesnt look like it would be that hard to find spaces.
WAIT: There was no one there around 11:45am so we got to order right away and then sit down. They bring the food to you.
ATMOSPHERE: It’s very clean, almost like a cafeteria inside with some long tables, some booths and a long counter to order at.
FOOD: I got the 3 piece fried chicken special with 1 side. For a side I got the fried Okra, but most people got the mac n cheese. The mac n cheese comes with 2 big scoops and a side of peas. For all dark meat they charge I think $ 1 extra.
The chicken itself was very tender, juicy and tasty. What disappointed me was the actual crust of the fried chicken. It was on the oily side and easily flaked off in whole chunks. It isn’t a crumbly fried chicken but was almost like a solid outer coating. It was crispy but not that good crunch that I like. It has a very dark color and is slightly spicy.
The mac n cheese was OK — it was nothing like the Joint.
Fried okra wasn’t bad, but after eating the fried chicken I didnt want to eat anymore fried stuff.
Overall, it was OK and a lot of the people in our group liked it but it wasnt the kind of fried chicken that I like.

I have wanted to try this place for a while and finally got around to it. I personally prefer chicken tenders over chicken on the bone and I looked at the menu before going and saw they did have tenders.
I ordered some fried tenders and sweet potato fries. The fries were pretty good, just the right texture. The chicken was not as good as I had hoped it would be. When it was brought to the table the it had steam coming off of it which seemed like a good sign that it was fresh and would be great. However the tenders were soggy and I found that very disappointing since chicken is suppose to be their speciality here.
Maybe my expectations were too high because so many people say this place is to die for but it is what it is. I probably would go back again and give them another try though, just in case my chicken was an isolated occurrence. They have to be doing something right to have such a massive following.

I’ve heard nothing but great things about Willie Maes, but I’m never in the 7^th ward and fried chicken is just an occasional thing for me. I was craving it today and decided to head over to this much more conveniently located offshoot of the original.
The place is set up to where you order at the counter and they bring it out to you. The cashier and food runners were super friendly. I ordered the fried chicken dinner with macaroni and cheese with peas with white meat. My friend Greg H. ordered chicken tenders with sweet potato fries, and then we ordered 4 cornbread muffins on the side.
Our food came out in about 10 minutes. My chicken came was hot, both in temperature in flavor. The chicken was obviously fried fresh, judging by the amount of steam coming off the chicken. I don’t eat fried chicken all that often but I definitely think Willie Mae’s is the best I can remember, anywhere. The mac and cheese and peas served with the chicken was good, not the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had but NOLA has a lot of places with amazing mac and cheese. The cornbread muffins were spot on flavor wise and were warm, but kind of dry. Greg H. ordered chicken tenders and I stole a bite-​those were disappointing; soggy with breading falling off. The sweet potato fries he ordered were delicious, but again not the best I’ve ever had.
Our meal came to around $ 35, which was pricey, but I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my fried chicken. I’d come here again, but not sure if it is worth driving all the way to the 7^th ward for.

Willie Mae’s Grocery and Deli
I was excited to try Willie Mae’s Grocery and Deli, on Saint Charles Avenue.** I’ve seen Willie Mae’s Scotch House, the original location on Saint Ann Street, oh, a thousand times on different cooking and travel shows. In fact, both The Food Network and The Travel Channel have awarded the title of «America’s Best Fried Chicken» to Willie Mae’s, so I was prepared to be dazzled.
We ordered three «America’s Best Fried Chicken» dinners (three pieces of chicken and a side dish /​$ 11.00).**** Two ordered the Macaroni & Cheese side, which included Sweet Peas, and I went with the Seasoned Green Beans, which included Rice and Brown Gravy. Sodas were $ 2.50 for 24-​ounces (yum, a tall, cold Diet Coke and steaming hot fried chicken. Heaven. On. Earth.).
Did I say hot fried chicken? Yes, in two ways, both temperature and seasoning wise. Willie Mae’s is generous with the cayenne (red) pepper in the Mac & Cheese and in the chicken batter. For me, it gave the food a refreshing, regional kick … the local, with his tuned-​to-​New Orleans palate, said he didn’t notice the pepper at all. The Macaroni & Cheese was very good and cheesy, and my Seasoned Green Beans, Rice and Brown Gravy were delicious.
Well, I wasn’t dazzled, but I was very well pleased, both with the quality, amount and taste of food, the value offered, the service (Thank You, Taty), and the whole combined dining experience. We certainly will return. Four Stars.
** Willie Mae’s Grocery and Deli is located in a great neighborhood. I only mention this because the original Willie Mae’s, on Saint Ann Street, is in a neighborhood that may not be so great. I do not know about the neighborhood, I only know that the locals (who drive me around) wouldn’t go to the original location because their concerns with the security of their cars on the street. They have no such concerns with Willie Mae’s Grocery and Deli’s neighborhood.
**** What’s all the carping about Wille Mae’s being expensive? First, chains often serve Broilers (chicken weighing up to 2 ½ pounds). The fried chicken we were served was clearly Fryer, (2 ½ to 3 ½ pounds) or Roaster (more than 3 ½ pounds) sized. The two wings and breast I was served were big and meaty and on the large size. No complaint here. Second, three pieces of fried chicken only is $ 9.00. The side of Mac & Cheese is $ 4.50, and the side of Seasoned Green Beans, Rice and Brown Gravy is $ 6.50. So, as I see it, the «America’s Best Fried Chicken» dinner (three pieces of chicken and a side dish for $ 11.00) is a good value.
On top of this, our cashier, Tatiana, rang up the party with the Senior Discount (55+, Tuesday thru Thursday, saves 20-​percent on the meals). Yea! [Wait, did I just yea getting a senior discount? OMG!]

I just LOVE people who knock off a few stars for a long wait at a place that just opened. Good Lord. Pro tip: if a place is new, expect a bit of a wait.
Like Katie A., I have never been to the original Willie Mae’s. I just never find myself in the 5^th ward when I am craving fried chicken. When I heard that there was going to be an Uptown location, I though to myself, «Hey, you’re Uptown all the time! Now you can go get chicken there!» and today I did just that.
I stopped in at about 2:30, and although the large lunch crowd had moved on, there was still a nice gang of people in there. I was still able to walk up to the counter and order pretty quickly. I decided on the three piece fried chicken with mac and cheese and peas. I also got a sweet tea.
The wait was maybe a little over ten minutes, but I could tell that they had just pulled the chicken out of the fryer, because when they brought it to me, it was literally sizzling! Definitely worth a wait for chicken that fresh.
I let the chicken cool a bit and I dug into the mac and cheese. It was so good, creamy and delicious with a lot of flavor. Finally it was time to try the chicken. I could tell that it was different because the crust on the chicken was golden brown and crispy. It must be that wet batter they use. So much steam came off of the meat when I pulled off the skin. I love it when you can tell that fried chicken is super fresh and hasn’t been sitting under a lamp. The meat was tender and delicious and was falling off of the bone– I couldn’t get enough of it. Three pieces (breast, wing, and leg) proved to be a lot, so I was happy to take the leg home to snack on later.
Although I thought the meal was a little pricey– $ 14, I definitely found it to be worth it, as I left the place full and satisfied. The staff was really friendly and nice and gave me everything I needed with a smile and I liked that a lot. I can’t wait to go back and get more of the delectable chicken.

I have never been to the original Willie Mae’s location, which is probably one of the worst things I have ever done to myself. This fried chicken almost made me cry. I’m thinking about it right now, almost 24 hours later, and I’m about to cry. Every bite more delicious than the last. By far, the best fried chicken I have ever had, probably in the top 5 best foods I have ever had the privilege of eating.
That’s right, food so delicious it’s a privilege to eat it.
The store set-​up is pretty self-​explanatory; order at the counter, get a number, wait for your food to arrive (whether take-​out or eat-​in). I got to try the chicken fried pork (unbelievable) and the red beans (delicious) in addition to my fried chicken and mac and cheese.
Honestly, this fried chicken is so good the cook could have come over and slapped me in the face and I still would have loved it. And him. And everything. And this chicken. I can’t handle it! My whole life is falling apart and all I want is Willie Mae’s fried chicken! Sentences are so hard!
Luckily the cook did not slap me in the face (at least not literally!) and the service was very friendly. The chicken takes a while to cook so they came over and refilled my water and asked if I needed anything. Very thoughtful. It was a little bit of an early dinner so maybe they just didn’t have much to do as it wasn’t crowded, but I appreciated the gesture.
In summary: I’m going to marry this chicken, just like Pee-​Wee married that… jello? Cake? I can’t remember. I love this chicken, and it loves me. We are perfect for each other, and I look forward to spending many an evening wrapped in its warm and delicious love.