Willie Mae's Scotch House - New Orleans, LA

Posted By Michael Stern on April 11, 2009 10:41 PM

Willie Mae's got famous for fried chicken. The once-inconspicuous eatery in the Lower Ninth Ward has become a major destination for culinary pilgrims from all over New Orleans and beyond. It was raggedy before Katrina's devastation; the reborn restaurant is bright-white, clean, and welcoming.

The chicken definitely is worth a visit -- moist and dark-meat luscious inside an amber crust so fine and fragile that it tends to flake into savory shards when you bite into it. The brittle pieces of crust melt into a pure flavor halo around the meat they enclose.

The same luxurious envelope is available on what the menu lists as a chicken-fried pork chop, the chop's meat far chewier than chicken, but in its own way a grand crust companion.

If you are allergic to boiled-in-oil food (why are you here?), you can order a simple fried pork chop. There is no crust or batter -- just a hunk of pork plastered with a gigantically flavorful coat of seasonings.

Side dishes are noteworthy, especially the butter beans, which are large, silky pods with creamy flesh in garlic-rich gravy. Red beans are blander, leaner, but a rich and welcome starch alongside spicy meats. We even like the potato salad with its pickle smack and crunch.

Overall Rating

Fried Chicken

Chicken-Fried Pork Chop

Butter Beans

Fried Pork Chop

Red Beans

Sweet Tea

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Posted By Sean Fluharty on January 19, 2012 8:04 PM

Fried chicken is overrated. Not even the best in the city.

Overall Rating

Fried Chicken

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Posted By willette on August 5, 2011 12:57 AM

Our bus from St. Louis, MO went to Willie Mae's Scotch House, known for the best fried chicken in New Orleans. It was a disaster. The ladies there were very rude, not nice at all. We notified them months in advance that we would be coming and they were not prepared.

It was crowded; the lady said, "Can you all stand outside while we clean the tables off because y'all can't be standing all in here!" The way it was said: no caring in her heart at all.

We learned that Willie Mae is now 100 years old and turned it over to her granddaughters, who have no sense of how to treat people. They were very ungrateful for our business, so we didn't order anything and walked out. On our way out one of the daughters said, "So! Let them go, we get this all the time from people!" What? No hospitality at all to tourists?

No one apologized for the inconvenience. This is what happens when elders build an empire and allow the children to take over with no morals for business and customer service. So sorry, Mrs. Willie Mae, we didn't get a chance to taste your legacy. God bless you.

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Posted By Carl Perry on May 10, 2011 1:43 PM

There is no shortage of restaurants in the South advertising the “World’s Best Fried Chicken” (about as many as Texas joints with the best BBQ, I suppose). In New Orleans, a persistent claimant to that title is Willie Mae’s Scotch House.

Operating out of a renovated shack in Treme, Willie Mae’s next generation (she’s in her 90s now) carries on the family tradition that creates a line out the shack door each day from 11AM to 3PM. Photos of the family and local musicians, and a sign that says “Love served here,” decorate the walls.

The chicken comes with two sides (butter beans and a side salad for me) and homemade lemonade. Well, I must admit this isn’t like the fried chicken that I’m used to having (and that’s a good thing). Her coating is thin, light, good-tasting, and clings to the skin when you take a bite. Alone, it’s salty but it complements the chicken well.

The butter beans and lemonade were good comfort food and the side salad was upscale enough to look out of place in this neighborhood. There may be other claimants to the BFC title but right now Willie Mae, you are the one to beat.

Overall Rating

Fried Chicken

Butter Beans

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