Willie Mae’s Restaurant - Venice: Experience the Best Southern Cuisine in Los Angeles

Here's my breakdown: - Parking out front is time limited but it's free and usually available. I believe there's a paid lot behind the building. - I dined in and the service was cool. - The food was good; the fried chicken and gumbo were very good. The mac, yams, cornbread, etc. were all solid. - The price is right. All things considered, prices are very reasonable. Willie Mae's is probably going to be my new default soul food spot (even though it isn't necessarily classified as 'soul food'). They don't offer greens but they have other soul food staples like mac n cheese, yams, etc. It's definitely better than my usual soul food spot (I won't name drop. I'm not trying to make them look bad). You should definitely check Willie Mae's out.

Yummy southern style New Orleans cooking! Corn bread was delicious and fried chicken very crispy. Red beand and rice were the best! Vegetarian options through the sides. Friendly staff and great atmosphere! Parking options on the street or behind building.

This place is nothing like I’ve had before. First of all, the ambiance of the restaurant is awesome. The service from my waitress, Bri Collins was warm, friendly, and very helpful on the menu options. The food came out fast and hot. The texture of the chicken was crunchy, juicy, and very tasty. The sides, oh my goodness, we’re some of the best I’ve had a restaurant. All were seasoned well and if you look at my pictures, I devoured the entire plate. I would definitely recommend going to this place. Don’t sleep on this good food.

We had heard that the famous New Orleans Willie Mae's fried chicken had opened in Santa Monica so we decided to try it. We expected to arrive at a regular restaurant but instead it was one of those kitchens where you can order from various restaurants on a self service/ordering system, but that did not deter us at all. We were happily greeted by Louis, who was eager to assist us and make our ordering as easy as possible, since we had never experienced something like this before. Louis had some great recommendations so we placed our order. The meal came out after about 20 minutes in to go containers. We sat outside at the location and dove right in. We were pleasant surprised that the chicken was moist, well seasoned and absolutely delicious! The sides of French fries, corn bread muffin and macaroni and cheese were just as good. I can say that we enjoyed our meal and we will be back for more! Thanks, Louis for your help and great customer service!

I have been here three times with families from Australia. I have also ordered food to take home. It's a great place for southern comfort food. It is smaller than their location in New Orleans, but has many of the quality and offerings. There is a small vegetarian options by ordering the sides. Serving was big. We recently went for DineLA, and for less than $20 you get two pieces of chicken and two sides plus corn bread. Try the lemonade, it is so good. The staff was attentive when we went, but there was a time when there was only on staff (so be patience). The food were well seasoned for the times that we have eaten there, and the sides are large enough for sharing.

Wheww this place Fire. Some of the best gumbo I ever had. This was the taste of New Orleans truly. The fried chicken was scrumptious. The gumbo was the best thing of the house truly I could eat just that. The cornbread was soft and fluffy the red beans full of flavor and some great Mac. This is not a place to miss. Eat here get full and be happy

Not as good as the original in New Orleans, and the ambiance of the restaurant itself is pretty disappointing. Chicken was good if over-battered, but the flavor was solid. Sides were ok, we liked the mashed potatoes and the Mac and cheese.

Five stars for food and three for the wait brings us to 4. Food was truly N'awlins inspired. The gravy on the mashed potatoes tasted as if someone had splashed gumbo over them. Deeeelicious! Chicken coating was so light and flaky, it was almost floating. Juicy birds, too. And a bit of a peppery kick. The Brussels sprouts were unique in flavor and cooked down almost like southern greens. Half thought the cornbread a bit dry, the other half did not. Let us know what you think. The biggest drawback was the 35 minute wait for our food. And when we arrived, it wasn’t even that crowded. However, they do a strong Uber Eats business so there’s always a lot of orders waiting. We'd go back for the food but we'd make sure to arrive an hour before we intended to eat.