Surprised no one has posted here about Willie Mae opening up for takeout/delivery from Colony Kitchen. It was over an hour wait time. Order from the Colony website.
I ordered the 2 chicken with side, dark meat. It was the best fried chicken I’ve ever had, and I have had Howlin’ Ray’s numerous times. The crust was a delicate crispiness like I’ve never had in fried chicken with just the right amount of heat, not too hot.
The restaurant, located in Venice, won’t open for a little while, later this year, I guess. But this place is really worth all the hype
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so the pick up estimate of 7 minutes on the colony website is bullshit?
yup, but the fault is on Willie Mae’s.
This is infinitely closer than is HR, so I’ll def give it a try (maybe in few wks…).
Thanks for the early report.
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apropros of teh influencer thread, this opening is all over my instafeed
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It never ceases to amaze me how much people love bragging about eating for free.
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Interesting that they up-charge you for both options…Joseph Heller would be proud of this little Catch-22.
They have to give you something for your $16.95, but they don’t have to give you a choice.
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I’ll take option #4 skip
Jeez. $17 + tax for 2 pieces of chicken and I don’t even get to pick what I want?
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To be fair, it comes w/ one side and a piece of cornbread. Although I actually would just be fine w/ the sandwich (and wouldn’t mind paying less for JUST a sandwich).
To me, charging extra for dark meat in and of itself doesn’t seem that weird. Charging extra for breast and wing does. Is the $0 option just basically whatever they have the most of that particular day? It this like chicken sandwich omakase???
::snort:: This place is so close by that I know I’m going to have to try it, but, yeah, the menu selections are a bit off-putting (and I hate the Colony b/c there is basically no one to contact about customer service issues).
Edit: I just noticed in an article posted in another thread (about ADB) that Ctrin has opened a chicken place on Main (in Santa Monica). Hmmm…
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Ngl i miss just going to benito’s for rolled tacos The whole experience of using the touch screen just takes too long even when there is not that many guests ordering. If they took orders and it wasn’t such a hassle to order is go there more often
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Preach.
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I suppose they could give you two wings or two drumsticks if they want. The floor’s the limit!
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given that theyre running out of a ‘smart kitchen’, the operations people probably figured they could both make extra money charging for choice, and better optimize the use of their chicken inventory in the cases where people dont want to pay to choose
Ah, I missed the side. I guess that doesn’t seem bad then. I was just inclined to be annoyed by the upcharge for any choice, lol.
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I finally tried Willie Mae’s at The Colony, and while the wait was damn near a hour (ordered at the counter), that fried chicken is fuckin amazing. It is the perfect amount of spicy flavor with a delicately crunchy batter and each bite is packed with flavor. I followed the reheating instructions on the bag as I took it home and ate it later.
This might be the best fried chicken in LA. I had Howlin Ray’s two days prior and I prefer Willie Mae’s. Don’t get me wrong, the whole bird at Howlin Ray’s is amazing as well, but the flavor and spice on Willie Mae’s just does it for me.
The mac and cheese was good and the red beans and rice average. Cornbread was standard fare. But wow, that fried chicken is worth the wait. I advise ordering online 1 hour earlier, picking up and reheating at home. We also got a crunchy shaved kale salad at Goop Kitchen which was pretty tasty.
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Went last night and elected to pay upcharge for breast and wing. Chicken was excellent but I thought the candied yams were too sweet (maybe that is the way it should be) and the corn muffin was meh.
The Venice location has indoor seating and it was almost full early evening.
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Don’t go to the ghost kitchen in WLA. 
So bad it makes me not want to try the brick & mortar in Venice.
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Supposedly Hiho, https://www.hiho.la/emenu-main/, has it. I haven’t been able to bring myself to order it as their burgers are so good (request extra napkins).
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Funny, I like Howlin’ Ray’s chicken sandwich better than their fried chicken, but I prefer Willie Mae’s fried chicken over their chicken sandwich at Hiho.
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