In all the time I have lived in Atlanta, I never made it to Gladys Knight and Ron Winans' Chicken and Waffles until t his weekend. I think part of the reason was because I had always assumed they meant waffle fries and not an actual waffle. Once I heard it was an actual waffle, I felt compelled to go. Chicken and Waffles??? I had never had such a combination before, so we gathered a group up and decided to try the famous Atlanta establishment.
The wait was pretty long, with the line spilling out into the sidewalk. I've actually seen people crowded around this area before, but I never realized that they were all waiting to get into Gladys Knight's. I just thought they were loitering. The wait was nearly as bad as waiting to get into a brunch place in Atlanta on the weekend. Occasionally, the hostess came out to call names, it was like the lottery, "is it me? is it me?!? awww...." Finally, it was our turn. How exciting! We even had one group try to pretend to be ours to take it. I gues s you can't blame them for the attempt.
The interior was relatively nice. It seemed to surprise most new comers - I had heard several people in line comment on it. The restaurant is clean as are the bathrooms.
Service: From start to finish, I have to say that the service was great. Everyone was very polite, professional, and personable. We questioned our server when he didn't write a single thing down for our large group, but he said that he had not done so all day. When we were all done ordering, he quickly repeated our order back to us flawlessly and proceeded to the kitchen. Our order came out in a timely fashion and everything was in place. The only thing remotely flawed about the drink orders is that they did not refill drinks very often and our glasses were taken away from us when we they did so, which is a nono in most restaurants. Still, I loved the service and our guy was awesome.
Food: Some food was better than others. If you go, I suggest getting the fried chicken and a separate waffle rather than the midnight train, which comes with wings.
- Things we liked:
- Sweet Tea : not the best but pretty good and not too sweet. It is better than the Uptown, which is their version of the Arnold Palmer
- Fried Chicken: I liked their fried chicken. It wasn't out of this world, but it was pretty darn good. It was fried evenly on all sides and came out in a beautiful golden color. It was also not overly greasy or salty. I only wish that it had just a bit more crisp.
- Baked Chicken? I didn't get this, but the person at our table devoured it so I'm assuming it is pretty acceptable
- Grits
- Fried Corn
- Black Eye Peas
- Corn Bread
- Waffle
- Things that were just okay
- Wings: The people at our table liked them but weren't raving about it or anything...in other words, the wings aren't worth the long wait in line
- Mac & Cheese
- Mash Potatoes
- Things I'll never get again
- Collar Greens: Surprisingly, these were not that great. I do like collard greens, but these were a bit tough and there was something about the taste that didn't work for me. I've had hospital greens that have tasted better. (but to the defense of the restaurant, the hospital greens I had were pretty good)
In summary, I'd go back again if a friend were in from out of town or if the wait happened not to be so long. The service is great as well as welcoming. It's something I suggest every Atlantan do at least once.
