Table Of Content
While the menu at Willie Mae’s Scotch House features items like fried catfish and a seafood platter, we’re not sure who orders those dishes. To us, that’s like ordering chicken or steak at a seafood restaurant. We recommend ordering the mixed fried chicken platter which is what we ordered during both of our meals.
Eater New Orleans
Tonti Street in New Orleans during his visit to New Orleans for 10th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina Thursday, August 27, 2015. We decided that the only way for our ill-conceived plan to work was to call Willie Mae's ahead of time to order our chicken. I called Kerry, whom I had gotten to know when she and her grandmother came to New York a few years back to receive an America's Classic Award from the James Beard Foundation. Buy us a coffee if you want to support our ongoing efforts. During our first visit, Mindi went the classic route with sides of peas and macaroni and cheese.
Ownership
In fact, the place was now totally packed with a combination of neighborhood folks and conference-goers who all knew that Willie Mae's bird is the word. It takes serious nerve to describe your food as the best. However, in this case, the made-to-order fried chicken lived up to the illustrious description.
Lunch At Willie Mae’s Scotch House
At 3am Monday morning we woke up to news that Willie Mae’s Scotch House was on fire. After a thorough investigation we know an electrical fire triggered the sprinkler system and both left the restaurant severely damaged. Southern Foodways and its volunteers had done an amazing job.
Fried Chicken

Beignets, oysters, and gumbo are all on the Mt. Rushmore of New Orleans’ greatest dishes, and the fourth spot is reserved for the fried chicken at Willie Mae’s Scotch House. Located in the Treme, this place is vintage NOLA at its very best and feels more like you’re eating in someone’s house than an actual restaurant. It closes at 5pm daily and waits can be upwards of two hours during the lunch rush, so we recommend going for a late lunch around 3pm. They’re temporarily closed because of a fire, but you can order their chicken for nationwide shipping. We’re not just saying that because of the menu’s description.
The only thing missing was Willie Mae herself, no longer well enough to stand at the stove frying chicken in her cast-iron pans. We took one of them and told our server we had ordered ahead of time. I went outside to take some photos, and when I returned, someone else had taken our table.
The backstreet Treme restaurant is widely acclaimed for its fried chicken, and it’s known as one of the city's oldest Black-owned restaurants, with a story of community and family running through it. Willie Mae's is a local and international favorite, known for its simple menu and famous fried chicken. Willie Mae Seaton started serving her delicious chicken over 30 years ago.

Since launching the site in 2012, they’ve traveled to over 40 countries in their quest to bring readers a unique taste of the world. UpdateWe returned in 2021 for a repeat lunch at Willie Mae’s and the food and service were just as good as we remembered. Although we felt safe walking through the shabby, gentrifying neighborhood filled with corner shops and shotgun shacks, we weren’t sure about our decision to take a two-mile walk for lunch on our last day in New Orleans. The restaurant and its neighborhood were devastated by the levee failures after Hurricane Katrina.
We’ll take it one step further and say that eating this fried chicken is a must during any New Orleans itinerary. Willie Mae’s Scotch House is widely acclaimed for its fried chicken, with its crisp, tawny crust and subtly peppery backbeat, and for dishes like smothered veal, lima beans and pork chops. Today, Willie Mae's has run a second restaurant in Los Angeles since 2022, and it ships packages of fried chicken and sides nationally through Goldbelly.
We were hooked from our first bites and still smitten as we covertly licked our fingers after the final bites. We reminded ourselves that this is what we do when we travel… We walk and eat and then walk and eat some more in an ongoing quest to find the best food in the world. A New Orleans restaurant with decades of history as a neighborhood anchor is facing a challenging new chapter. Any parties of five (5) or more, a 20% gratuity will be added. NO EXCEPTIONS.Anyone sharing plates will be charged a $4.00 plate charge due to limited capacity.One (1) ticket per table. President Barack Obama stops at Willie Mae's Scotch House for lunch at St. Ann and N.
She continued to run her homie Treme restaurant as it grew in popularity and even made her way back to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to keep her secret recipe alive. In 2005 Willie Mae won the "American Classics" James Beard Award for local restaurants that keep regional culinary traditions alive.With international acclaim and the love of an entire city, Willie Mae Seaton passed away in the fall of 2015. Her great-granddaughter, Kerry Seaton, continues to run the restaurant and preserve this incredible local gem. Beloved fried chicken restaurant Willie Mae’s Scotch House suffered a tragedy on Monday, April 10, when a fire took over the building at 2401 St. Ann Street. Located on the edge of Treme, Willie Mae’s is a cultural institution in New Orleans and is beloved for having some of the best fried chicken in the city, if not the country. Opened in 1957 by Willie Mae Seaton, the establishment is now run by her great-granddaughter Kerry Seaton-Stewart.
300 unique New Orleans moments: Willie Mae's Scotch House established in 1957 - The Advocate
300 unique New Orleans moments: Willie Mae's Scotch House established in 1957.
Posted: Sun, 10 Dec 2017 08:00:00 GMT [source]
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Willie Mae’s Scotch House in New Orleans claims to have America’s best fried chicken. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The Scotch House, pride and joy of both its octogenarian owner, Willie Mae Seaton, as well as anyone who appreciates perfect fried bird, had been flooded and basically destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. Thanks to the Herculean efforts of the Southern Foodways Alliance, however, it had been rebuilt and was now being run by Willie Mae's great-granddaughter, Kerry Seaton (right). Some updates are major while others are minor link changes and spelling corrections. Let us know if you see anything that needs to be updated in this article.FundingWe self-funded our lunches at Willie Mae’s Scotch House.
We don’t know how she makes such succulent chicken on a grand scale. Although we saw the fryers working their magic in the kitchen, it’s still a mystery to us. Food travelers flock to Willie Mae’s based on accolades bestowed by the likes of the James Beard Foundation, the Food Network and the Travel Channel. The restaurant staff handles the crowds with aplomb and grace. In other words, don’t feel dismayed if you encounter a long queue when you arrive at Willie Maes. Our favorite places to eat in the land of above-ground cemeteries and excellent Creole food.
For the morning of the fire, restaurant owner Kerry Stewart-Seaton pledged to reopen. Today, she says the steps to get there are slowly progressing. It just proves that you can't stop two hungry food writers determined to score some of Willie Mae Seaton's miraculous fried chicken, now lovingly cooked by Kerry.
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