Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles — Restaurant in Atlanta

It's a shame that after living in Atlanta for a little over two years, this past weekend was my very first attempt at Glady's and Ron's Chicken & Waffles. The wife and I were in town for a few reasons and found ourselves hungry early Sunday afternoon, and figured then was a good a time as any to finally try out the place. Since this was a first-time visit, I'm not sure about the typical scenario when trying to eat here, so I'll just share our overall experience relative to the thoughts others have posted.

Parking: To the immediate right of the restaurant (facing) is a parking lot that charges 7 bucks to park there all day and takes payment electronically. $7 might be a turn-off to some, but for the convenience I thought it was worth it. There's also mention of free parking to the rear of the place on the restaurant windows, but we didn't discover that til after we parked.

Wait time: After we snaked our way through the large group of people waiting to get a seat, in order to put our name on the list, a guy came in to place a to-go order and I overheard him tell another guy that on Sundays, the way to go is "to-go" since the wait time is ridiculous on that day. I'm not sure about others' experience(s) but our wait time was maybe a total of an hour real-time, instead of the 45 mins. the hostess mentioned. For us, that's a cake-walk compared to some places we've tried both in Atlanta, and even in Birmingham (i.e., 90-min+ wait). So - a non-issue IMO, especially considering how much worse it could be for a very touristy spot... in Atlanta no less. We stood outside and waited as a server/hostess would come out every few minutes to call the next group in to be seated.

Atmosphere: Not having been before, I honestly was expecting a hole-in-the-wall, with the attractor being the food; but the atmosphere is very clean, roomy, and appealing. Motown playing in the background, a TV or two playing sports/news/what-have-you, wait staff moving back and fro, temperature moderate - overall pleasing and comfortable.

Service: I know this particular aspect can vary even within a few minutes from one patron to another, but our service was pretty great. Our server (Angelina perhaps?) was very patient as we wound our heads around the fact that we wouldn't be able to try everything in the one visit. She was also attentive, thorough and helpful over the entire meal, and genuinely seemed like she enjoyed doing what she does. And after scanning the room a few times, taking pics and just absorbing everything going on, I never saw a server that didn't look cordial or professional. So w.r.t service, we found no issues.

Food: Comments on the food have ranged from "best fried chicken I've ever had" to "over-hyped frozen food" it seems. We thought the food was pretty good. Honestly the food didn't cause a soul-altering experience in either my wife nor I, but it was well-prepared and it was tasty. My biggest like was the fact that they serve salmon croquettes which I've never found offered at a restaurant. (Typically I only get them when I cook, or my mom does.) And they were deep-fried and great. With grits, cinnamon raisin toast, and an apple cinnamon waffle thrown in, I had a wonderful meal. Of my wife's fried chicken, collard greens, sweet corn, mac-n-cheese, and sweet corn muffin plate, I tried the former two things and I thought they tasted great as well. (She loved all of it, but extra kudos to the chicken.) So for us, the food met the mark also.

So, would I go back again? Yup. There are quite a few other dishes I'd like to try, and it's not often I get the chance to get my fill of soul food at a restaurant. Touristy or not, long wait or not, parking challenges or not, I think it's definitely worth a try. Whadda ya...

This way by far the WORST restaurant I have ever been to. From the time we entered the door the problems began. We walked up the the hostess counter and before we even finish a sentence we were given an attitude from the staff. We were told it would be a 25-30 minutes wait for a party of 6, which was perfectly acceptable. We asked how would we be notified that our table was ready. The hostess then replied with an attitude that we would have to call them every 15 minutes to check if the table was ready. Last I checked it was guests like me who funded your business, why do I have to call you for my table?? Anyway, we walk away and found a corner to stand in and the hosted starts yelling that we were all required to stand outside and wait.... it's the middle of winter and it's freezing outside. so we go back to car to wait out our time. 20 minutes later we call the number to check for our table and guess what?! It's just the regular restaurant phone that the hostesses don't answer! so we go back inside to ask about our table. The hostess ignores our question and asks if all 6 people are present, we replied no and she said come back when everyone is here. so we return to the car AGAIN to wait. Another 30 minutes later finally the majority of our party arrives, so we again go inside, the hostess tells us our table will be ready in 20 minutes. They again try to shoo us outside this time we refuse. 20 minutes pass and we're finally given our table, and our final guest is out parking the car. (There's a sign that says there is free parking but that's a lie we had to pay $10 to park) Our waitress asks where was our final guest and we say he's parking the car. She replies I can't serve you guys until he gets here and says she'll be right back. Now everyone is thoroughly upset but trying to salvage the night. We're reading the menu and we stumble across a small disclaimer that parties of 5 or more can't have the bill spilt and will only allow 2 transaction per table. That was the final straw. The waitress returns and finally asks what we'd like to drink and I reply I don't think we even want to eat here anymore. the Waitress replies "Oh. Okay." and walks away. Didn't ask why. Didn't ask if there was anything she could do. nothing. just left.

The food is NOWHERE NEAR as good to deal with the service I experienced at that place. Clearly they don't want money nor do they care about the customer experience.

N E V E R A G A I N! If I could give this location zero or negative stars I'd...

Visiting Atlanta from Philadelpha, I was excited and wanted to experience something of the "Southern" sorts, especially a place that received such raved reviews... I'm disappointed, disgusted and a bit sick to my stomach, in reference to my time there. I feel a bit remorseful because the place had such amazing customer service, they were awesome and punctual. Her recommendations were on point. I tried the "Midnight Train", fried chicken, large waffle and ordered a side of Mac and cheese (I'm nauseas again). There was a list of red flags that I'd normally use to help in making a decision about where to eat (since I rarely allow anyone to prepare my meals), but being on vacation, I wanted to attempt to trust someone in the kitchen... Here's a short, but nerve wracking list about this place: There were no "sassy" turkey wings, nor any other,turkey products; I was advised to visit a different establishment. (I really appreciated the gesture of suggestion, but I'd really had my mouth set on Gladys' turkey wings) The restroom had toilet tissue, instead on paper towel, to dry wet hands The restroom's floor was slippery (traction on my boots were useless). Received the food. DELICIOUS beverage, a mix of iced tea and lemonade! Disgusting, rubbery and floury tasting waffle... The chicken was good & well seasoned. Took a forkful of mac and cheese, only to pick around it because someone had given me the scraps of the pan it was baked in (I could tell because it was crusty and burnt. A good remedy would be to add half and half to the recipe and maybe leave out the egg). The Mac and cheese had a HAIR baked right into it, made me so upset, my appetite had settled itself into the pit of my stomach, along with the sour thought and taste of the entire experience. My waitress was truly the best! She was able to get the mushy waffle made over; by the time it'd came out, the hair, had made its debut. She had brought out the manager, who apologized and made sure we were taken care of. I really hope that this establishment takes care of and appreciate its staff, they made my time there comfortable, though I'm still grossed out. Gladys, Ron, whomever... You all have a great location, nice comfy seating, engaging decor and a beautiful staff, why was my experience not up to par? I visited to see if your turkey wing recipe would rival my own. Guess I'll...