Willy's Mexicana Grill & Howlin' Willy's — Restaurant in Atlanta

This was my second time dining at Willys for this year. My first experience was amazing and it led to me returning there today to treat my boss to lunch. It started off well. I was very excited to order since we were eating lunch later than usual. I ordered the chicken Baja for myself and the steak Baja for my boss. When the line cook was making my order there was some cheese sauce drizzled over the rice, and I was ok with that, and ask if she could perhaps drizzle a little more over the other side of the rice. Before she could even speak the supervisor/manager Cole chimed in and said "$1" I was like just for a little drizzle he replied "$1" in a very aggressive tone. I was a little taken back by his demeanor and a little embarrassed as if I could not afford the cheese. I proceeded to paying for the order and noticed that there still wasn't any cheese after I agreed to get the side ramekin of cheese. After we reached this point I was a little upset. I got my drinks and went to the table out on the patio. My boss, who is disable, frequents the restaurant being he lives a block over from the restaurant needed a spoon. I went back inside to get a spoon. Cole states "I don't sale soup so therefore I don't need spoons" I told my boss his statement and he said that he always gets a spoon. I went back in to explain his situation and Cole once again said, in a very aggressive tone "I don't have spoons" my boss then went back in to ask and he was aggressive with him as well. At this point I am very upset with the whole thing. We had to leave the restaurant and go to his house so that he could eat something. I am sure Willys does not agree with such behavior of there worker Cole. My boss has cerebral palsy and he has to have certain things to function. We should not have to go out and deal with this type mistreatment. He enjoys this place and that's why I chose it. He knows that he will get great service every time. Cole seemed to have had preconceived notions of the type of people he thought we were, but I will have to say that he has sadly mistaken us and its sad. I will hope to one day return to this restaurant with the intentions of receiving top service and proper accommodations without being pre judged based of certain character and...

Just stopped in Atlanta for my fantasy football draft and I’m staying with my friend Erik Minonsohn. His place is much nicer than I expected. I fall asleep and the next morning we pick up my friend Jared Friedman and they take me to Howlin Willys. We step in and are greeted by Flo. Possibly the nicest woman I’ve ever met in my life. We ordered the tender basket which came with three sides. We used two of the sides to get the ultimate fried and the last one to get the Mac n Cheese. Oh My God. Best fries I’ve ever had. Smothered in cheese and bacon. Wow. And the mac n cheese wasn’t anything to scoff at. Creamy and rich. Delicious. And finally the main event, the tender basket. Eight crispy, juicy tenders covered in Buffalo sauce that made my lips quiver. The hairs on my arm stood up. Something that makes your mama say, “oh baby, now that’s a good tender”. After a delicious meal we started to head off but not after a sweet goodbye from Flo. What an experience. Any chance I get for the rest of time, I will come back to Howlin Willys. Do not make the mistake of missing out on this masterpiece of an establishment. I will come again, and then return to...

Howlin' Willy's somehow manages to be one of the better fried chicken restaurants in Midtown. Their chicken is made to order, hot (like actually hot, give it a few minutes or you'll burn your mouth hot), crispy, and with just the right level of spice (4 options to choose from). Their sides are okay - fries are good if you like crinkly shoestring, baked beans and cole slaw kind of seem like an afterthought though. Comeback sauce is slightly better than average, I'll give it a B+.

Despite the somewhat lackluster sides, the chicken is easily better than Chick-Fil-A, a real surprise really since this chain is known for (checks notes) burritos I guess? I don't understand why they made a taco with fried chicken and fries in it though, it must have been popular in the customer tests. One advantage of sharing the space with the typical tex-mex variety of Willy's is their guac chicken sandwich is seriously good thanks to having fresh guacamole ingredients on hand.

Overall, for a pilot store I like their chicken more than the Shake Shack next door. So I'd say they've successfully proven the...