Betty Maes — Restaurant in Huntsville

Can't believe I've never left Betty Mae's a review. I've been visiting since before they moved from their old location on Grace. The food is very, very good.

Their new spot is on Memorial Parkway and definitely has more of a restaurant vibe than their old one. It's a clean and comfortable place where you order at the counter and pour your own drink (there are only four drink options, by the way: diabetes inducing sweet tea, lemonade, and Kool-Aid, along with unsweetened tea). To my knowledge, all food comes out in styrofoam containers.

They offer changing meats from day to day, and a fairly diverse number of them, at that. Fried chicken is a mainstay, though, and Betty Mae's competes with G's for my pick of "best fried chicken in Huntsville." I would say that G's is generally juicier, but Betty Mae's tends to have more flavorful breading. Both are delicious; I think it just depends on what kind of experience you want and whatever your preference is on a given day.

At any rate, I always go for white meat fried chicken. I tend to be given a breast and a whole wing with my meal. Plates run for about 11 bucks and you get a meat, two sides, a dessert, a roll or cornbread, and a small drink. Considering how loaded these plates are, it's a good deal.

Yesterday, I selected yams and macaroni and cheese as my sides. For my boyfriend's plate, macaroni and cheese and fried okra. We both selected rolls, banana pudding, and sweet tea to complete our meals. Service was a touch surly on this visit, but the food came out quickly and kept extremely well on the drive home.

Overall, the food lived up to how I remembered it. Delicious soul food that'll keep you full the whole day, no problem. Betty Mae's is not afraid of salt, sugar, or pepper: this food is seasoned. One of the bigger pieces of yam was slightly overcooked, but the rest was perfectly soft and sweet. A word of warning: their sweet tea is a touch too sweet for me, and I love very sweet tea. It'll hurt your teeth! The banana pudding comes with an abundance of Nilla wafers, as it should.

Definitely check out Betty Mae's for some of the best soul food in the city. ...

Aug 2025: I went again in January and then a couple of times in April / May. I ordered different things, and I cannot put my finger on it but something is not right with the food. When I went either it was too much seasoning or not enough on the sides. I am not sure what changed but there has definitely been a change. The catfish is still good but until they get the sides together...I stopped going.

I visited twice before writing this review. I also previously frequented both G's and Sac's Kitchen. I will say this place is the best of the three!!!

What I loved... the catfish it is the best ever the outside is crispy the inside is soft and tender) absolute perfection, yams are just right, couple it with the cabbage and the cornbread. Then finish it off with red velvet cake or peach cobbler you cannot go wrong.

Pardon my pictures, I went on two different days. The first time I went, I had catfish, yams, and greens. I was really hungry by the time I made it home, and I started eating before I took the pics. So that is not how your food comes for the fish plate.

What I liked was the chicken and dressing (it was a little salty but still edible). I had dressing at other places, and it just was not right. The flavor profile here is the closest I have found to my homemade dressing. The chicken was tender falling off the bone, and it was good. The greens were okay, but I prefer the cabbage.

The things I tried but will not order again...the menu says banana pudding but I noticed the young lady wrote down cookies...so I am guessing it should be cookies with banana pudding drizzle or something but it was not banana pudding. I like baked mac n cheese, so this type is not my jam.

Overall, this is my go-to Soul Food place. The food is good, the people are nice, did I mention the food is good? The icing on the cake is for the price you pay for your meal, it also includes a drink and dessert.

You have to come check out...

I went on a Sunday and was highly disappointed. My fellow co-workers stated, "The chicken was really good." So I decided to give them a try since G's was closed. I ordered the fried chicken which was awesome! I also ordered a couple of other plates which included: Chicken & dressing, mac-n-cheese, mashed potatoes, and greens. The dressing was"NOT" homemade, cornbread dressing from scratch but instead was "stove top" stuffing. The mac-n-cheese was "NOT" homemade but tasted like Velveeta shells and cheese, and the mashed potatoes were watery w/ lumps. The chicken that was dumped on top of the "stove top stuffing" was full of oil, and apparently was reheated from the day before because it wasn't fresh. The oil ran into the other sides, and leaked outside the container. I usually cook, but decided to treat my boys as I had to be at work within the next couple hours. Service was not together. They couldn't decide who's order was what, and fixed a couple of orders twice because there was no communication as to who was fixing what which delayed my orders being fixed. Over all...the fried chicken was the only thing eaten. Maybe it'll get better with time. I just hate I spent money, and...