Chef Marilyn's, Queen of Down Home Southern Goodies — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Oh lord, this place is forever running out of things, and often very early in the day at that. I'm talking really basic stuff...like freaking white rice. Huh?? I don't understand it. If you know Fridays or Sundays or the second Tuesday of the month (or whatever!) is going to be busy, why are you not prepared to cook more items? You'd think it was a sign of good business but from what I've seen, it appears to just be sheer laziness and lack of foresight.

The fried chicken, oxtails, neck bones, backed chicken and smothered pork chops are delicious though (although the pork chops do require some additional seasoning at home as they're meaty but rather bland). The various sides and veggies are great except the macaroni which is a hit and miss with me. Some days it's VERY dry, flavorless and impossible to find any cheese, other days it's gooey and delicious; so I really don't know what the deal is. The spinach is surprisingly, really good (they don't serve collard greens and tbh I've always suspected it's because who ever does the cooking doesn't know how to make them anyway but whatever) and so is the succotash.

But remember how I said they were always running out of things? Yeah, don't think that was just limited to the food. Random things like hot sauce are a bummer but understandable however, not long ago they also ran out of styrofoam containers for the food to be placed in. Yes, we actually had to wait a good 20+ mins for someone on staff to run and purchase more containers from Smart & Final. Which, is RIGHT across the street. But not before all the cashiers/servers disappeared to the back for a few minutes doing who knows what and not telling any of us standing in line what was going on. Very poor customer service.

Also, and I feel bad for saying this but all the cashiers/servers run their damn mouths way too much. I have no real issue with cross talk but if you can't talk AND serve at the same time, then maybe you...

Amazing staff, friendly and patient. As for the food, it's just okay. It used to be amazing.I've been going here since it opened. I used to drive across l a county for food at Marilyn's. Now, it's not so great. The portions are smaller, the prices are outrageous. Their oxtail side is $18! That will get you what they describe as three large and too small pieces. In my experience, I've always ended up with mostly fat and bone. So now that the price is SO high, I would never order it again. I know the cost of everything has gone up exponentially in the. Recent past, but their prices have been high for years.

This is why I have such a huge problem with soul food.Restaurants. i can't figure out why it's always significantly more expensive than the average neighborhood restaurant. I got smothered chicken, and I want to say it was about $6 for a breast.And I think the other pieces were $4. To make matters worse, the breast that I purchased was dry, even though it was smothered in gravy!

Frankly, the food doesn't really taste home cooked, anymore, it tastes like packaged gravy and instant rice. Now i need a new spot. Oh, well! Nothing can be great forever. I'm very sad about writing this review, especially for a Black+woman owned business. The economy is bad, and it's going to get significantly worse. I think small businesses should be really cognizant of the fact they are competing for a smaller pie of consumer dollars. This means that small businesses should be figuring out how to survive. Maybe your profit margin has to shrink a little when the economy's rough, and then you make it up when everything bounces back. It's not a sustainable business model to deliver less value at a higher price, especially when you made your name and built your business reputation on delivering more value at a...

I was an employee at chef Marilyn's for approximately four to five months. During, my experience at the restaurant, I noticed several things including some of the intoxicated customers. I was verbally abused, antagonized, harassed & attacked by not only chef & now new manager Ms Capri but also a customer with a knife during closing. I was not properly trained being told I had a attitude problem, moody, I like to argue and don't listen based off personal feelings chef Marilyn held against me for no reason from not wanting to give a hug when expierencing a close death. Other employees overheard chef Marilyn & new manager ms.Capri talking about me saying that they was firing me for no reason that's when I volunteer quit especially after chef Marilyn did not pay me correctly. it's a lot going on at this restaurant on hush hush (Functioning Addicts including chef Marilyn I discovered). The experiences with overall most customers was good however the experience in the restaurant was unorganize. I work holidays with chef Marilyn and told her she didn't have to pay me because other employees step out on her, catering orders was being canceled and all I wanted to do, is just work, please the customers, get paid fairly and enjoy life but chef Marilyn had some personal vendetta against me after I've been loyal and dedicated dispite other employees walking out on her, stealin, & her calling me unanoticed on my off day to come in and work. A loyal...