Chicken-n-Waffles — Restaurant in Sacramento

Got Meat Lover Sampler. (Came with a waffle, two eggs, hash browns, two strips of bacon (beef, not pork), a chicken patty, and a seasoned “steak strip.” Waffle thin. Not crisp. Dry, really. Actual flavor okay. Reminiscent of what I would think a pumpkin spice flavor should be, more subtle than overpowering. But the texture spoke of the dreary thing too often encountered, like it was baked. Look, I’m not a food snob. Okay, that’s a lie in many ways. Still, if the name of the establishment includes “waffle,” the waffle needs to be at least good, if not really good. And good waffles aren’t baked in a civilized fashion. A good waffle means treating the batter, which should be thinner rather than thicker, with violence akin to criminal assault. That intricate waffle iron should be very very hot, and the batter has to include sufficient oil that it the waffle cooks by frying from the outside in, so the outside is crisp from searing abuse, while the inside is searingly steamed. The violent heat inside should be proven by some batter expanding to the point of spilling out, unless the measurement was scientific. This wasn’t a good waffle. And the butter was cold. Why is butter ever, ever served cold when it should melt atop a hot waffle? Plus the waffle wasn’t hot. (Of course the syrup was table syrup, not maple, but I’ve had much worse table syrup.) Scott asked, and I specified scrambled for the two eggs. They were fine. Notably more dry than I like, but nothing upsetting. I know some customers don’t like eggs moist at all. They were unsalted, but that’s why the salt shaker was provided. I finished the eggs. The hash browns weren’t bad at all. The outside had a nice crisp and browning, while the inside was fully cooked (although it was a close thing). Oily, sure, but hash browns aren't diet food. I finished them. I’ve never had beef bacon. It was fine. Clearly oven-cooked, but I’m good with that. Thinner than the thick-cut pork bacon that I like to oven-cook, but maybe thin is necessary with beef. Tasty enough. There was a ground bird patty. I wondered if it was turkey, but ruled that out in favor of a verdict that it was ground chicken. The seasoning wasn’t bad, but it was dry like ground chicken almost always is unless one adds some fat. I mostly left it on the plate. The “steak” strip. Um, the server didn’t ask how I wanted it cooked, and it didn’t occur to me to ask. What I got was well done. Which is not really a job well done, when steak is at issue. A nibble or too was too much, even though again the seasoning didn’t seem to be a problem. I also ordered the Grits and Shrimp, which includes cornbread The Grits The grits came in a stylized pan, with six shrimp in them, the grits dotted with bits of small diced grilled onions, small diced green peppers, and shreds of melted cheese that I’ll describe as “yellow” because I couldn’t be sure what it was. But make no mistake, I finished pretty much all of it. I ate all the shrimp. They were good-sized, not those tiny things you sometimes see. They were seasoned nicely too. They were cooked better than expected. Four of them were cooked pretty much perfectly, not overcooked. The fifth, well, if overcooked at all it was so slightly as to be worth only noting, not complaining about. And the sixth, while certainly overcooked to the point that I have to note it, it still wasn’t to the point that I hesitated to eat it. The grits were fine. Somewhere between hot and warm, no lumps, and I suppose creamy is fair to say but I think I like grits a little thicker. I don’t know exactly what the veggies added, but certainly something--I’m pretty sure the grits were better with them than without. I ate well over half the grits. With the grits came cornbread. It seemed to have been baked in a loaf pan, then sliced like pound cake, and the two slices had been toasted a bit. Faintly sweet. Not too dry. And anyway it beat the...

If you want soul southern food save yourself the trouble go to Torys in DPH. Call ahead to order to go. The service was poor... the waitress had an attitude, and slamming drinks down and forgetting them. we came for the ifatr from fasting and intially it was nice with cold lemonade and hot chicken strips... after that it went downhill. We couldnt get refills or water as needed the chicken breast and thighs were overcooked and dry. I tried to eat but the quality and dryness of meat and sog of batter was gross. I didnt want to complain but then we didnt even have water to wash down the food. I ate 3/4 a piece and my son eat less than 1/2. I could see they dont even take off the fat i decided i would just ask the manager if he can replace the chicken with the chicken strips and I would still pay 18.99 for 4 peice and 2 waffles. Plus we got the 3 sides for 12.99. I wasnt at all trying to be cheap. But asked him to make it right. he told mebc we ate too much of it not even half bc most of it was burnt bones he only give us 20% off..i told him no i just want some ckn strips like the ones they had served for iftar bc i know those were good. He finally said ok after i had to tell him look how dry this is it too $20 ?? He said ok when i said ill pay full price and will comp me strips instead they brought out wings. I just kept them. Smh. I noticed others were havinh issues too with wrong orders, no waters, not having a clean glass for water. Another guy got yelled at by the manager bc he had waited 40 mins. Lastly i jist wanted to leave bc I didnt want to be rude and my son asked the waitress 2times for a container for greens and she kept giving us the container rhat it not for wet food. I didnt like thos bc I didnt want the greens juice to spill and not one soul food place gives greens in the unsealed container. Leaving my son carrys it and sure enough it drops spills.... I ask at rhis point the only nice person there if they really dont have containera with a lid and she said yeah we do. Wow. The other girl just ignored the request. This is a disaster... 35.00 later. Smh. Mac n cheese was not good and the greens eh. Please if u want soul food go to Torys in DPH order ahead and thiwr dining is outside so plan for that. But u wont be disapointed and prices...

Huge mistake. HUGE MISTAKE. This is the saddest excuse of chicken and waffles...or restaurant in general I've ever experienced. Let's start with the service. The waiter had paint on his arm, the girl taken the clean dishes out the dish washer and stacking them apparently saw one of the dishes was still dirty so she decided to use her nails to scratch off whatever was on the plate and put it with the clean dishes. Brilliant! When the hostess sat us our table was dirty with sticky syrup every where and even though she saw it, I had to ask her to clean it. As you see in the pictures the tables next to us and the from the floor to the ceiling it was dirty. Tables stayed dirty for at least 10 minutes before anybody cleaned. Oh then the girl that was handling the clean dishes comes out holding a broom and dust puts them away, and goes right back to stacking clean dishes again. The waffles were way too thick and dry regardless of how much syrup we drowned it in. The friend chicken wings were way too over cooked and just look at the variety of sizes the chicken comes in. Weird. The steak in the steak omelets litteraly tasted like the pan it was cooked on with dried grease on it. So bad I told them to take it off the check. The chicken strips we're dry as well but the only reason I ate them was because I drowned them in hot sauce. I mean I try to be nice and sincere but this place doesn't deserve any good reviews and needs zero stars. Oh bathrooms has spray paint...