Buddy's Chicken & Waffles — Restaurant in Tacoma

This review will be deleted once Buddy reads and acknowledges it—I’m not a hater, just passing along my experience because I see a lot of potential in this place. I’ll replace it with a five-star review once it’s been seen.

When I arrived, the line wasn’t too long, which was great. I placed my order but accidentally got plain buttermilk pancakes instead of the strawberry shortcake. A few minutes later, I asked if I could pay the $4 difference to upgrade, but they said I’d have to place a whole new order. By the time I went back up, the place had calmed down with no one in line, so it would’ve been nice if they had let me upgrade instead of making me put in an entirely new order.

Here’s where things got a little frustrating. After waiting for a while, one of the employees serving food mentioned that my takeout order had been ready “for a while.” I was surprised because I hadn’t heard my name called. He explained that they don’t call names or notify you—you’re just supposed to keep checking the counter. That didn’t make much sense, especially since there were multiple bags up front with no names labeled. In a busy restaurant, having customers constantly crowding the counter to check for their food doesn’t seem practical. Unfortunately, by the time I got my food, it had clearly been sitting for a while, and the fries were soggy.

As for the food itself, the strawberry shortcake waffle was fantastic—definitely something I’d get again. The chicken quality was good, but the spice execution was disappointing. Rather than being evenly seasoned, they just dump a heavy layer of seasoning powder on top of the chicken tender or fillet, leaving the bottom completely plain. This makes every bite overly salty and spicy on top, while the bottom has no seasoning at all. It would be much better if the spice were incorporated into the breading or marinade. The honey mustard sauce was solid, but the “Buddy sauce” didn’t stand out.

One last (slightly picky) note: I hope the strawberries are being cleaned thoroughly—maybe using the vinegar technique you often see on TikTok—to ensure they’re properly washed.

Overall, I do like this place and see a lot of potential. I’ll definitely be back. Once Buddy acknowledges this feedback, I’ll delete this review and leave a five-star one because I genuinely want to see the...

I've been to Buddy's several times. Obviously, the food is pretty good for me to return more than twice.

The service is always nice. There's one young lady who's always there and I love her kindness and level of professionalism. She's always smiling, helpful and kind...I wish I had gotten her name.

My last two visits have been disappointing to say the least. I won't discuss the previous experience because it pales in comparison to this visit.

I've previously given rave reviews and it saddens me that I can't now.

I'm not upset about the long wait. Any reputable restaurant has long lines. Especially on a Saturday with nice weather.

My problem is with the quality of the food I was served. I ordered the strawberry shortcake waffle. The strawberries were ridiculously over ripe and covered with gramcracker crumbs to cover it up. I would have returned to the restaurant but, I didnt discover it until I was home and I don't live in Tacoma.

Second, the chicken, I've never had fried chicken where the crust (that wasn't skin) falls off on its own. Also, I was asked if I wanted spicy chicken to which I said no. I ended up with spicy chicken.

Third, the atmosphere, I don't expect any public establishment to blare explicit language in whatever music it plays. I don't listen to music although I grew up with it. When I'm hearing F-bombs and other foul language in songs, I'm not returning to that establishment. I don't care how good the food is.

Even if I wanted to dine in, which I didn't, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy my meal. I understand music has changed over the decades but, this was ridiculous. I understand young people, I have young adults and grandchildren. I happened to have had one of my granddaughters with me. Fortunately, she was listening to an ebook and didn't hear the music.

In any event, this was my experience. All the best...

I thought I had left a review for Buddy's during my first visit but I saw I didn't so I am going to remedy that as these guys deserve all the glowing reviews. I first visited Buddy's when they were at their previous location, thanks to Side Piece Kitchen mentioning how awesome Buddy and his food is. We tried their strawberry lemonade, strawberry shortcake waffle, banana pudding waffle and 2 pieces of chicken. Once we put in the order, we got our order after a few minutes of waiting and a nice female employee dropped it off to us while being very pleasant.

It's been a few years since then and I heard that Buddy got his own location which is awesome, as I also follow him on social media as well. We saw that BECU was partnering with Buddy's to give customers a free waffle to celebrate Black History Month so we wanted to do a quick visit as we also wanted to get some other food and drinks as we did errands. I got the red velvet waffle and a mango sweet tea while my boyfriend got the cookies and cream waffle. I can tell you that their quality and consistency is still stellar and the customer service is friendly and helpful. The mango sweet tea was also refreshing and not too sweet.

I love their new space too as it isn't too bright but light enough to take good pictures. They had plenty of seats and tables as well as a huge Connect 4 set up. I loved the choice of music as it was just chill vibes while we enjoyed our meal. You also can just leave your dishes and trash at the table when you leave! We weren't sure if we were supposed to clean our own table or not but I asked our cashier who kindly let me know that we can just leave it there and they will clean it up. Also, after we ordered, there was quite a line afterwards which is great as they truly are one of the best...