Ma Lou's Fried Chicken — Restaurant in Ypsilanti

Good service. The food was pretty good, except twice while eating the fried chicken I detected what was either the combination of berries and garlic, or something rotten. I didn't get sick but it was utterly disgusting. I kept eating at first because the scent and taste were so fleeting that I wondered if it was just my taste buds. The rest of the piece was totally fine. The second time I got the flavor, a day later in a piece that I saved to eat cold, I just stopped and examined the rest of it carefully. No bad smell or visual appearance of rot, but ugh that taste was really foul! If they really do use some berry in the batter, I didn't like it. If there was some rot in there, oh well, it happens sometimes and it's nasty, but no one was hurt. Otherwise the flavor was really quite good. I thought the potato salad was wonderful (it contains dill) as was the coleslaw (it contains celery seed).

The a la carte chicken comes in three heat levels. They can them Southern (no heat), Medium (hot) and Hot AF (very hot). I would dub those heat levels Mild, Very Hot, and Foolish Dare! I like spicy hot food, but to me even the Medium was just unpleasantly hot. The Hot AF was still tolerable, but just not enjoyable. So don't order it hot unless you want it very very hot. I guess this is Nashville Hot style? I didn't think it was flavorful, just a burning sensation. The fried chicken batter is pretty thick, and rotten individual bites aside, quite delicious in its mild, unsauced form.

I don't know what to do about what seemed like possibly some rotten food except to write about it here. If other people have the same experience I hope they'll write it up here too. If there is actually some exotic spice or berry in the recipe, I'd like to know because I'd put up with that flavor again as long as I knew it was harmless, just to see if I could learn to appreciate it. Heck, I eat kimchee and I love it, so why not an unusual new seasoning?

The biscuit donut is an interesting side dish. It's a buttermilk biscuit with a hole cut in the middle, deep fried and sugar glazed. It's dense and only mildly sweet. I liked it, but I only give it 3 out of 5 stars. Other people are more impressed with it than I was, but it's different, so it's worth a try.

The price was good in my opinion. It wasn't cheap but I feel like I got a good value (as long as those funky bites weren't rotten food). I really appreciate the a la carte menu so I can order exactly what I want and not get stuck with items in not really interested in.

I think I'll try it again and see if I get the same odd, rotten flavor and I'll update this review. I had a similar experience at a Chinese restaurant in the area and managed to repeat the problem. It gets rave reviews and I am stumped as to how people are eating rotten pork there and not realizing it. I will never go back to that other place. I'm pretty picky, but I've only gotten what seemed like rotten meat in two restaurants in 20 years. The Ma Lou's situation may have been a fluke. I...

I placed a large catering order for my office. Even though we avoided paying a $50 delivery fee for a less than 8 mile round trip by having a employee pick the food up there was still a mandatory 18% gratuity. Now my experience with Ma Lou's up to this point has been incredible. Food is always good, service always great. This is why we were willing to at the gratuity knowing this restaurant was going to be something special for our employees and worth the money.

We have about 4-5 vegetarians in the office, (when placing the original order) I asked for 5 tofu sliders. The order arrives and they are no where to be seen. I immediately call the restaurant and end up speaking with the OWNER "Casey" he states his apology but said there is nothing he can do, he cannot deliver to us to fix it. He then proceeds to argue that what we paid for is what we got and that anyone of those 5 people can come in and get a tofu slider anytime on him.

Now imagine you work at a busy hospital we've already had to coordinate getting someone to pick up the food and we've paid this ridiculous fee expecting the best food and service you can think of. We now have my program manager go to the restaurant to pick up the sliders we are missing. The owner shows no real remorse and is not willing to make adjustments, gratuity regardless of being required, is for a job well done and being grateful for service. I am still the customer spending over $500 and excited to share a new restaurant with my colleagues and this is not how we should have been treated. Unfortunately you have lost a loyal customer with this type...

The food is decent. The prices are high. The restaurant is dirty, tables and chairs dirty and not wiped down in between customers, food crumbs all over the place. The young girl who was our cashier was WAY TOO obsessed with her personal phone. How about wiping tables and chairs, sweep..get off your phone!! A HUGE TURN OFF is the fact that the back of the kitchen faces the parking lot, where customers park....We watched an employee blow "snot rockets"😪😤👃😤😪 multiple times while bringing food out of the kitchen to be placed in storage (they have to access the walk-in freezer by going outside). This particular employee transferred food at least five times and each time would blow a "snot rocket"👃🤮😤 rub his hands on his face and nose, fling his snot off his face onto the sidewalk and steps going into the kitchen, handle the food, touch the railing on the stairs, the doors and the food again...not once washing his hands and was not wearing food prep gloves. I was so disgusted and disturbed by what I witnessed. Leaving me wondering how the food is handled in the kitchen before it goes to the customer. I personally won't be going back after witnessing the disgusting behavior and an obvious lack of care for hygiene and standards when dealing with food. Totally not compliant for Health Department...