Wilma Jean
“Ok, I understand that Seersucker was turning into a fast-food-fried chix haven (and BORING), so I will updated my review.”
“Fried pickles are the best I've had in the neighborhood– here's looking at you, Hope & Anchor.”
“The Tator tots with pimento cheese wasn't my favorite but it was ok with my palates.”
Wilma Jean
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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You know that ugly sweater your mother gave you like 10 christmases ago? The one that only you and you significant other know about, and you would definitely kill them if they told anybody else? The one you keep at the back of your closet, praying that no one would see it because they'd only judge you? It's your favorite sweater. You know it. You feel guilty about even feeling this way about something so ugly. But on a cold night, it's the only thing you want to wrap yourself in. Well, that my friends, is how I feel about about the chicken sandwich at Wilma Jean.
The first few times I went to this place, I felt like something always kept going wrong. Bad sides one night, bad service another night, took forever to get my food the next night. I tucked it away toward the back of my fried chicken list, yet for some reason, I kept going back. Like the call of the sirens… like a force of nature… that simple sandwich kept me coming back. Dark meat, potato bun, lettuce, DONE. No fancy frills, no sauces dripping down the side… hell it looks like it was slapped together at a Micky D's… it's that ugly. But put the appearances aside and appreciate the simplicity. It's simple for a reason, and that's because the seasoning of the chicken speaks for itself. It's a damned good sandwich.
Added to which, after a couple years of going here now, the service has definitely gotten better: less pretentious, more smiles, more promptness. The sides are still lacking but honestly, I never stray very far from the sandwich or the chicken itself (which is also pretty good).
Wilma Jean chicken sandwich… you are my ugly sweater.
So this place is really just OK. After hearing about it in Time Out New York, I was excited to have a new place to try near me. My friends and I came here for lunch on a Friday and there were not many people here so we didn't have to wait for a table. The place is small so I imagine on the weekends and at night, this place fills up pretty quickly. We shared the fried pickles and the pimento cheese dip and chips. The pimento cheese was fine but fairly tasteless. The fried pickles were good. They breaded them in corn meal, which is pretty traditional to the South. The ranch that came with it was again, fairly tasteless. My friend got the fried chicken tacos and said they were pretty good. I got the black bean burger with american cheese. The burger itself was pretty good, however wet lifeless lettuce accompanied it. I picked up the lettuce and quite literally, water dripped off of its wilted lifeless body.
The service was less than desirable. The waitress was no where to be seen for most of our time there. It took us a long time to get her attention when we needed her. There were 2 other tables with people in the restaurant. So she wasn't helping them.
The meal was fine but a bit underwhelming. Prices are pretty much expected for the area. I probably wouldn't come back.
YUM. While I wouldn't go too far out of my way to go here, but I do appreciate it very much. It's casual and the food is solid. It's clean and comfy inside, so it feels homey. The staff is sweet and friendly. PLUS, prices are cheap.
Like I mentioned before, the food is solid. It's simple, but tasty.
– Fried Chicken deluxe ($11): deluxe just means adding lettuce, some red onion and tots for an extra $4. The chicken is crispy and juicy, and they use those classic potato rolls for the bun. The tots are exactly as you'd expect – fried to perfection. While it's not the biggest sandwich, they did give more chicken that I was expecting.
– Chicken Tacos (2 to an order): literally just cut up pieces of their fried chicken, a little sauce and some herbs on tortillas. There are condiments on the side, so you can add ketchup, mustard, vinegar or honey to top it off
– Mac and Cheese: small serving, but definitely cheesy! Had the macaroni been just a little more al dente, it would've been perfect.
Cool atmosphere + good food + appropriate prices = happy customer. Came in for a bite and I was SO happy it was not a up-its-own-ass sort of place selling fried chicken on china plates. The food was GOOD, they know their stuff and they don't over complicate it or over charge. I had the classic fried chicken sandwich and tater tots, boyfriend had fried chicken tacos. No complaints from either of us. They also had a good craft beer selection, awesome servers, and cute interior. This will def be a stop when we have people visiting and want to get some good, hearty food in them.
wonderful southern joint in carroll gardens area. came here on a saturday afternoon and had happy hour for all draft brews (think it was around $4 a pint). good choices to be had too. well, we came for the fried chicken and it didn't disappoint. I am still in my california phase so I had the fried chicken tacos and the chorizo with eggs taco. both delicious. I washed it down with a sweet tea (why not right?). I also had a side of the tater tots. not a big fan of the tots and it gets pricey ($4 for an order and additional $1-$2 for toppings). probably would get an order to share. overall, lovely place to get your soul food fix!
Supe duper delicious. I've had this place bookmarked since reading their rave review in NY Mag. Dropped by for a late Thursday night dinner with a group of 5. The chicken sandwiches and the burger with the pimento cheese were every bit as good as I'd hoped for – and larger than I had been expecting after reading the yelp reviews. We also shared an order of the fried pickles, which were a little denser than suits my personal palate.
The space is small, clean, and casual. The waitress had trouble transcribing my order, which was a little frustrating but we ended up with the right food, so it worked out in the end. Will definitely visit again if I'm in the area.
3 1/2 stars….While I was initially unimpressed by my first few visits to this establishment, I will chalk that up to the typical growing pains new places go thru. In the intervening year, and subsequent lunches, the place has steadily grown on me and I can say I am a legit fan.
While this place wouldn't necessarily impress many southerners, it is certainly very solid by NYC standards. The kitchen displays a deft hand with fried chicken, although oddly enough I found the traditional forms of fried chicken served to be the less impressive demonstrations offered. My favorite items here have been the other forms of the fried bird, like the now extremely ubiquitous fried chicken sandwich (which seems to be steadily gaining on the hamburger in terms of profile on menus across the city), on a substantial potato roll with a buttermilk dressing doubling down on top of the buttermilk brined bird meat. Slightly lighter yet equally delicious are the fried chicken tacos, served on fluffy flour tortillas reticent of the kind that envelop Austin Breakfast tacos. A larger tortilla surrounds the fried chicken burrito which includes said protein as well as two of the better sides, hoppin john rice and lighter than average collard greens.
Aside from the chicken I have enjoyed the gut-busting burger, made all the more decadent when you chose to add pimento cheese to it. I was less impressed with most of the other sides, included a relatively flavorless mac and cheese and house-hyped tater-tots, which seemed pretty average, even when doused in the aforementioned pimento. Servers have been professional and chill, space is pleasant verging on neutral. A solid happy hour, which now starts at noon, where all of the quality draft beers are happily 4 bucks and a few can options are even more happily reduced to 3. This alone is more than enough to make up for the lackluster sides and earn it the positive half star and functional , and serve to make it one of the better lunch options in the borough currently, at least in these more yuppified quarters.
Really Really really amazing fried chicken. Wow. I found this place randomly and thought why not. I tried the fried chicken recently at Root & Bone and Sweet Chick and I was so disappointed so that meant I was still on the hunt for the perfect fried chicken in NYC!
I got a single thigh piece and it was amazing. It was out of this world – freaken moist and juicy as heck. It wasn't dry and there was so much taste. The batter was also perfect – not too much, while maintaining that crunch. The only thing I didn't like about it was that the thigh was small =( I wish it was bigger.
Burger with pimento cheese and bacon. Skip the bacon. You can hardly taste the bacon. The burger itself was the amazing fall apart in your hand kind. It was so damn tasty and delicious and I wish I had the whole thing to myself. I was sharing. The pimento cheese complimented it perfectly. I've never had pimento before and it was amazing. It went so well with the burger meat. The bun was nothing special. There was not enough bun and it kinda fell apart while eating.
Fried pickles – I loved fried pickles, but these were a tad on the disappointing side. They were too hard – the kind of hard where you can tell something has been refried. Not sure if this is what happened to my order, but give these a pass.
Fried bologna sandwich – this was pretty good too, but it's nothing you can get full off of. It's something to try and for $5, it's decent. I wouldn't order it again, but do try it.
This place has my favorite fried chicken in all of NYC. Other places in the city just don't compare. I will definitely be back.