Wilma Jean

Okay, straight to it … Chicken on a stick is dark meat full with nerves that I politely spat out into my napkin, so gamey yuck !
Mac and cheese okay. But the chicken sandwich not white meat at all, batter was bland. I actually had to use so many condiments It was almost as if I re-​seasoned my own entrée .
Plus side very kid friendly, flip side tip included for horrible food.

3 ½ 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.

I was going to give this place 4 stars but the service was so good I bumped it to a 5.
I had the chickens sandwich for lunch. The chicken was GREAT! I just wish there was more chicken in the sandwich as some bites of my sandwich was just bread. That’s the only reason I would give it 4 stars.
My sister had the thigh dinner and loved it. Again, the chicken was delish. She really like that the collard greens were raw with a light dressing that she said was great. She had a side of mac and cheese. I ate half of it! Creamy deliciousness. I hate grits but according to my sister it was also great.
They did mess up our order though. They put cheese on my sandwich when I asked for it without cheese and initially brought the wrong chicken dinner out for my sister. However, this mistake was quickly remedied without attitude AND our meal was practically free because of it! We didn’t make a fuss about it or anything and they still comped most of our meal. Thats what I call great service. Our entire lunch came up to $ 11!
Hey, maybe my review is biased but $ 11 for GREAT food, good service and a good time gets 5 stars from me every time!

YUM!
My go-​to is the chicken thigh dinner! The fried chicken is moist and flavorful. Cheese grits are the perfect texture. Collard slaw is delightful. They can be heavy handed with the salt so I always order with no additional salt.
They delivery with trycaviar but not all items are available, including the chicken thigh dinner.
It’s family friendly, open, friendly and very affordable for the quantity and quality.

Nice atmosphere with somewhat limited menu. Ordered fried chicken dinner Homemade lemonade is good– on the tart side. The fried chicken may not be the best I’ve ever had, but it ranks high. The chicken coating is really crisp and nicely spiced. The chicken remained moist after the fry and I enjoyed it down to the bone. Cornbread was a bit overdone though served with a nice sweet and salty butter. Coleslaw was just ok. I’d return. 3 ½ stars really.

I was excited to try this new spot in my old hood. It did NOT disappoint. We grabbed a quick lunch to go, and the one woman working was helpful and pleasant. I had a fried chicken sandwich and fried pickles, my friend had a veggie burger. No lie — the fried chicken was the best I have ever had. It was amaze-​balls. I left 4 in stead of 5 stars because the rest of the sandwich (just bread and lettuce) was a bit of a letdown. It wanted tomatoes or pickles or cheese. But the chicken is amazing — trust. And the burgers looked and smelled insane. The fried pickles had a little too much «fried» and not enough «pickle,» but the price was shockingly reasonable.
In this neighborhood of transplanted Manhattanite wanna-​be hipsters, I expect to pay $ 16 for toast, but this place won me over with an $ 8 sandwich. Reminds me of the old days when you could actually be in the first wave of gentrifiers… Sigh.

The chicken was good, crunchy. My only complaint was it was a little too salty. Tater tots were
nothing to write home about. Service was fine. I’d come again for the chicken & try some other sides.

Came here for dinner and ordered the chicken dinner (1 breast, 1 thigh, 1 drumstick, a side (I got okra chips), and coleslaw), cheese grits, and a side of cornbread. The skin on the fried chicken was deliciously crispy and the meat inside was moist and flavorful. I was a huge fan of the okra chips, but I’ll probably skip the cornbread next time. It had a distinctly smokey flavor that took away from the sweetness of the cornbread. Plus, the chicken dinner comes with a roll which was far more enjoyable than the cornbread. The cheese grits were good and not overly cheesy. The okra chips were yummy — well salted and crispy.
Great service, great food — will definitely be back.

Came here for dinner with two friends. All of us being from the South, we had high expectations. The service was fast and friendly and the lemonade was very good. The waitress mistakenly gave me the wrong dish, but that just meant that I was able to go home with a free chicken sandwich. I had the chicken dinner and the cornbread. Both were good, but not amazing. The cornbread came with a specialty butter that I couldn’t figure out how to use effectively. Still it was a nice spot and we had no complaints. Ate the sandwich the next day for lunch and it was definitely tasty, even out of the microwave.

While the food here is pretty good, it’s just too overpriced for what it is. Chicken wrap for $ 12? Tiny side of fries for $ 4 that seems like it should be worth $ 1?
Okay fine, the happy hour was reasonable, but if you are coming here for food expect to pay more than you would want and except to leave unsatisfied.
Overrated.

Was happy to see a new Southern place on Smith Street. Seersucker never did it for me, even though the two are sister restaurants.
Wilma Jean does it right by making the food cheap. It’s all good heavy Southern comfort food in this joint. I like the cute, simple décor of the place. Went with a group of friends for lunch. I got the fried bologna sandwich because I really wanted to try it (had an amazing one in Nashville and was hoping this would be similar). However, I did get a drumstick a la carte, just so I could try the fried chicken. Also had to get an order of cheesy tater tots, because cheesy tater tots.
The fried bologna sandwich was several slightly thick fried bologna slices with mustard on a buttered and toasted bun. It was as advertised, but pales in comparison to the thick, juicy bologna slab I had in Nashville. Oh well. For $ 5, I ain’t much complaining. The fried chicken was definitely good, but not the best I’ve had. The flavor is good, but it’s a bit more oily than it needs to be. I’d rank this solidly in the middle. The cheesy tots were delish! As yummy and unhealthy as you’d expect. I do wish the tots had a little more structure to them. It seemed that they fell apart right when I picked them up.
Also tried the burger that others in our group ordered, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was quite an excellent burger. You wouldn’t expect this from a fried chicken place, but it was legit.
Service was on the slow side. Everyone seemed to be waiting for their food. At one point our orders came up and they literally sat there for nearly 10 minutes while the waitstaff bused tables, made drinks, refilled salt shakers, basically, did anything but serve food, so that was annoying.
Still, this place works as a cheap filling meal and has great burgers!

I’ve been looking for a place like this since moving to NYC two years ago. Good Southern food in a casual atmosphere at a good price.
The fried pickles were some of the best I’ve had in the city. They were crisp (crunchy-​crisp, in a good way) and not soggy at all. And the buttermilk dressing was just the right thickness.
Collard greens: just the right amount of saltiness coming from the country ham. Couldn’t get enough of these!
And the star of the show, the fried chicken didn’t disappoint. The brined meat was moist and practically fell off the bone. The breading was crispy and had a bit of a kick to it. You can tell someone has put some love and care into this bird.

We tried this out based on an eaterny list of best burgers in NYC. And it is yet another stop for us in a mini-​tour of NYC burgers.
And this burger KILLED. We dropped in around 5:30 on a Saturday afternoon. The place was quiet — but really filled up during our stay. We were tempted by the fried chicken — but stayed on burger course. We both had a Double-​Burger with Pimento Cheese and Bacon. It was a mouthful and super delicious. Really one of the top burgers we’ve had. When you had a bunch of high end burgers it gets hard to pin-​point what makes one stand out from the other. But somehow this one just did. Maybe it was the double patty — more crispy caramelized surface area — but still nice and red and juicy? Maybe it was the spice of that pimento cheese? Maybe our mouths were just perfectly ready at that moment? Maybe we were drunk? (probably not)
The fries were pretty good. But as noted in our other reviews, we are from Quebec and are hard to please. We go for a fresh-​cut heavier double fried fry — and less for the thinner lighter MacDo style popular down around these parts. But these were solid.
We washed it all down with a couple pints of Ithaca Flower Power and were pleasantly surprised that they were $ 4 b/​c we ordered during happy hour (4−6pm).
I think a return trip is in order. A full four stars.

If you are watching your caloric intake, this is not the place for you. That being said, if you want a sinful, give zero f’s about a healthful meal, well then, look no further, you’re in fried chicken heaven.
First of all, I like this whole build your own meal style. You could go ahead and opt for the chicken dinner but I prefer getting 1 piece of fried chicken, an app, and a side. which will pretty much come up to less that $ 15 so… winner winner, chicken dinner! Chicken on a roll is delicious as well. Get the pimento cheese and put it on everything, like the tater tots because those are scrumptious.
After dinner, do not pass go, do not go out to the bar, just go straight home for a food induced coma. You may not have eaten a lot a Wilma Jeann (or you did) but being that everything is pretty much fried, you are so ready for that nap. So sweet dreams little Unilocaler, your tummy is full of greasy goodness.

Smith street needed a place like this
Chicken sandwich with tater tots and good craft beer
About $ 15+/-
Will definitely come back

A small, casual restaurant. The food is ok.
We stopped by around 1pm and there were some tables finishing up. The table by the window was empty and we asked to sit there, but the server told us they were saving that for big groups. So we sat down at one of the center communal tables, but after ordering, the person who said we couldn’t sit at the table at the window offered us the table since the restaurant was pretty empty by then. Honestly, I was pretty annoyed when she refused to let us have that table in the first place, but at least she offered it to us later. I guess it looked bad since the restaurant was pretty empty at that time and it was just two of us and we were going to be quick since we only took about five minutes to place our order.
This place seems like a child magnet. Most of the other diners were parents with their kids.
The chicken dinner came with a small thigh, breast, and drumstick, and a side and roll. The chicken was overall good. The breast was pretty juicy. The thigh and drum were less tasty, which is surprising because usually the dark meat is juicier. The batter was fine, very simple and straightforward. The chicken came with a spicy sauce that had too much of a kick for me.
We also had the chicken sandwich. It’s made with dark meat and comes dressed with a spicy aioli. The sauce was more suited for my spiciness tolerance. It’s kind of a small sandwich, but I think it’s priced ok at $ 7.
The sweet tea was more ice than anything. Nothing special.
Overall, the food is fine. The space is cute, but small. Definitely a very casual place. Too bad the first interaction regarding the table happened, it was just kind of off-​putting to me.

i was VERY disappointed in Wilma Jean’s. I am sorry to even say this aloud. I think the owner, Rob Newton, is great and somewhat of a genius, but this place almost sucks. one word to sum up Wilma Jean’s? SALTY. (well.besides BUMMED)
I’ve known Robs brand for years. everything he does is always amazing. wellWilma jeans doesn’t fit. We came here for a celebratory brunch. we were seated immediately. the service is definitely NOT lacking. everyone was amazing. the food came out promptly. between the three of us we ordered
–fried chicken sandwich on potato bread
–chicken on a stick
–fried pickles
–tater tots
–coke slaw
–collard greens w ham bits
The best thing about any of the items was the collard greens. Other than that one item, everything else bright disappointment. The fried pickles had too much breading on them. Basically the tater tots and fried pickles were just bad-​they were too salty and the oil they were fried in was the major flavor. The potato roll was straight out of a bag of buns, still cold. The chicken was eh. Seersuckers chicken was WAAAAAY better. supposedly it’s the same recipe but this chicken was made without love or something because it was indeed different. the most surprising part was the cole slaw: it was wilted and tasted old.
I’m not sure what’s going on… but this place did not meet my expectation. maybe I came on an off day, who knows. it was brunch time though. and one thing New Yorkers are serious about is their brunch!

I really was hoping to give this place at least 4-​stars. Any place that has a good southern menu (collards and grits) and a place that reps my middle name is always good on my list.
But let me say I think this is a good spot — just not southern lovin great if you know what I mean.
It’s a nice setup inside and I like how they have the long picnic style tables for people to pile in. We had a seat at the bar for less wait and had a great lil spot.
My friend had the Half Fried Chicken meal with a roll, coleslaw and potato salad and I had the Fried Chicken sandwich with mac n cheese and collard greens. Both chicken entrees were good. While I am a soul food lover, I am not a total fried chicken connoisseur — I’m more of a side dishes gal.
My friend’s potato salad was good — the coleslaw was fine — but forgettable (bummer I love that stuff). My collards were OK and mac n cheese was better. But the portions were somewhat underwhelming. Not that I think we need to stick with American (massive) portion sizes, but I felt that these were pretty small for $ 4 each. I ate the collards in about three bites — so I had to keep my sharing to a minimum.
Usually when you buy separate sides they have at least the amount to allow for others to sample. Nope. I mean this is a southern restaurant, so you really want to feel like you are indulging and not sampling a few bites. It’s the one place you want to leave a bit hurtin — in a good way, ya know?
But overall, it was a good experience. The people who worked there were great and attentive, the beer selection was good and affordable ($ 5).
Given this place is fairly new I think it’s OK to keep them on the southern food list — but for now it’s not at the top.

So, if you’ve read the Brooklyn food blogs, you’ll know the whole history behind Wilma Jean. Basically, Nightingale 9 and Seersucker played musical chairs, and Wilma Jean replaced Seersucker as a much more affordable fried chicken shop. And when I say cheap, I mean it.
The beers were cheap ($ 4 – 6 a pop for most). You could piece together (no pun intended) a chicken meal a la carte.
Or they offer a full chicken dinner (half chicken plus a side and slaw) for less than $ 15.
I wasn’t too hungry, so I just went with a drumstick and a thigh (at $ 3 and $ 4 apiece, respectively).
The chicken was a tad more oily than I prefer. The breading wasn’t too heavy, and it fell off the meat a bit too easily (likely because of the oil). A little less oil, and I think the skin could’ve been crispier and held together a lot more. The chicken was juicy, and the mild hot sauce they have on the table went really well with it.
I also shared a bunch of sides with some friends. We did the fried pickles, okra chips and the chorizo corn dog fritters (from the daily specials). I’ve never been a big fan of fried pickles, so these were just par for the course. The okra chips were pretty good (not as deep fried as the frickles). The chorizo corn dogs were the best app. Great dipping sauce too.
Service was good, and the atmosphere is what I guess Unilocal would call «trendy». It was a little bit too warm inside though.
I’d definitely recommend it for a cheap meal and a cheap beer!

After restaurant musical chairs from the group that owns half the spots on Smith St., we end up with this amazing new spot, Wilma Jean, in the former Nightingale 9 spot (which has now moved to the old Seersucker location).
Nightingale 9 was very good, but I didn’t get the overwhelming praise for Seersucker. Now, this newest spot is a home run with some really incredible food. We basically tried the entire menu, and while we probably could’ve eaten this much on our own, we had another couple enjoying this excess with us for once:
— Pimento Cheese & Crispy Tortilla Chips ($ 5)
These were ok. The chips could have been hotter, but they were decently crispy.
— Fried Pickles ($ 6)
These were really great. I’m not usually a fried pickle man, but I loved these crispy little circular chips. They were light on the batter but had a really a nice crunch.
— Fried Chicken on a Potato Roll ($ 7)
Excellent. Like a much higher quality version of a #6 from Wendy’s (that was the number of the Spicy Chicken Sandwich Combo, at least back when I ate it everyday in high school).
— Fried Bologna Sandwich ($ 5)
This is the thing all the food blogs are talking about here, and it really is delicious. Served on a soft potato roll like the chicken sandwich, it’s topped with a generous amount of the salty, delicious bologna, along with mustard and pickles. At $ 5, this really is a steal and a must try.
— Double Burger ($ 10) with Cheese (+ $ 1) and Bacon (+ $ 1)
Wow: this was the surprise of the night, and in a very very good way. No joke, this is a contender for one of the best new burgers this year. You of course have to make it a double, and then add the bacon and cheese, for a really impressive specimen. The patties are somewhat thin, but still had a nice pinkness in the center. The sesame seed bun couldn’t have been more perfect for the juicy, messy burger. The draws here so far have been that bologna sandwich and the chicken, but you would be wise not to overlook this incredible burger.
— Chicken On A Stick ($ 5)
This was great — 4 very juicy, big pieces of chicken on a stick. They had some really nice spiciness and seasoning too, making for a great snack.
— Chicken Dinner ($ 14)
Wow — we split the 3 pieces among us. I tried the breast, which was really excellent. It was the perfect example of what fried chicken should be — very crispy, but very moist skin, and incredibly juicy meat. If you don’t spring for the whole dinner, so that you can try some of the other stuff, at least buy a breast a la carte ($ 6).
— Seasoned Fries ($ 3)
Pretty good. Nice and crispy and hot.
— Tater Tots ($ 3)
Standard tots, which means they were excellent. Again, fried to nice golden, crispy perfection.
— Mac N Cheese ($ 4)
Like the previous 2 sides, this one was also quite a small portion, which I enjoyed since we were able to sample a little of everything. This Mac & Cheese didn’t look like much, but it made up for it with flavor. It happened to be really excellent, and I would say to get this over either of those potatoes.
— Cornbread with Butter ($ 2)
This was a solid piece of cornbread — much more buttery and moist than I usually see, so yet another good choice for an accompaniment to your chicken.
Service was great, and everybody was very friendly. It’s a nice, lively space, with mostly communal seating. Though I practically tried the entire menu (really, just about the whole thing), I would still come back for some of the food that was just incredible. I could definitely eat that fried chicken and that burger over and over again.