Willie Jane

Quick LA weekend getaway and decided to drop in here before hitting the road. Totally cool laid back tropical vibe (think Key West). Staff absolutely great, always smiling and on point. The biscuits are to die for. Chicken and waffles hit the spot. Just the right amount of spices, sweets and salt to get your tastebuds going. Wish I wasn’t driving otherwise would have surely had the bottomless mimosa brunch. Alas will be back again!

My new favorite West LA spot now that Hal’s is gone! The best shrimp and grits I’ve ever eaten! The biscuit with bacon jam was ridiculous! Smoked chicken wings, excellent! Sat at the bar and watched the game and had a few Smoke cocktails. Great bartenders and staff. Did I mention the bacon jam?!!

I’m giving it 2 stars because the fried chicken and waffle dish a friend of mine had was seasoned and cooked to perfection! The waffle not so much. I don’t want to get into a Willie Janes bashing match so I won’t. In short, bland uneventful food that’s over priced. The bottomless mimosas and the biscuits are THE ONLY thing worth coming for. Outside of that I just don’t get it

I’m not sure what I enjoyed more… The Salmon with the lemon mayo made by Chef Sean, or the delicious cocktails made my Lucas?! Either way… I’ll be back!

Had not been here before! They had great reviews. They have a nice selection of southern dishes. This place is hiding out in Venice! They had R&B music playing in the background. The bar area in the front in nicely lighted. The food was great! I had chicken and waffles. My wife had the shrimp and grits. My daughter gad the farmers breakfast. Eggs, potatoes. Andouille sausage. Homemade baked biscuits. Three kinds of jam? Bacon jam, apple butter, cheese spread. All delicious.

It’s a bit difficult to find parking, so I parked in the lot behind. Carry cash with you.
As for the restaurant it was a dope place. The staff were all so friendly and they have sass/​charisma to them.
I recommend the biscuits. They’re probably the best I’ve had around the west side. Yum!
If you can, sit at the outermost area/​patio. There’s a tiny garden you can sit by which is pretty dope.

From the minute I pulled up to valet parking at Willie Jane’s my first impression instincts (which are usually pretty good) went kind of catty-​whompish.
Overflow millennials from the bar to the street and an entrance so crowded and noisy I had to walk in sideways and cover my ears, this place on a Saturday night looked like the center of the universe. But, as I made my way to the back of the restaurant where our table was, the path cleared like Moses parting the Red Sea. It was basically empty.
Well this was a good sign for the noise factor but strange as an on-​looker /​reviewer?
Anyways, we were seated in this open air rear annex on this fairly cool evening and I was not very happy about this as I did not bring a jacket or sweater and finding someone to fire up the heaters was not going to happen (until much later when they did).
Our waitress was cute and nice but inexperienced. The questions our party of five asked her were not readily or properly answered. We and she were floundering, but we pushed on.
The menu was disjointed and hard to put together. Also, the menu had beers and wines on it which made me ask if they had a full bar, which they did. In fact a very well stocked full bar. Our naïve and very green waitress handed me a piece of paper with some 20 scotches, 20 whiskeys several each vodkas, gins and tequilas. Wanting a whiskey and seeing No Prices (at all) on this piece of paper I tried to find out how much my selected pour was going to be. This required several trips to and from the bar and was for me, a deal breaker!
The food was good, except for the ribs. They were good too but needed seasoning. I would go through what we all had but just know that all of the food was good and good is good, right?
With all I’ve said above, one would think I would not rush back here — correct?
Wrong!
I will come back here in a lickity-​split second for their biscuits. They were far and between the best biscuits I’ve ever had, and I’ve had biscuits all over the world!
My #3 (out of 4) son is coming in from Chicago next week and he LOVES biscuits. Guess where I’ll be next week with him?
Correct-​o-​mundo — Willie Jane’s and that’s, that!

Food was good. Portions were skimpy. For example, got the fried chicken sandwich, and the chicken piece was only half as big as the bread. But it was good. Good enough for 4 stars, but…
The bathrooms, both men’s and women’s, were DISGUSTING. They need to clean them more often. We were there 2 hours and no one went in to clean. And it showed. Gross.

Didn’t feel like waiting in insane lines on a Friday night for dinner on Abbot Kinney so came here instead. They seated us immediately. Service was great and the food was even better. The vegan crab cakes were delicious. I might actually like these better than real ones! My steak was delicious as well. Lovely place for dinner with friends! Oh and get the biscuits to start. You will not be disappointed!

Both the service and food were terrific! We had a party of three and tried 2 appetizers including the biscuits, which were fluffy and delicious! We also all had our own entrée. I personally ordered the skirt steak, medium-​rare which was perfectly done.
We also all enjoyed a great assortment of whiskey cocktails, which we throroughly enjoyed as well. All in all, as a Venice native and foodie. I love taking any new friends here because it has always been such a wonderful experience!
BTW… Red was our server and she was wonderful!

I came here with my friend for Saturday brunch. We got there about 1:30pm and were seated right away. We split an order of scrumptious biscuits and after the first bite, immediately wished I had gotten my own order (1 order = 2 biscuits). We also had some drinks. salt (similar to a margarita) and I got the green goddess (refreshing and tastes «healthy» could hardly taste the alcohol). My friend got the fried chicken and waffles (ask for syrup on the side, otherwise the drench it on) and I got the cheeseburger with bacon and fried egg. Yum.

*** Finally tried the brunch menu over the weekend. ***
Took a chance on the chicken sandwich. It disappointed.
No wow factor at all. I suppose I was overdue for a miss?
Sandwiches that Free Range truck serves are even better.
I think that I’ll just stick to either happy hour or dinner here.
*** Hopefully this was just a «one off» experience. (ugh) ***

A southern style restaurant that doesn’t serve iced tea? $ 12 French press coffee? If this review was based solely on the biscuits with marmalade butter, I’d give it 5 stars+; the tomato salad, although beautifully presented, lacked flavor… mealy winter tomatoes with hardly any blue cheese… the bacon deviled eggs were very good, if not wholly original, the regular drip coffee was weak. All in all, an uneven meal, but I’d go back just to taste those perfectly buttered, biscuits of perfection. p. s. tried my friends chicken and waffles and I’d say they were fine, but not exceptional.

Recently went with a group of 10 for brunch two Sundays ago, and the experience was quite terrible. This is my second time at this establishment, with my first being quite positive. That said, this is primarily a review of their brunch food and service.
The Good: chicken and waffles weren’t bad. I enjoyed the flavor of the dish.
The Bad: the food took about 45 minutes to come out, so the waffles were understandably soggy and the chicken was lukewarm and wasn’t very crispy anymore.
The Ugly: the service was downright horrendous. It pains me to say this because it seemed like our waitress was genuinely trying and had a nice personality. To start, it took the waitress about 20 minutes to come ask us about ordering drinks. By the time she came to actually take our drink orders, we were ready to order food. When we tried to order food, she politely asked us to wait until she came back with the drinks before taking our orders for food. We agreed amicably, not realizing it would take another 20 minutes for her to bring out the drinks.
Upon ordering, it took another 45 minutes for our food to come out. The only thing that was enjoyable about this segment of the brunch was watching the waitress of our group slowly lose her shit about how bad the service was.
By far the worst part of this whole ordeal is that the refills on the bottomless mimosas were few and far in between. Even when they began to pick up speed on their torrid pace, the mimosas began to be more and more orange juice and less and less champagne. This prompted some of the ladies to take pictures of the mimosas, comparing different rounds of mimosa refills against each other. Once the waitress saw that we noticed how little champagne there was in the mimosas, she apologized and blamed the ratio of the pitcher that was poured. She then rectified this by making a pitcher that was almost all champagne. That’s nice and all, but just makes it seem even more like they knew what they were doing when they served us 90% OJ mimosas.
Did I also mention that we were seated in the patio area when it was raining hard and the wind was strong? It was actually quite comfortable despite the conditions, but towards the end of our meal the table next to us had already finished and left. These were the people that were sitting next to the plastic covering that ran from the ceiling to the floor, the barrier that shielded the inside from the rain and wind. Well these people weren’t there anymore, and within minutes of them leaving, the wind whipped up the covering from the bottom and knocked over a bunch of champagne glasses… the ones that the restaurant hadn’t bussed yet. Even after glasses had shattered next to us, they still didn’t bus the table. Hell, they didn’t even know about the broken glasses for a good 10 minutes. People from our table eventually went to go pick up glasses from the floor.
Tl;dr: would I recommend this spot to a friend for drinks? Maybe. Would I recommend a friend to come for brunch and bottomless mimosas? Hell the fuark no.

Came back to Abbott Kinney where I used to live and discovered this new place. Great service and happy hour price. Hipster but not pretentious. Actually able to sit down and having a conversation and be able to see somebody unless all the other restaurant on this street

My year in dining out is off to a rough start. Willie Jane offers southern inspired soul food, but man was that mark missed.
We had a reservation for four on New Year’s Eve, so sure, chalk this experience up to a particular date, if you will. I’m not. The place wasn’t busy when we got there, but filled in nicely as we ate. The ladies ordered a champagne cocktail that was pretty delicious, boys had some whiskey somethings. Drinks were good.
The biscuits were good, too, and we definitely paid extra for the honey butter, bacon jam and pimento cheese because toppings and spreads are a lifestyle. The honey butter was delightful and that pimento cheese was perfectly crafted. The bacon jam was a miss and lacked any real flavor, not sweet or savory, just … there. To be honest, I never really understood the bacon craze and am totally OK keeping bacon as a breakfast side.
I ordered a scallop dish for my entrée and wasn’t impressed. You know on cooking challenge shows when the competitors realize they haven’t prepared enough of a dish for judges so they try and spread the portion out as much as possible, with a big ol splash of mashed something and it clearly looks like they didn’t cook enough of the dish … that’s what my scallop dish looked like. The scallops were sliced in different sizes, some thin like radishes, others the size of baby macarons. The purees were bland and different temperatures (were there supposed to be purees in the dish? We will never know). The whole dish was mediocre at best.
Our server recommended the fried chicken and said that everyone «loved it», and the boy was easily convinced. Southern? Soul food? Fried chicken must be consumed.
The fried chicken sucked. I can’t pinpoint which seasoning made it smell and taste like perfume, but the entire table had to try to verify my sentiments, and they did. I also can’t remember the last time I had fried chicken that made me unhappy. Also, where did the cheese go in the mac n’ cheese? What happened to the most crucial component of mac n’ cheese? Those noodles needed something to lock on to. The presentation was so cute in the sweetest little skillet, but the execution with the driest macaroni noodles … what a sad tribute to a beautiful dish.
Be still my carb-​loving heart, white chocolate bread pudding is on its way.
That was good.

One week, we bike alllll the way over here and it was closed! We even called and it said they were open! Whyyyy!!! But anyway, we came here a week later for brunch and it was awesome! The service here is wow! We ordered bottomless mimosas, it never got to the bottom! We also got the chicken and waffle, the Hawaiian bread French toast, and steak and eggs. Wow! So freaking good! We love southern food and this really hits the spot! We are totally come back here. Our server was super sweet so I’m going to give her a south out in case anyone gets her, you’re in for a treat. I forgot her name but she’s from Sweden and very sweet (see what I did there)

Not paying attention to the time of day, I walked in during Happy Hour with my husband and two kids. And got the weirdest looks from some of the diners. I was glad to see that there is a family with some pre-​teens in the restaurant waiting to get seated with their family at the rear «outdoor» dining area. Looks like they reserved that portion for a private party. Anyway, gave me the courage to stay and try this place out. Especially since I’ve been looking for a chance to try this place out.
Anyway… Walked in and there was no hostess at the time. The place is cute as heck guys. So you walk in and it looks like the dining room and sitting room for a house with the entire wall of said house overlooking Abbot Kinney instead of a garden. The décor further inspire this ambience. Walking further in, it gets dark and you will enter the bar area. Asked the server behind the bar if we are to wait to be seated and the super friendly and welcoming server told us to grab whichever table we like.
That lady was awesome. The unruffled server further encouraged me to stay.
Which is a great thing because their ribs were awesome. Soft and tender and full of flavor. Unlike some barbeque where the meat is bland as cardboard and the sauce is used to cover that up, the meat here taste good and the sauce was a great complement.
The raw oysters were clean and very good.
The biscuits were fluffy and flaky on the outside and soft as a pillow on the inside. We were sad to see these go.

The customer service was most excellent!
We ordered multiple dishes from the menu to collectively try each. Out of the 6 the best items that I recommend are hands down the biscuits. They got those all the way right! The brisket plate was also delicious. The meat was cooked well an was tender. The potatoes were perfect. Also, the ginger lemonade was delicious. Some things did not work for my personal palette. However, the management was very accommodating, helpful and pleasant. The wait staff was friendly and professional. The ombiance wanderful. I loved the garden on the grounds as well. #foodiemobatp

I’m surprised Willie Jane doesn’t have *at least* a solid 4 star rating! Seriously!
We had reservations but still wanted to head to the Lobtsa Truck. It was a ‘First Fridays’ night. I popped in to see if they could take us an hour later. Yup! No problem, even though the place was packed. Good sign !!
First, it’s HUGE. There’s a middle section (where we sat) called «the deck». And a lower section which is the patio that was even more gorgeous. I recommend asking to sit there. The adjoining property is a nursery. TONS of gorgeous well-​kept greenery. Just beautiful. The front of the place was kind of loud, but fun! As we left, there was a DJ. Place was pumpin’ !
Server– male with glasses. Never got his name. Very attentive. And the guy that brought out our food was one of the happiest staff members I’ve ever seen. He «loves» it there and said so. It was obvious. Thoroughly enjoyed speaking with him,. Funny too…
Ice Cold Classic Caesar Salad, Torn Croutons & Grana Padano — SO impressive. The flavors of the dressing are outstanding and very well distributed. Lots of egg, you calk tell! Couldn’t stop eating it. Not your average Caesar. I’ll make a point of getting it again.
Biscuits !! Perfectly done. Came with three fun dippers. Butter, of course, like a maple bacon situation, and a spicy one. Wonderful addition to the table.
The Fried Organic Chicken, Simmered Collard
Greens with Ham Hock, Pickled Garden Peppers.
No sauces necessary. I’m sure they brined the chicken. So tasty.
The burger– Actually, one of the best I’ve eaten. And I’ve eaten many many burgers! We all agreed that it literally melted in out mouths. Like, you didn’t have to chew it, practically. It disintegrated in our face-​holes. Juicy, juicy, juicy !! A++
Really enjoyed myself.
I don’t usually do Southern out, but when I do, it will be here !!
They have happy (at bar) Tue– Sat 4 –7 !!! yayy