I found this restaurant randomly when one of my friends on Facebook posted a beautiful picture of her chicken wings (plated well with a garnish) and waffles plate and tagged herself at the restaurant. What I was instantly drawn to was that there were actual pieces of chicken, and not chicken tenders with the waffles. Plus, the chicken was separate from the waffle! I am a huge fan of Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in Los Angeles and that is what I am accustomed to. The current trend is to put the chicken and waffles together but they are separate with one needing warm syrup and the other Louisiana Hot Sauce.

I ventured out to the restaurant, at the time located in the dying Owings Mills mall, and had quite the dining experience. They have since moved about 10 minutes from their old location located at 9712 Groffs Mill Drive, Owings Mills, MD 21117. The customer service was excellent and the staff did a wonderful job making you feel like family. The restaurant was simple and clean with had a few decorations that one would find in a Granny’s home, hence the name. Once I placed my order, they bought out a warm cornbread muffin and butter. The muffin was the right amount of sweet and savory and really didn’t need the butter. It was homemade and has a distinct flavor, though I would have been happy with Jiffy’s Cornbread also. The cornbread has pieces of corn baked into it which is a little different than my other experiences but it did not hinder the taste. I have gone with a few people who were not too pleased with the corn addition.

In my most recent visit with my two-teenaged cousins, we went for breakfast after church. The new location is significantly bigger than the other location and has the restaurant set up in roughly 3-4 dining rooms, a huge bar, and a separate area specifically for take-out orders. It is traditional in the Black community to go to church on Sunday mornings and get breakfast or brunch after. With that in mind, I made it a point to go early so we would not have to wait long. Luckily, it was a rainy May Day and we were seated within a few minutes.

I was craving their fried chicken wings but was not too interested in the waffle. So I ordered from the lunch menu and got a side of delicious savory grits. The lunch menu comes with coleslaw, which is not my favorite, but this slaw as very well seasoned and the one little bite I took became several. My meal totaled $13.95 which is pretty reasonable for 4 chicken wings and sides. The dinner portion cost $16.95 for roughly the same amount of food but 2 sides of whatever you want instead of the mandatory coleslaw. That can be a little expensive for 4 chicken wings.

One of my cousins ordered their shrimp and grits topped with cheese, old bay, and applewood bacon ($16.95) served with eggs and bread. It also included 2 sides so she order cheese eggs (for an additional $1.25 more for the cheese) for her sister, breakfast potatoes that she gave to me, fried apples, and a croissant as her bread. Let it be noted that the cornbread was also served before. She said that every tasted amazing but she spent a significant amount of time cutting the shrimp into smaller pieces to eat with her grits. She got full very quickly. The croissant was huge and she ended up having to take the bread and her shrimp and grits home. The shrimp and grits were served in a rather small cup considering the price. However, all of the additional sides made up for it considering she basically got 4 sides!

Her sister ordered chicken tenders and waffles ($16.95), despite my recommendation for the chicken wings. She was very pleased with her order. She loves waffles and it was a very big waffle that had a nice crunch and served with butter and syrup. I have ordered that meal before and had to take food home because it was a large portion. That meal also came with two sides and she ordered the savory grits, based on my recommendation, and apple sauce. I tried to convince her to give me the grits for my take home box for later but after one bite of the grits, she was not willing to share. Go figure. After drink orders the meal totaled $56.23 and I left a 20% tip which gave a grand total of $66.23.  I did better than I would have at a brunch buffet and got awesome food. They were raving about it on the car ride home and were excited about their next visit with their cousin.

Anyway, I have frequented Granny’s on many occasions and have never left unsatisfied. I had a order mix-up once, things happen, and they made sure to take care of us offering free additional chicken wings and taking off a significant portion of the bill. From what I can remember, I went there for the boneless short-rib dish and that was unavailable. I was trying to avoid fried foods and knew their beef dish would be delicious. I ordered the broiled crab cake dinner instead which was good but not what I wanted at the time.

Unlike many other soulfood restaurants, all the sides at Granny’s are amazing. They are well seasoned, cooked to perfection, and served generously. My favorites are the macaroni and cheese, prepared casserole style; green beans, savory grits; corn; cooked apples, that I usually put on top of my waffle; and mashed potatoes and gravy, a dark gravy that was excellent and not too salty. My friends have ordered their collard greens, yams, seasoned rice and have all been satisfied.  I have also partaking the peach cobbler and ice cream and was extremely satisfied with my order. I generally do not do sweets very often but these were definitely worth it!

My disappointments are the smothered chicken, salmon cakes, only fried chicken wings, and hot sauce. I misinterpreted the menu once during an intense smothered chicken craving. In LA, there is spot, called M&M’s Soulfood, which makes a smothered half chicken that is fried and smothered with gravy. (Not the best thing to eat and be healthy but all in moderation right?) Anyway, my mother used to order it when I was really little and it was delicious. I wasn’t in the mood to prepare it myself and have all the clean-up work, so I thought Granny’s could help me out. Unfortunately, but fortunately, the chicken was baked and then smothered with gravy. It was flavorful but wasn’t necessarily what I wanted. During another visit, my friend ordered the salmon cakes and was not all that impressed with her order. But she finished her meal though and took home leftovers because it was still that good! Another thing to note is that spending $20 on fried chicken wings can be expensive. I wish that there were other chicken options but I get that they are quicker to prepare because then we would complain about the length of time. Lastly, the hot sauce at the location isn’t the best and while they put it in a more visual appealing container, it is slow to come out. When I remember I’m going there, I usually just take my Louisiana hot sauce with me. (I got hot sauce in my bag swag!)

If you are in the Owing Mills area and looking for a good meal, look no further than Granny’s Restaurant for an amazing experience that will include delicious food and customer service that will treat you like family. My Seven Mac Score is the following:

Please look out for my next post as I continue my 50 Best Challenge or share an old experiences of another one of my favorites. Enjoy! And remember: It’s a BIG world and we are going to eat our way through it!

Here is the Granny’s website address: http://grannysrestaurant.net/