Bailey B.
Yelp
Can't believe I've never left Betty Mae's a review. I've been visiting since before they moved from their old location on Grace. The food is very, very good.
Their new spot is on Memorial Parkway and definitely has more of a restaurant vibe than their old one. It's a clean and comfortable place where you order at the counter and pour your own drink (there are only four drink options, by the way: diabetes inducing sweet tea, lemonade, and Kool-Aid, along with unsweetened tea). To my knowledge, all food comes out in styrofoam containers.
They offer changing meats from day to day, and a fairly diverse number of them, at that. Fried chicken is a mainstay, though, and Betty Mae's competes with G's for my pick of "best fried chicken in Huntsville." I would say that G's is generally juicier, but Betty Mae's tends to have more flavorful breading. Both are delicious; I think it just depends on what kind of experience you want and whatever your preference is on a given day.
At any rate, I always go for white meat fried chicken. I tend to be given a breast and a whole wing with my meal. Plates run for about 11 bucks and you get a meat, two sides, a dessert, a roll or cornbread, and a small drink. Considering how loaded these plates are, it's a good deal.
Yesterday, I selected yams and macaroni and cheese as my sides. For my boyfriend's plate, macaroni and cheese and fried okra. We both selected rolls, banana pudding, and sweet tea to complete our meals. Service was a touch surly on this visit, but the food came out quickly and kept extremely well on the drive home.
Overall, the food lived up to how I remembered it. Delicious soul food that'll keep you full the whole day, no problem. Betty Mae's is not afraid of salt, sugar, or pepper: this food is seasoned. One of the bigger pieces of yam was slightly overcooked, but the rest was perfectly soft and sweet. A word of warning: their sweet tea is a touch too sweet for me, and I love very sweet tea. It'll hurt your teeth! The banana pudding comes with an abundance of Nilla wafers, as it should.
Definitely check out Betty Mae's for some of the best soul food in the city. Don't be shy!