‹ The Fried Chicken 100 › New Orleans

No. 3 in the world · November 2026

Willie Mae's NOLA

Baronne Street, Downtown · New Orleans, United States

Southern fried chickenNo. 3
A photo like it · milo-photo (CC BY 2.0) (Southern fried chicken, not from Willie Mae's NOLA) · source

The one piece to order

Fried chicken with butter beans

The line to expect: Lines at lunch. Beat it: come at opening or mid-afternoon.

Willie Mae Seaton's wet-batter chicken, a James Beard America's Classic. Her family runs it downtown while the original Scotch House in Tremé is restored after the 2023 fire.

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Make it at home

Buttermilk Southern fried chicken

Buttermilk Southern fried chicken

Overnight brine, 1 hr to fry · 4 to 6 (one 1.6 kg / 3 1/2 lb chicken). The one most of the chart is built on: chicken soaked overnight in seasoned buttermilk, dredged in peppery flour with a few spoonfuls of the buttermilk worked in for craggy bits, and fried low and slow so it's cooked to the bone with a crust that cracks.

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Fried chicken near it

No. 8 Dooky Chase's RestaurantNew Orleans
No. 92 Li'l Dizzy's CafeNew Orleans
No. 93 Chicken's KitchenNew Orleans

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Checked November 11, 2026. Hours and lines change; check before you cross town.

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