Mabel’s Chicken & Waffles

Chicken: Very good.
Cole slaw: lackluster, average
Potato salad: unseasoned, bland and dry
Variety of flavored syrups: Good
Menu selection: Poor. Only a few items on the menu, really just a little more than a handful. I understand specializing in one item, I do, but this is really not enough to choose from.
Service: Friendly but slow.

Best fried chicken ever? This chicken is the bomb. For real, I don’t consider myself a connoisseur of fried chicken and I normally wouldn’t say it is something I am a huge fan of, but Mabel’s hath shown me the light. It’s so good — crunchy skin, moist meat, incredibly flavorful and not overly greasy… you know, for being friend and all.
The menu is small: fried chicken, potato salad, coleslaw and waffles. They also have a few salads with an option to add fried or grilled chicken to, so you can satisfy those annoyingly healthy friends while you feast on the good stuff :-)
They make syrups and sauces in house and the ranch is REALLY good. Must try. I kind of wish they had mashed potatoes and gravy because fried chicken just conjures that desire for me (like it isn’t always half present most of the time anyway) and you KNOW they got those bomb drippings in the kitchen somewhere just begging to be gravy. Before I get too food pornographic, I’m going to end this and just suggest you try Mabel’s because it might change your life.

Second trip since they opened and the food is just as delicious as before. I did learn, if you’re in a hurry for lunch, either call ahead to preorder or go somewhere else, freshly fried chicken takes time to prep!

If you like your chicken to look like the Colonel made it, if you like thin, dry, flavorless waffles, if you think there’s no difference between butter and margarine, and if you think those bottles of Mrs. Butterworth’s and Aunt Jemima’s maple-​flavored syrup are actually made with real maple syrup… don’t come here. I know that sounds rude and pretentious, but if you want Roscoe’s to remain your favorite chicken & waffles shack, seriously, don’t come here.
As soon as I saw it I could tell Mabel’s chicken was made the way Spongebob makes a Krabby Patty: with lo-​o-​o-​o-​ove. Love, and the finest ingredients Jason, the owner, can afford to buy without spending himself out of business.
I got the wing, breast, & waffle combo with coleslaw, chipotle bbq sauce, and jalapeño bean syrup. And I ate it all. Including the breading. And now I’m stuffed.
The chicken was lightly breaded and cooked perfectly. The breast was plump and cooked all the way through to the ribs while still being moist & juicy throughout. There was not a single dry shred of meat on it, and the wing was the same; cooked through to the bone and yet still juicy. They give you the entire wing, too. No skimping and saving the mini-​drum for another dish. You get an entire front quarter of the chicken, which you should do, ordering a wing & breast combo.
The waffle was equally good. I’m not fussed if my waffle isn’t crunchy, and while this one was crunchy in parts, with the chicken sitting on top it had softened up a bit, too. The coleslaw was excellent. Light, tangy, not sweet, and not cloying & sticky, either. Jason claims all of their food is freshly made using the freshest ingredients and I believe him. The chipotle syrup was smoky and flavorful while the jalapeño bean syrup was tasty and sweet with just a hint of jalapeño heat. I’m not usually a fan of jalapenos. Habaneros are hotter but a whole lot tastier, IMO, but this syrup did not have the unpleasant taste I’ve come to associate with jalapenos.
The sauces and syrups are also apparently made in-​house from scratch using the quality ingredients, which is why they don’t have giant bottles of fake maple-​flavored syrup on every table. That’s nothing but sugar, water, and flavoring, people! That’s NOT syrup, and this is not Roscoe’s. This is top quality chicken & waffles, and if you don’t like it, that’s fine. Plenty of others do like it, as I saw today when I was in there, when they sold out of chicken before 1pm. Seriously. They were sold out by 1pm. So either call in your order, or come in early, because Mabel is becoming a very popular lady.

OMG soooo delish and it’s only 2 blocks from my loft. I have NEVER tried chicken and waffles because it has never sounded appealing to me. I don’t eat much fried food and I can’t remember the last time I had waffles but since I could walk there I decided to see what this was all about.
First off the chicken and eggs are vegetarian fed, no GMO and free range. The quality of the chicken and the portion of meat on each piece was very good. The batter was light and cooked perfectly and the chicken moist. The waffle was prepared perfectly too and they use real maple syrup not that garbage you get everywhere else with HFSC. The potato salad is excellent too. Everything tasted very fresh!
I still don’t get the chicken and waffle thing but that’s ok. I will definitely be headed back for the chicken and they do prepare it grilled too IIRC on the menu.
If you hate driving into DTLA you can take the train to either the Pico Station or the 7^th St Metro Center and it’s a short walk. Oh and it’s still their soft opening right now. When they run out of chicken they close too.

I wanted to like this place, I really did, but I’m also really picky (snobby, some might say) about chicken and waffles. The chicken itself was pretty good. It had a good flavor to it, but unfortunately the skin wasn’t very crispy, got soggy quickly, and fell right off. The waffle I actually didn’t like at all. It was strangely dense and cakey, and I couldn’t eat it without drowning it in syrup. Their one redeeming factor was their selection of unique sauces and syrups.
Tip: Call ahead to place your order. We had to wait nearly half an hour for our food, even though there were only two other customers there.

My friends and I recently went there to celebrate a birthday! As soon as we walked in, we were welcomed! The menu was explained & even received interesting information! This restaurant supports organic farms! That was an A+ for us!
Since we went in midweek we were the onl ppl there for a bit & they were so sweet & asked what music they could play for us
Later the head chef came out & spoke to us & gave us a cheesecake slice on the house for our friend’s birthday! So sweet
Enough about the customer service, the food is DELISH! The chicken was plump & juicy & yet had that crunch everyone loves in their fried chicken! The waffles were made out of this world by the 3 different maple syrups they offer! The cheesecake slice was so fresh & delightful! Perfection in DTLa
Can’t wait to return!

Holy crap. Where do I start?
Service was friendly, and prompt (considering only I was inside). The place was dead, and that should have been my exit sign.
This is where it all went downhill. I, wanted to order a 2 piece, with a waffle. No big deal, but I wanted another wing. Wait, I can’t order a wing. I have to order another 2 piece, at EIGHT dollars. Hahahaha! Holy shit, is that ridiculous! I received my food, and it gets worse. I bite into my chicken leg, and the breading completely separated from the chicken! Nasty! They didn’t let it sit, and dry before frying it, or it was an old ass piece! Second, grease was pouring out, like I had dipped it in soul-​glo! What the f’ing fuck?! No seasoning, and undercooked! Fourth, the waffle was atrocious. It was a brick, cold, and mushy. There was no crunch at all.
I took my food to go, since I had to meet someone later. When I got home, I found blood inside my chicken. Wow, they can’t even cook it properly, and I paid $ 24 for 4 pieces, and a waffle. What a rip off. Hahaha!
This, sums up my opinion of this horrendous establishment. I, will never come here again, and I guarantee this place will go out of business within 6 months. Save your time, money, and go elsewhere. Whoever taught this man how to fry chicken, needs to get slapped.

So… I read the reviews before I ate here and I thought I would still give it a chance. The owner/​chef is super nice including his staff! However!!! He needs to get rid of them all! Or train those mofos! They have zero customer service experience you can tell by talking to them. Also I am pretty sure that if the chef made the food it would taste alot better. Because those kids he has working for him don’t know how cook to save their fucking lives! Some people think that their isnt a science to cooking chicken and waffles. WRONG! MOTHER FUCKERS THERE IS! Anyone who said this place was amazing has never had anything flavorful in their lives.
Though let me repeat! Had the chef cooked the food I imagine it would have tasted a lot better. Also what irritated me is that it took forever to get the food and they didnt even inform us that it was taking longer than expected. Instead those bastards just stared at us and kept whispering. Ugh! I really wanted to like this place! I truly did! Oh also since our food was taking forever they said they would give us extra chicken! WOMEN YOU LIED! Not that I wanted any more of that gawd awful chicken. But still this goes back to customer service and the lack there of.
So lets break it down
Waffle: HORRIBLE! I MEAN YUCK! IT STARTS WITH THE BATTER PEOPLE
Chicken: Meh. Under cooked. My 7 year old niece makes better chicken
Potato Salad: Meh. It was w. e
Oh did I mention I ate there today? yep about 30 minutes ago.
P.S Some of the grammar in this review may a little off or a lot. But you get the point right?

My husband is obsessed with fried chicken so we made sure to pay a visit to Mabel’s when we found out they were opening walking distance from our apartment. They are only open for lunch and are closed Sundays, so we came on a weekday. The place is cute and simple. No crazy décor, just really minimal and clean.
The combo comes with a giant waffle, fried chicken breast and drumstick, your choice of side + choice of syrup. I ordered a white meat combo with jalapeño vanilla bean and a side of coleslaw. The waffle was unimpressive and soggy and too much for one person to eat. The coleslaw was fresh and light! I didn’t care for the homemade syrup. There was barely any hint of jalapeño, but you could definitely taste the vanilla bean. BUT THE CHICKEN.
Holy shit THE CHICKEN. Super crispy skin thats crunchy and crackly, and the chicken meat is brined to perfection. This is seriously the type of fried chicken that when you bite into it, you hear a loud crunch and crispy flakes of fried batter just fly everywhere. The chicken is super juicy and so so so tender. Even for white meat, I never thought the meat was dry. The batter for the fried chicken was well seasoned and so flavorful, and fried all the way through. I HATE when fried chicken has doughy batter that is soggy on the inside. I could probably care less for the other stuff on the menu, but they nailed the perfect fried chicken. Get ready to get messy.

My friends and I came in after picking up our badges from Animé Expo and boy am I glad we did. We were immediately greeted by the owner/​head chef (I can’t remember your name, I’m so sorry!) and he recommended that we do the 2-​piece combo that comes with a side.
Now, I have never been picky about fried chicken, and after trying this place, I’ve realized I’ve been cheating myself out of some amazing food! It was perfectly seasoned, not too salty, very crispy on the outside while being super juicy and tender on the inside and paired with the waffle with the maple grove syrup, oh man, you couldn’t pay me to stop eating it.

Really good spot to hit up on your lunch! Shared their combo with my BF and it was delicious. Cute hidden gem. Great chicken and fluffy waffle!

Cute little place that just opened up in a portion of DTLA that is beginning to be restored!
After seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls at the California Science Center, we were starving! After some debate, we decided on trying this place out for dinner and I’m so glad we did!
They’ve just opened — but it’s cutely decorated on the inside — chalkboard walls and some cute vintage-​y decorations with dark woods — and simple seating. It seems to be an order at the front and then seat yourself kind of place — which I think works well for this kind of place!
We both ordered the combo — dark meat and I was impressed! I’ve had many a chicken and waffle — and this was by far the best! The chicken was soooo nice and crispy and it was definitely brined — as when you bit into it — it was so amazingly juicy! The juice burst into your mouth when you bit into it! Delicious! Really really good fried chicken! Seriously some of the best I’ve had! And the breading was flavorful (and seasoned! — I’m a huge stickler for things not being seasoned — but the chicken is already brined — there’s plenty of flavor there!). Plus, they offer you a couple sauces — if you really want to kick things up. The girl mentioned that the Asian one wasn’t that spicy — but I found them both to be pretty spicy!
They do also give you a syrup for your waffle — and I went with the jalapeño vanilla bean! Seriously good! Slightly spicy but mostly flavorful and a nice balance of sweet and spicy!
The waffle itself was perfect! Nice and bready! It was tasty enough to be eaten on its own but I did dip it in the syrup which made it equally tasty!
Also, when you get the combo — you get a choice of coleslaw or potato salad! We both decided on the potato salad (and I am a huge potato salad fan!) and there’s was tasty! Nicely tangy — complete with mustard seeds you could see! I’m sure they made it in house and it was really quite good!
I also saw someone else mention that they thought this place was pricey! I don’t think so at all! The combo was $ 14 for two pieces of chicken, a waffle, potato salad or coleslaw and a drink. Definitely priced right for the amount of food you get!
I will definitely be recommending this chicken to people though! It’s way way better than any of the other fried chicken places around!

YES!
This place is rad! After hearing good things from a friend I decided to try it out for lunch this weekend. I have to say, this is some of the best chicken and waffles I’ve had. Sorry Roscoes.
I had the leg and thigh combo, with the spicy dipping sauce and the bacon maple syrup. It was awesome.
The staff was super cool and very apologetic for a tiny wait. I will be going back.

It’s unusually difficult it seems to find quality fried chicken and waffles at reasonable prices. Mabel’s puts up a good effort, but the prices seem to be a bit steep for the offering.
Though it occupies a space on Olympic just blocks from LA Live, this stretch of Olympic is much quieter and less frequented. Mabel’s is easy to miss if you don’t know where you’re looking. The interior is simple and clean and a good place for a casual lunch. Street parking might be a bit of a premium especially with all the construction happening around the area.
The menu is fairly straightforward with the chicken and waffles obviously the star. I found the chicken to quite tasty and would definitely go back for the friend chicken. The waffles I personally found to be too dense without a slightly crispy exterior. I did order mine to go so it’s possible the steam softened the crust. The combo runs $ 14 while an order of dark meat chicken (2 pieces) + waffles runs you $ 12. I really thought there was just too much waffle because it’s so dense. I would have been much happier with 2 pieces of chicken and half a waffle — which is all I could eat — for $ 10. As for the syrup, I personally love to drench my waffle with syrup so I found the small container to be woefully insufficient. If you don’t apply a lot of syrup, you should be fine. I also wish Mabel’s would consider adding a family dinner option on their menu. I was ordering a large to go order and it made it very difficult (and pricey) to order everything virtually a la carte. My to go order also was missing the syrup so the shop was kind enough to deliver the syrup because I was only two blocks away.
Overall, Mabel’s is a fine contender. I might recommend ordering 4 pieces of chicken and splitting a waffle between two people for a better ratio of chicken to waffle. I’m around the area often enough so I will definitely be giving it another try soon.

Hmmm… been anticipating the opening and finally had a chance to check it out yesterday. I am a foodie FIRST and LOVE good fried chicken and I need it well seasoned and lip smacking good.
A. The chicken was not seasoned and what is up with the boneless chicken breast which is way more costly — I want my bones please.
B. The jalapeño syrup was unique, tasty and different but paying $ 1 for an extra one is just not cool but what choice did I have considering there is none at the table, hell, even IHOP provides syrup !!!
C. The limited parking is another downer but was able to find a $ 6 parking lot within walking distance.
D. $ 14 for two pieces of chix, waffle, a choice of slaw or potato salad and a choice of a free drink.
E. And the biggest disappointment of all, NO dessert menu — YIKES !!!
The staff was nice and the décor is cute but… definitely will not be returning.

Gotta try this’ll out.
They are still doing a warm opening at this post.
I am excited to hear they are possibly going to o have a breakfast & dinner menus.
Jason has mastered the full flavored fried chicken. And I’m looking forward to what is next.

I got the combo-​2 pieces of chicken, waffle, one side, one waffle syrup, one chicken dip and water or soda.
I’m pretty picky on my chicken and waffles and they did an outstanding job. The waffles were nice and fluffy. The chicken was nice and crisp. The potato salad was on point!
The two gentlemen that were working were very nice and friendly. It did not take long for the food to c ok me out.
It atmosphere was great.
I am definitely coming back again.

Great choice for fried chicken and waffles downtown. Portions are generous, so you could probably split that 2 piece combo with a friend. I just took that extra piece back to my office to feast upon later at my desk.
It wasn’t busy, so my food was out quick and my chicken pieces piping hot. I burned my tongue because I’m impatient. Learn from my bonehead mistakes and give it a couple beats to cool down lest you end up guzzling down your diet coke to cool the burn.
There are different sauces and syrups you can choose to go with your chicken. I went with Asian Chili and regular maple, though I ended up not using the sauce because the chicken was good on its own.
PARKING: Street Metered and Paid Lot parking only

I am the 1^st reviewer YAY. Went there because i heard the owner on AM640. I was a bit skeptical because they didnt have any Unilocal reviews but thats because they are not officially open yet. I did have to pay $ 6 for parking but thats normal for DTLA. No complaints there just a friendly heads up.
The Atmosphere
It is a small place but cute. The décor is simple black and white but I like it. Does not need to be fancy to have good food.
The food
It was good. I liked that the waffles were soft and fluffy, just how i like my pancakes. The chicken was also good. The chicken was not greasy at all which is awsome. I tried the jalapeño vanilla syrup and chipotle sauce which i liked both a lot. I did also try the sweet asian chilli which i thought was ok but im sure someone who has more of a palette for that will like it. I tried the 2 sides they offer as well. Which were coleslaw and potato salad. The coleslaw was different but good and the potato salad tasted fresh like its made there, I like that.
The Service
All I can say is GREAT. The owner/​chef was very nice and welcoming. Chef J personally greeted me and came by from time to time to see how everything was. The cashier was great as well. All and all my visit was great and I will definitely come back!!! Great job to the owner and his staff.