Thelma's Chicken and Waffles in Roanoke Virginia

This past weekend I spent time with good friends at our buddy D's house in Roanoke.  D has an annual party every year during this time, and as usual it was a blast which included a lot of drinking, eating, playing cards, and watching funny Lonely Island music videos.  I've never heard of them before this weekend, but apparently they've been around for awhile and have great music videos.  To all readers out there, I would recommend them.  They are funny as hell and you may be tempted to throw things on the ground Lonely Island - Threw it on the Ground .

On Sunday morning even with some slight hangovers from everyone, J(D's wife) and D suggested that we all go for breakfast at Thelma's Chicken and Waffles in downtown Roanoke.  Thelma's is a home style southern cuisine restaurant that serves chicken and waffles as their main specialty.  You can also get omelettes, ribs, pork chops, etc.  But since their specialty is chicken, I decided to order the leg and thigh chicken but without the waffles.  It's not that I don't like waffles, but I would rather try their sides and I like the side choices better than the waffles when reading the menu.  Hey at least I ordered the chicken.

As we were waiting for our food, I took a look around the place for a little bit.  Apparently on the other side of the restaurant there is a bar.  It seems from what J has told me, the restaurant is bumping during the weekends(They have ladies night or band come in for example).  I also noticed that the service was slower than most restaurants.  J mentioned that the restaurant isn't fast pace because they are from the South and they promote a laid-back atmosphere.  I don't really have a problem with that because I had faith the food would be good, and this is the type of place where it's okay not to be in a rush to eat.  The people that work there also made you feel like you were at their home.  They were very nice, attentive, and went above and beyond to make sure we had a great time.  The best part was when we struck up a conversation with the waitress about her unique nails.  I wish I would have taken a picture of it.

When all said and done, our food came.  The leg and thigh chicken came with macaroni and cheese and corn pudding.  Yes you heard me right, I got corn pudding.  I guess that's a southern thing since I've never seen that as a side in any Pennsylvanian restaurant.  The macaroni and cheese was pretty good, but it could have had a lot more cheese.  It was more buttery if anything.  The corn pudding was excellent.  It's similar to cream of corn but a lot thicker and less soupy.  The chicken of course was the highlight of the entree.  The meat was flavorful and juicy with no dryness whatsoever.  The skin was crispy, succulent, and can sense there were some good spices in there.  The spices did not overwhelm each other.  I would have to say this was the best fried chicken I've had all year.  The long wait was worth it.

Right before I left, I noticed the award on their wall.  It was no surprise they got them because the food was delicious.  I hope next year we'll go there again for breakfast.