dame's chicken & waffles

worth the wait!. we waited for 45 minutes but it was worth the wait. thewafflesalone were great but the shmear made it wonderful. the strawberry cream is desert. the chicken has a good flavor & compliments the waffle. the greens were just spicy enough to make a great meal. the strawberry lemonade was good too!

the food was generously portioned and phenomenally tasty. both cutlets had a thin, crispy coating and juicy, well-seasoned meat while the plate-sizedwafflesunderneath were fluffy without being limp. the flavors also played well off of one another as the saltiness of the chicken and the plum sauce balanced the sweetness provided by shmears and syrups/drizzles.

i think my friendswaffleswere good, but the shrimp and grits were very salty.
they were very nice however and discounted my dinner. prosecco drinks were great.

celebrated for their combinations of chicken and waffles, as well as housemade trimmings and sides, it was almost without hesitation that both my mother and i spotted our desired dishes and although the days dining was already substantial with two more meals to go the plates at dane’s each proved well crafted if not particularly ‘wowing,’ both dark and white meat juicy beneath crisp batter whilewaffleswere soft and supple, the buttery grits and luke-warm mac’ each plenty savory to offset the decidedly sweet ‘shmears.’

incredible. some of the best chicken andwafflesi have ever had. love the variety on both chicken and the different waffles. sides were very good as well. i ordered the classy hen. there is something in the flavor of the chicken batter that just goes so well with the waffles, schmear, and syrup. my wife ordered the 3 wings and waffles. also good. my side was the mac and cheese. there are some interesting flavors going on in there as well. excellent. got there at 11:30a on a sat and didn't have to wait. if you don't like waiting, don't go at peak times, pretty simple.

a twofer. it is virtually impossible to go wrong with either fried chicken or waffles, and when you put them together almost everyone will find something to like, even me. i never liked that "honey fried" chicken (maryland fried chicken?) some chain offered years ago, and i don't care for sweet sauces, much less syrup, getting on by meat entrée - like honey glaze on ham. but what is offered here is the best of both worlds - and that is usually a good thing.

this place has been around a couple of years or so now, in a relatively new strip center sitting just beyond the hamburger square area , on mlk jr drive - the original restaurant is in durham. the place is bright, cheery with tons of large windows letting in the light - i really like that, so many restaurants are just dark, with poor lighting, at least for seasoned citizens. no such problem here. the furnishings are modern in style, with the layout being that of a v, with a diner type counter at the point of the v, and seating areas to the right and left.

they offer 10 entrees composed of some combination of fried chicken (wings, legs, or cutlets) and waffles, your choice of smear (flavored butter mixture), and a side. prices range from around $9 to $15, not particularly inexpensive, but the portions are nice, with the waffle covering the entire dinner sized plate, and the wings are cutlets are large.

thewaffles(classic, sweet potato, gingerbread, blueberry, or vegan (vegan - really?)) are excellent. the fried chicken has a rather thick crust, is seasoned a little differently than most southern fried chicken (spices, oregano maybe) and is cooked to a rather dark stage. freshly served, the taste is very, very good, although the leftovers did not retain the best flavor when re-heated at home. the chicken on your entrée is plated on top of the waffle, with the smear on the side, and you are brought an extra plate on which to place your chicken before adding the syrup and smear - you can obviously leave it on the waffle if you so choose.

the side include grits (very well seasoned), mac&cheese (over spiced for my taste) mean greens, squash & onions, fruit, small side salad, or veggie of the day. they offer some entrée salad choices, various grit combos, eggs benedict variations, and a la carte choices such as eggs, single waffle, chicken choices, and bacon or sausage. this place definitely has a brunch feel to it (they open at 10am on the weekends), and with the portion sizes and the a la carte and side choices, it provides a plethora of culinary choices for lunch, brunch, or dinner. and they do have a few kiddie choices to bring down the cost to a family.

service was topnotch, and the manager on duty checked with us several times. some good and interesting dining options here, worth checking out.

great food, unnecessary wait. let me begin by saying, i've been several times and love the food. it's the service and wait times that force me to give it 2 stars.

the food here us great. schmear may be the best thing i've had in a long time and they do the fried chicken well too. i'd say the only thing i didn't like was the mac and cheese because they used the breading from the fried chicken, so it stands out. other than thay, i'd say the sweet potatowafflesare the best.

now, on to the bad. waits seem to be on average, an hour or more! in my opinion, it's the management and the kitchen staff's fault. there needs to be better training in place to turn tables faster. there's no reason things need to take as long as they do. most times i think about going and see that line outside, i just change my mind. it happens often.

reservations seem to be a joke. we've made them in the past and still had to wait more than 40 min for our table. what's the point? don't offer reservations if you can't accommodate us.

i've also seem people that work there sitting at tables, while there's a wait. that just doesn't make any sense.

the last straw that prompted this review is their policy on take out. i really wanted some chicken andwaffleson saturday and i was told they don't do take out when there's a wait. wow. that means take out is probably only available 25% of the time they are open because it seems there's always a wait. doesn't make any sense and they are the only restaurant in my experience to have a policy like that. needless to say, i was not happy. the competitor that got my business was, i'm sure.

all in all, it's hard to take a stance on this place because the food really is good. it's just not good enough to deal with the wait, all the time. there are too many options and they really need to fix this. maybe they don't have enough tables or they need to re-train staff...i don't know the source of the problem, so i can't propose a solution. all i can say is that as long as they remain slow, it will take a lot for me to visit them again.

wonderful food and atmosphere. went there for the 1st time last night. bestwafflesi've ever had. no need for syrup. server was excellent, but did take a long time to get food. don't go if your an uptight diner. relax and enjoy your company and the experience.

it's tasty but...be prepared to wait!!!. pulling up to the building, you would think you were in nola! beautiful property.
the gentleman at the door was great, helped us with a larger group, split us up to make it happen. very helpful!
then we waited for our server.
after three, "ill be right backs" we were able to make contact and order drinks.
then we waited for drinks.
as the table was sat next to us, served their drinks and placed our dinner order. began to wonder if our server was on break.
finally our drinks were served, dinner orders were placed.
then we really waited.
the table next to us, seated 20 minutes after us, were served and tables clearing, when our food began to arrive. one plate at a time. not kidding.
the meals were pretty tasty. i'd say the chicken was on the border of overcooked. fried a bit too hard, or maybe in larger batches and held too long.waffleswere good, not crispy. shmears were good and flavorful. good mac and cheese with fresh herbs.
then we waited for drink refills. waited for ice. waited for a check.
you get the picture.
i wish these folks the best. they have a nice product, a beautiful space and some really friendly staff.
but an easy dinner for 10 folks at a home-style diner can't take 2 hours!
blessings to your crew!

first of many visits to come !. me and a friend went to brunch here today, valentines day, and it was a phenomenal experience. the atmosphere, the customer service, and the food was wonderful beyond words. i had the shrimp and grits and it was perfect. my friend had the sweet potato chicken andwafflesand it was extremely tasty. definitely will be returning. if you are in the greensboro area, you must make a visit here.

although we love the food we had not been to dames for a couple years because it just always looked to packed. happy we decided to go for it again. told there was a 30 min wait, they took our cell number and we took a short walk downtown. they sent us a text about 15mins later, found this to be a great way to do things when dealing with such a busy place.wafflesare still amazing and service was fantastic. only complaints are turkey bacon instead of the real deal and we were the biggest fans of the mac and cheese


-----16 feb, 2011-----

good stuff. i lovewafflesand love chicken but wasn't sure how i felt about the two on the same plate but after my second trip to dame's i am a true beleiver...awesome

the food is good but could be better. the wait time and service were just plain bad. this is among a fairly long list of restaurants i choose to neither "like" nor "dislike" on urbanspoon because i like to think that on a different day or time or with a different waiter i would've had a better experience, as many reviewers have. then again, there are a lot of bloggers and reviewers who had the exact same experience or worse. i feel like what this place really needs is some healthy competition from another chicken andwafflespurveyor. there's clearly a market for it in durham.

i have returned to dame’s and have been blown away each time. the fried chicken is crisp and really holds up well under a load of syrup and thewafflesare supple

my meal was a complete work of art and tasted just as good as it looked. southern fried chicken cooked to crispy, juicy, out right tasty perfection set on top of what has to be one of the bestwafflesi've ever had. oh yes the main attraction is very good but don't sleep on their sides. their mac n cheese could stand out on it's own as a meal. to all who may be reading this, if you have never been to durham and you find yourself in the area, do your self a favor and head downtown, make yourself a reservation (i really did get lucky lines can be really long) and taste one of the many great food destinations in downtown durham. for those living in the area feel free to leave some comments about your experience at dame's as well as food destination recommendations for my next trip.

as good as it gets. i had the chicken andwaffleswith mac & cheese as a side. the chicken was outstanding and that may be the best waffle i have ever had. the homemade flavored butter is a really nice touch and there was no doubt about the mac & cheese being the best i've had. i don't even like mac & cheese and absolutely get that again. there is a lot of effort & love that goes into every dish on the menu. i can't wait to go back.