Busy Bee Cafe Review

Fried chicken in the South is one of the defining dishes that will probably start family wars and class action disagreements. However, over the years I have come to appreciate the peanut oil fried chicken (often voted best in Atlanta) at the simple urban soul food diner just west of the Dome. This is one of the few Fried Chickens I have craved. Yes, there's fantastic soul food sides like fried okra and mashed potatoes (request the side of gravey used to top the other favorite, smothered pork chops). The staff is polite but be prepared even on a weekday evening or lunch to wait for a spot.

Always had a great dining experience. Love the turkey with dressing. The sweet tea is a must have. Oh!...dont forget the delicious desserts.

I called in my order at 3:55 and I was told it would be ready in 20mins.When I arrived at 4:20,I paid for my food and the cashier said, it wasn t quite ready.After waiting 10mins.I inquired about my order and the cashier said, it would be 30mins before the turkey wings would be ready.Its now 5:25 and I m just getting my food.They wasn t apologetic at all.
I sat at the bar watched people eat and leave that came in after me and I wasn t even offered a glass of water as I wait.This is so unacceptable #Period!!

First timer and native Atlanta resident.Horrible parking. Greeted with a smile. Waited over 15 mins for two meals. Ordered turkey wings they were HUGE,food was cold. They warmed it, still was too cool for my liking. The older male hostess was very warm and family oriented vibe, something you can appreciate but for the price I WILL NOT BE BACK And let s not forget the turkey wings were $14 on my menu and my moms $15 they would not honor the price therefore our server paid the ultimate price in me tipping her.

I didnt try the food. I got a to go plate for my aunt's birthday. This review is based on the inability to accomadate their large number of patrons. I called in my order at 3:23 and just now received my food at 4:40. I was given a 30 minute wait time. If it's going to take a hour for me to get my food, let me know it'll be an hour. A employee said "That's just how it is on weekends", so this was nothing out of the ordinary for them which means they should have been prepared. Also, they don't drop your food until you get there. This should have been said on the phone. They should have a system to get customers in and out. If they gave a truthful wait time their entry way wouldn't be over crowded and I wouldn't have to wait behind angry arguing customers. A person that parked behind me 20 minutes after I got there came out with her food first. Finally when I asked for a refund my food magically came out.

Good food. Waaaayyyyyy To Slow!! Very expensive! Ridiculous the wait time. $4 for mashed potatoes with no gravy and dang could ve filled up the container!

Fried chicken is consistently delicious and portions are abundant. Although there is a wait to get seated, it is always worth it. Your food is cooked when you order it, so it takes time to get it, but you know it's fresh. The has always been nice. I consider this place a staple of Atlanta restaurants.

Not the place it used to be. Mercedes Benz has evidently created high dollar prices. For $100, the college student can get a meal here 4 times only. Hubby wanted dessert but not for $9. Sorry, but not again.

The food was delicious..really impressed this Virginia girl will definitely go back before I head back to Va..

Pack all of your patience. Food is most def worth the wait. The staff members are very friendly. Once seated the wait was surprisingly very shot to be serviced and recieved our food. Absolutely the best southern I have had in my time here in atlanta.

Liver and onions with rice and gravy... Just like my grandma made it 40+years ago. Fried green tomatoes... Simple... Plain... No frills... At All... Just like my Grandma made em 40+years ago... DELICIOUS!! Word of advice, don't listen to reviewers. Gain the experience and let that be the deciding factor whether you return. I'll see y'all there...

Excellent service, nice staff, reminded me of my grandmother back there. Sides were the best. Steam coming from the fried chicken taste like Jesus Christ made it. Most fast like northerners with the hospitality of the south. Must see if your in the neighborhood.

The food is great.i could eat there everyday.please try the fried chicken it is the best.

It was a wait but,Very much worth it.This is one restaurant where you to get some of everything that on the menu if you're a lover of good ole soulfood.

Good food can be pricey I like ordering the chefs special which includes a tea for like $12. The Turkey is life.

Good food. Needs to be bigger! The wait time is crazy!

This was a good place to stop in for our trip. We enjoyed everything and our server was awesome. Pretty straight forward food.

The customer service could be a little better but the food was great! And I'll definitely be back.

Busy Bee's quality has gone down. Their prices have increased but the overall quality and services have gone down. This does not prevent people in Atlanta and others who are visiting from wanting to get their soul food fix on. If you are looking for healthy food options this is not the place. The wait also can be really crazy on some days up to an hour...

Fresh cooked to order and friendly staff. Outstanding food. Its one of my favorite places to eat.

Absolutely delicious, we were visiting from out of town and wanted a southern soul food experience. We got that and more, everything was great. We will return on out next visit. Suggest going to the website and "get in line" because there will be a wait.

The food was excellent! Fried chicken is amazing and collard greens are out of this world. Will be back soon. Try the meatloaf on Monday, it does not disappoint!

This is a great soul food restaurant however the space is small and it's crowded almost all the time. I recommend this place for those who want a great home cook meal.

This place is somethin else. A gem in the rough, super friendly staff, patrons as well are very friendly. Food is just downright amazing. Go hungry!!

Food was delicious, the only reason I gave 4 is because it took forever for us to get our food. But the food was worth it!!

The food here is incredible! I mean I didn't need salt pepper hot sauce nothing! Busy Bee is all that!

Some of the best Soul food in Atlanta. Dining room is super small.

Ate everything on the plate... Blackberry Cobbler delicious!! Fried Chicken, Mac N Cheese, Collards, Broccoli Caserole all good!!

Amazing food, one of my absolute fave soul food restaurants that I've found in Atlanta. Love to come here for lunch. Excellent service, and I greatly appreciate the manager acting as host/hostess most times I visit.

Workers serviced me in a way like never before. Thank you!

Broccoli cheese casserole is on point. Great place, and loving memories. =)

The food is great! Due to the pandemic the wait for the food is ridiculous.

I had better soul food in Harlem. Ummm, no not Silvia's. But the Busy Bees were very nice and friendly.

I ordered 2 orders 2pieces white meat potato salad, collards, and one order of sweet potato.
The chicken was too salty, the potato salad was too sweet and the greens were bitter .
The sweets were delicious.
The price was outrageous $43.00.!!!!

Very nice little cafe. We tried to find a place to eat and could not find anywhere due to covid. The place was allowing to order out or dine in. Food was very tasty and they were very friendly!

This was my first time going to this place and i tell u for 46 dollars for 2 meals the portions was small and the mac n cheese taste like it was the bottom of the pan or boxed chicken pieces were small and dry i could not eat my dressing it had cranberry sauce in it and im allergic to cranberry so that was a waste i know yaw close at 630 and want to go home but there is no reason to slip on quality of your food i probably wont be going back

The worst customer service I have ever experienced. The staff is outrageously rude. We were told the wait would be 30 minutes ... waited over two hours for a table. Hands down the most overrated restaurant in Atlanta with mediocre food at best. Steer clear of this place, Atlanta has so much better to offer.

The food was as far as taste! But the wings were small as hell. I had chicken and waffles with mac & cheese and green beans as my two sides. Green beans were award winning mac was average at best. Service was great, being we are dealing with the whole pandemic situation, we had to wait about 30 min for them to bring out the order. Thanks Angelique! The waffle was perfectly prepared, nice and soft for the bending and dipping. Definetly enjoyed my experience at Busy Bee Cafe!

This place is awesome!!!OMG the food is EVERYTHANG!! YOU MAY HAVE A WAIT BUT ITSSSSS SOOOOOO WORTH IT!!CANT WAIT TO GO BACK.

Be prepared to wait. Check the app first before you go to know the waiting time. Food is decent but very small inside.

The wait is to long for someone who ordered food almost 45mins before pickup!!!

The ox tails and fried green tomatoes are the bomb yall. I think everyone should go there atleast once. I promise you will go back time after time

Wait wasn't too bad. Food was great as expected. Highly recommend the mac and cheese! It was delicious. Our server was pretty sweet as well.

IF YOU CANCEL YOUR PICK UP ORDER BE SURE THEY NEVER CHARGE YOU. THEY CHARGE ME FOR A MEAL THAT I NEVER HAVE!!!!

I was visiting my son and i really wanted to try this place . We order on line and the pick up time was 1hr after you place your order. We arreived 15 late and our order wasn't ready. Ok we wait and wait and wait, i needed to take a plane in the next hours. So we wait 1 hrs outside the rest and nothing. A lot of people waiting too. They told us that they'll send you a message to let you know when your order is ready. Thing that we didn't know until we were there.
So we ended canceling the order and charger us 66 dlls for a meal we did not have. I really wanted to try them. Now i have to Wait to have my money back

Great food! Crazy wait times. My family truly enjoyed the meal. The downside for us was the almost 2 hour wait. We were thankful to receive a phone call that our table was ready even while the tracker showed we were in 11th in queue. Long after leaving we received yet a 2nd call that our table was ready which meant we weren't removed from the queue tracker, which by extension means someone else was waiting even longer than we were. Fix the queue system to make it as amazing as the food!

I waited really close to 2 hours for a to go order people that went in to sit down to eat were eating and leaving before I received my food for a $70 order which was 3 plates and dessert haven't eaten the food yet because it kind of spoiled my appetite waiting so long to get my food i only waited because my wife wanted some soul food!!!!!!! man I hope eventually if it is I won't be back!!!!!! Big on customer service!!!!!!!!

We waited over an hour to get in this very small restaurant. They have no real waiting area, just sit outside in the sun and wait. They will text you when your seating is available if you leave. You can reserve a seat online before you go also.. That seems like a better alternative option. The food was really delicious. We got oxtails, chicken, macaroni and cheese, greens, broccoli casserole, and fried green tomatoes. The delivery of food was pretty quick. Our waitress was very prompt and nice. The guy who seats you seems awkward and not very good at his job. He was the worst part of the whole experience. I'd definitely order take out food from Busy Bee but the dine in experience was just a bit uncomfortable. They also seat walk ins but have you waiting for hours on a list. The host/ seater guy totally sucked. But again the food is great!

To be clear this poor rating was due to customer service.
I must say the food is delicious as always but the customer service is awful. I ordered online today, arrived to pickup my order and there are people standing around waiting. No server/employee was outside to check on pickup orders or help place orders. I stood at the door waving at the servers and they just continued to look at me. Eventually an unpleasant server came out to see what I needed. To her surprise my online order was actually ready. So I was waiting for no reason. I don t understand why there is no signage to help customers identify where we should go to pickup our orders. Instead, we are suppose to stand outside without any guidance and hope someone comes out to assist us. I love supporting black business but this treatment will definitely prevent me from returning anytime soon.

Ok. Got there early. They wasnt ready quite yet. So I'm like here we go. Get in about 5 mins after. To be greeted by the host. Cool friendly and knowledgeable of the menu. Waiter was good. Ordered the fried chicken and had dressing and collard greens. AMD what I will say is it taste like my grandma cooked it from the crib. Everything was good. Thumbs up.

Good southern food. Closed due to covid19, but can have to go

My husband and I (truck drivers) ordered food from Busy Bee Cafe through GrubHub today 1/18/19. (2) Smothered Chicken dinner orders with supposed to be banana pudding totaling $58.14. When we received the order they gave peach cobbler INSTEAD of the banana pudding that was ordered. My husband called back to tell them their error and was told there was nothing they could do if we couldn't come and pick it up.

That was the point in ordering the food through GrubHub because we couldn't bring an 53 foot trl with a cab onto their parking lot. Needless to say, they would not correct their mistake and find a way to get us the dessert that was ordered and paid for. A guess great customer service is a thing of the past.

Anyone who truly knows me, knows my long-standing relationship with this establishment, which is why my assessment/review may catch a few off-guard. While the food may be delectable, sound, consistent, and effective customer service seems to be conspicuously absent from their lexicon. Usually, when these kinds of issues are brought to the proprietor s attention, he or she thanks you and makes a concerted effort to correct any perceived shortcoming (s). At present, that has not been the case. As a matter-of-fact, it comes across as though I am being avoided or that she is a bit pensive. As I have communicated previously. What YOU tolerate becomes YOUR standard! And what YOU ALLOW.....will continue! True and consistent support comes from Main Street.....not Wall Street!

Respectfully,

Derrick T. Mosley

We came here on New Years Eve from Birmingham, Al and waited over an hour let s not talk about how little and tight the place is once you get inside. After we got seated we waited some more maybe 20-30 mins before a waitress came to get our order. Once we received our food it wasn t good at all. The fried chicken wasn t seasoned the Mac n cheese was plain no kinda taste at all oh let me not forget the sweet potatoes were nasty! We won t be back!!!!

Small portion high prices macaroni not good I asked for smothered chicken they gave me boil chicken with gravy

Our first stop when we come to Atlanta. BEST Fried Chicken...juicy, flavorful and fresh fried...get the half because 2 pieces aren't enough! The fried pork chops are sensational... gotta smother with gravy! Sides always Yum! MacNcheese, turnip greens and okra...if you have to wait, DO IT!

The food was good , especially the banana pudding , but the place is to small and tight !!

I went to busy bee cafe 11/25 to pick up a catering order for Thanksgiving. I scheduled my pick up time for 1146. I only ordered 3 cold sides, a cold pie, and 8oz of ham. I came on time and I did not receive my food until 130pm. I am disappointed in the lack of preparation this restaurant has every year. This will be my last year ordering from them. I do not know how they are during regular hours but this is something they do every year, apparently they do not know how to handle the amount of orders that are placed during the holiday season.

The food was absolutely delicious, the wait was long as usual but worth it. Our server Mrs. Jackie was very attentive & welcoming. I'll definitely go back but I'll try to avoid lunch next time. The only thing they need to work on is seating & greeting their guests accordingly.

My family and I stopped at busy bees last year during vacation and had a great experience. Decided we wanted to stop by busy bees again this year this time with my mother and my mother in law because they had heard all the good things we had to say about the restaurant. We get to the front door before I could even open it the bald gentleman opens it and asked me what I wanted. I told him we had a party of 7 you know trying to check in and find out how long the wait would be. He proceeded to tell me very rudely I can t come in he doesn t have a table and there is an hour and a half wait. He didn t ask if we wanted to wait, for my name or anything else. Now let me remind you this isn t my first time here. The first time I visited this place I was greeted, asked how many were in my party, given a wait time, and they took my name so I could be added in line. This time completely different. Now he could have been having a bad day I don t know but that s no excuse to talk to a customer that way. We left and didn t have a problem getting amazing service at Old Lady Gang. We walked in there were greeted and they told us the wait would be an hour which was fine because that s what we expected from the beginning but they made sure to get us in line without attitude.

The food is great. The server was exceptional. She made up for the not so good service we received at the door. The host was not friendly. We asked fo be seated he said the wait was an hour to us and another couple who arrived when we arrived. We went to order to go and noticed the couple who came with us was seared less than 5 minutes later. There were a few empty tables so I asked if we could be seated. The server said no because we had already ordered to go. As we waited. No one came in tables were clearing out. We then heard a server say hey how come you haven't sat my section. I said because he won't seat us, he insists there are other reservations. The server asked him if we could come to our station. It had been almost 20 minutes and none came in after us. He first refused, then he conceded when I said to the server don't worry we will take our food when it comes out and I will contact management.
The server was exceptional. She took us and two other couples who came right after she took us. She made our experience much better.

Tasty food.tight parking lot but has an overflow lot. Quick turnover order for pickup and lessen wait times.

Always on point nothing commercial about this cooking....

Don't get me wrong the food is good but the wait time is EXTREMELY RIDICULOUS rather you call -in or order online. I waited like 90 mins to get an order that was wrong. Then had to get it corrected. I appreciate them be open a day the young man who was trying to grab orders,but this not the first time the wait has been long. I love the food but that does not excuse the long wait time.

I love busy bee cafe I have been going the for so many years and I always order the same thing collards yams fried chicken and okra you can't go wrong

The cornbread was dry. The peach cobbler was undercooked. The take out was over priced because the tray was the size of the meals on wheels food that is given to the sick and elderly. We waited over an hour for a simple meal. My cube steak was pre frozen groundbeef patties. This isn't my usual from them their food was always on point. What happened?

This little hole-in-the-wall boasts a charming, down home feel, but the service is so slow that you want to scream. I have been here a few times, and each experience was more frustrating than the last. The food is okay, but not hard to find elsewhere and of better quality. In my most recent experience I ordered chicken wings to go, and I was told it would be about 20 minutes...35 minutes later I was fuming and I demanded a refund. On a Tuesday afternoon, the wait for a table shouldn t be 45 minutes and to go should not take 35, especially when your food is just ok. It was apparent that my food had been given to someone else, and the fault lies with the management. Clearly they re not capable of handling an establishment with high volume. She half-heartedly apologized for the wait and offered no concession, but I was disgusted by the disorganized manner in which they operate; the wait could ve been avoided. She did not address this, and honestly seemed not to care. My decision not to return is based on just that; I would much rather frequent a place that cares about its patrons not just making a quick buck on overpriced food.

This place was highly recommended online so we had to try it out.

Depending on the day there might be a huge lineup. There is a huge lineup just for takeout, which can take over an hour, and even when you get in to place your order it takes an hour to prepare it. The other line is to dine in, which can be a 2 hour wait.

We had to make 2 trips because the first time we ran short on time (had to catch a flight as we had a layover in Atlanta for part of the day).

The staff there were all super friendly, a hint of the southern hospitality we have heard about. Plus they enjoy chatting with us briefly when they aren't swamped.

We ordered the fried chicken, corn bread, peach cobbler and some of the sides (I think it was the yellow rice, Mac and cheese, fried okra and fried green tomatoes).

The peach cobbler was delicious and so amazing, I couldn't put my spoon down! Even when it was cold it was so good. The fried chicken were of course delicious and finger picking good. I like how crispy the skin was, how well seasoned and juicy the chicken was. The corn bread was delicious and tasted sweet, the waitress got us an extra helping of it when we finished our first.

I did not like the quantity of stuff you got for the price. The 2nd piece of chicken you got looked tiny compared to the 1st piece. The sides I was not a huge fan of. The mac and cheese lacked seasoning and was barely warm at all (like I ordered this for dine in so no reason for the temperature). The fried okra was so so, could use more seasoning. The yellow rice was yummy but extremely salty, the salt kind of overwhelmed any delicious flavoring the rice had. The fried green tomatoes was interesting and good, but again lacked seasoning.

It feels quite expensive and didn't give me the full southern soul food feel I was looking for.

Overall it was an interesting and delicious experience. But it was quite expensive for the portion size, the line up is ridiculous and not located in the best area.

Best Fried Chicken in Atlanta. Don't forget the Mac and for dessert I had the Key Lime Cake and it was worth the extra two miles I had to run in the ATL heat! Great place and very affordable.

Don't know what the fuss is all about! Long long lines, no customer service, overpriced, and food is so so with small portions for the price! Not for me!

Best fried chicken anywhere. Great soul food, their deserts are amazing too.

Great food. The staff is friendly and attentive! Feels like Mommy's kitchen for sure!