May's Counter Chicken and Waffles

Chicken and Waffles have come to Tucson!  May's Counter opened on Tuesday to some quiet fanfare in town after months of speculation and excitement.

Chicken and Waffles are a combination with no known origins.  Some people believe it dates back to the 1790's when Thomas Jefferson returned from France with the waffle.  There are theories that 100 years later the combination was typical Black or southern food, however, although both foods appear together in some of the first Black cookbooks, they aren't paired together.  However they came to be the combo is simply wonderful.

My lunch buddies at work and I went to May's on Wednesday.  We were greeted at the door, promptly sat and immediately greeted by our server in quick succession.  Although a bit early for the lunch crowd, the restaurant was about 1/3 full with customers.  My group saw a man eating a plate full of tater-tots covered in chicken, cheese, sour cream, green onions, olives and jalapenos.  Our server, Tiffany, let us know they were the "tot-chos", tator-tot nachos.  For $7 we couldn't pass them up and as a group of four we made a big dent in the plate.  The tater tots were crispy, even the tots that were covered in cheese sauce.  Along with the pulled chicken- the jalenpenos were the star of this dish.  Rather than comonly used pickled jalepenos, the jalepenos were fresh slices.  Delish!

The Tot-chos!

I split "the Hen" with a friend.  The Hen, $9 is two chicken breasts and a waffle.  We let Tiffany know that we were splitting the dish and the dish was served already split and they kitchen added an extra waffle. 

Half of "The Hen"

My breast was a little dry (that's what she said), but the waffle....the waffle was the best I'd ever had.  Disclaimer: I only eat waffles once every 3 years on average- so I'm not the best judge of a waffle.  This waffle was large, but thin. It was perfectly cooked and had a lovely light taste of vanilla.  That sweetness in contrast to the salty crispness of the chicken really rounds out the dish.  We had to task for butter, but the syrup and hot sauce was already on the table.

Another friend ordered The Coop, $9, a 1/4 chicken and waffles smothered in gravy and green onions.  The gravy was flavorful, and although the menu described it as "smoothered with gravy" and it wasn't smoothered, it was still a good amount of gravy.

The Coop

Overall the first visit was a hit.  Tiffany, our server, still needed to learn the menu better, but she did go ask and return with the answers we wanted and at the end of our visit she apologized for not knowing the menu better.  Eh, something to improve on!  Our drinks sat empty at one point, but the service was very friendly very proud of their new restaurant.

D$ was annoyed that I didn't go with him, so on Thursday I went back for lunch!  I had a late and biog breakfast so I ordered "light" this time around.  I got a fried chicken leg, $2, and a plain waffle for $5.  D$ ordered the Hen and we shared a side of fried okra for $4. 

The chicken was even better this visit, moist and juicy and the waffle was exactly the same as the day before: perfect!  Yay for consistency.  This time the restaurant was packed with customers, so we did wait a bit longer for our meal than I had on Wednesday.  The fried okra was just eh, but I'd be happy to order it again sometime.  Again, the service was friendly and helpful.  Our table wasn't stocked with hot sauce, but before our meal came out, our server brought over a selection of 6 hot sauces for us to choose from.

Overall after 2 visits, May's receives an A+ in service, food and promptness.  Now if they can just keep those waffles tasty and work out a few (and I mean very few) kinks, Tucson will welcome May's with open arms!