Willy’s Chicken and Waffles set to open on Nicholson

The owner of a new chicken and waffles restaurant says he hopes to be open at 3285 Nicholson Drive, in the former location of Tigris Deli, by the end of the month. Greg Williams, owner of Willy’s Chicken and Waffles, is a Baton Rouge native and former Raising Cane’s executive who left the area after Hurricane Katrina and started working as a restaurant consultant with VSAG in Austin, Texas, as well as with Piccadilly’s food service division. Williams says he got the idea for his new restaurant after seeing the success of Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in Los Angeles and Big Mama’s in Dallas. “I thought about how good a concept like that would be in the South,” he says. “The reason for opening is, ‘Why not?’ Everybody loves chicken, and I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like a waffle.” While several local restaurants serve chicken and waffles, Willy’s will be Baton Rouge’s first restaurant dedicated solely to the popular pairing. The restaurant will have four combos, including a white meat and dark meat option, kids’ meal, and the “Willy-wich,” which features a fried chicken breast in between two waffles with the restaurant’s signature mayo and ketchup-based sauce and syrup. Willy’s will be open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., and will possibly serve later on the weekends if the opportunity and sales are there, Williams says. —Matthew Sigur