The Battle of Paula Dean and Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang Puck vs. Paula Dean

Both Food Network super stars. One culinary genius chef compared to a home style, southern cook. Or you might say it's like a fight between Superman and Santa Claus.

In April, I made an epic journey to Savannah, GA in part to visit Paula Dean's famed restaurant, Lady & Sons (review here). We left disappointed, dissatisfied, bloated and little irritated by a less than spectacular experience.

Recently I encountered Wolfgang Puck's fast casual restaurant, Wolfgang Puck Express. It's a hip, modern, more affordable Wolfgang Puck experience in comparison to his many other restaurant concepts. The concept is streamlined and sophisticated yet you order from a counter and they bring the food to you.

Although Paula and Wolfgang's styles and flavors are completely different, I couldn't help but compare the two. They both make big promises and have gotten famous from their food. They deserve to be compared head to head in an all out restaurant dining competition.

Here are the results:

Welcome
We were greeted at Paula Dean's by a heard of people all angry, sweaty and waiting for their buffet. Then, like cattle we were jammed into an old 3 story building.

At Wolfgang Puck Express we were welcomed by a friendly employee. As I looked at the menu I really couldn't decide.....there were several great choices. The open kitchen was only a few steps away so I took it upon myself to walk over to the expo line and see what was going on. The manager (unusually enough she didn't think it was weird that I was standing next to her as she plated up food) showed me dishes that were coming out, explained what they were and made a few recommendations. Have you ever heard of this happening before? "Here, step in my kitchen, let me show you our food"....amazing.

Wolfgang: 1 Paula: 0

Atmosphere
Paula Dean: barn with bad lighting

Wolfgang: the ultimate in classy, yet unpretentious so you can wear shorts and still feel like you fit in.

Wolfgang: 2 Paula: 0

Food

Paula: butter-heavy buffet

Wolfgang: look at the menu. A large variety of specialty pizzas, sandwiches and "pockets". I had pizza and the Chicken Aioli Pocket Sandwich. A huge portion with all of the goods inside spilling out it was so full. The pocket was made from scratch and tasted fantastic. However, my primary interest was in the Parmesan potato chips. Crunchy, cheesy....and they were amazing compared to Paula Dean's butter.

Wolfgang: 3 Paula: 0

Service

Paula: although it was a buffet we did have very good service. Attentive, friendly and got us what we needed. But, it didn't blow my mind.

Wolfgang: here's what makes them special. It's a fast casual restaurant with no servers, yet employees brought us our food, cleaned our plates, filled our drinks and brewed more of their specialty iced tea just for us.
Tie

Wolfgang: 3.5 Paula: .5

Price

Here's the thing. They're both overpriced. Paula is charging an arm and a leg for her "special buffet" at over $20 a head.

Wolfgang, although extremely tasty is also a bit expensive with most entrees coming in around $10.

All things considered however I will have to side with Wolfgang. Generous portion for a decent price. The only way you can make up for the cost of Paula is if you stuff yourself to death.

Wolfgang: 4.5 Paula: .5

Wolfgang wins.

Some of you might be shocked by this conclusion. Generally speaking, I would be classified as a "Paula Dean Guy" I love good old fashioned meals and homemade dessert. The bottom line however is that Wolfgang delivered better service, better food and an overall better experience.

So, you tell me if you had to pick between Paula Dean and Wolfgang Puck...who would you choose?