Brunch Life: Kitchen + Kocktails GRAND OPENING Restaurant Review
Happy Monday Babes! So, this morning I woke up wanting a pork chop, lamb chops and everything else that I should have ate and tasted yesterday š¤¦š½āāļø.
Now you know me and my girls love to go out to eat and try different restaurants. Weāll buy a mixture of things just so we can taste everything! As far as this place, I may have to wait a few months before I go back in order to let them get settled, work out their kinks, and hope the owner is better at customer service. For now Iām just going to assume he had a lot to deal with and was overwhelmed.
I really wanted to fall in love with this place. The decor is very instagrammable and chic. Food is pricey and cost more than the Dallas location, Iāve heard. But, Iām sure itās because they have to make up in costs for that downtown-Chicago location.
When you go, keep in mind the menu is like an Ć la carte.
Our reservation was at 1:00pm on Sunday. It started off ok with complimentary mimosas for our table of 6. Once we ordered, It took about an hour to get drinks. 2 of my girls also got their appetizers, which was a bowl of gumbo and an order of the crab cakes. About 30 minutes later, another 2 of my girls got their food. One plate came out hot and the other not cold but not warm either. As for the rest of usā¦ nothing.
Butter Pecan Waffle
One drink that was suppose to be their specialty drink didnāt smoke or give what it was suppose to give, and my Cotton Candy drink looked nothing like the picture. They werenāt watered down at all but just not a good first impression being that they were the specialty drink on the menu and I came for the experience.
Around 3:00, since we still hadnāt got our food. One of the managers just went ahead and cleared our tab of everything we had already received. We were told if we didnāt mind waiting 15 more minutes that the food that came out was all we had to pay for. Ok, coolā¦ because again, we really wanted to support, eat, and like the place.
Then it became 4:00ā¦ Within this 4 hour time frame we were told by our waitress, the Dallas visiting manager, and another manager that our food was coming, it was being worked on as we speak, 15 more minutes, the kitchen is backed up, etc.
Our food never came. We were given free drinks on empty stomachs to help, but all this time we watched some people who came in after us get their food, others still hadnāt gotten food, and servers came to our table twice with the wrong food.
The drinks tasted fye and the little food that we did taste was good and flavorful. The overall experience is what sucked and it didnāt have to.
You know who did get their food thoā¦ Kendra G. from WGCI. She walked in and menu items were basically ready for her when she sat down. Now Iām all for a restaurant getting their exposure and business out there. Iām not hating, but I would have liked that exact same quality of serviceā¦ hot food, and drinks that razzled and dazzle like they do in the pics (my cotton candy drink made me sad š).
At one point the waitress spoke to the owner about the fact that we had been waiting for food for over three hours. Instead of walking to the table to address us and the situation he simply side-peeked over at us, kept doing what he was doing, and stayed attentive to Kendra.
As a radio personality, Kendra was good for advertisement purposes, but us and other people were real customers and where the real reviews would ultimately come from. He hadnāt walked around to any tables or really come out until she got there.
I only wish he had given at least half as much energy to the customers as he did her.
I wish that they had did a soft launch OR waited to open instead.
The place was packed and perhaps if less reservations were taken, the staff and kitchen could have been less overwhelmed and delivered meals in a timely manner.
I heard the entire weekend has been the same for others since they opened on Friday. So, in my opinionā¦I donāt think they were ready, even if it was reservation only.
Anywayās, My bestie had to basically go get the owner and bring him to the table. (take a peak at my instagram stories/reel)
Our waitress, Amanda, was very nice and apologetic, but we could tell that she was overwhelmed. She seemed to have tables that were scattered throughout the restaurant and many times we saw her helping out other staff members who were, like her, overwhelmed. When discussing her service with my friends some thought that she could have been more proactive in getting our food while others thought she was doing the best with what she was given. Seeing as how we werenāt the only table with no food or cold food I personally think the kitchen and staff just werenāt prepared or trained well for the type of crowd size that was received.
I also wish the owner had taken a little bit more accountability and took care of the customers concerns a bit more instead of āFOR EXAMPLEā calling security on us because one of my girls cursed while trying to explain the issue saying, āwe not paying for any of our shitā š but I get itā¦ although weāre not that type to cause a scene he probably wasnāt sure how the situation was gonna go.
Let me also say that our take home food came out at the end before our original food did. This is where more confusion cameš¤¦š½āāļø Becauseā¦like othersā¦I ordered brunch and never got itš¤¦š½āāļø I really wanted my chicken and Oreo wafflesš©
Once security came to speak with us. We decided to just leave. We werenāt loud or getting in any ones faces, because like I said we donāt do that š. I spoke to the owner while the girls were getting themselves together to leave and explained to him everything. He was like just come back again, you know itās opening weekend, contact him on IG, let him know what happened and there was nothing he could do currently.
Another server or person in black pulled me to the side after and asked me what happened AGAIN and kept apologizing and Iām like āitās not your faultā¦ my girls can just leave the 3 orders of take out and go because this is too much confusion. One person says we donāt have to pay for anything at this point and another says we have to at least pay for the takeout. Weāll just leave all of it. Weāre hungry we just wanna go.ā
So we took care of Amanda, our waitress, by tipping her well, and we left.
Once we got outsideā¦ others were saying the same thing. āFood was cold, took hours, they didnāt even know the owner was there, drinks were good thoš, but I couldāve stayed at homeā¦.ā
I donāt think Iāll ever go to a grand opening againā¦ Iāll just wait a few weeks until I know that things should be organized and the reviews are good. Like I said, thereās potential, but I suggest trying them out on a week day when itās less busy or wait a few months for them to get the hang of things.
I guess I have to go buy lamb chops and pork chops and cook it myself now ācus I currently still have a taste for all that foodš«š«š«!
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