Before I go into details, let me say that I was told several times that they're doing a soft opening, they're not done with the menu or the interior decor. Ok, now onto the tea...
I will start with how pleasant, courteous and professional the majority of staff was to me. They get a 5 star rating for how well groomed and polite they were initially. As I sat down, I noticed that the floors needed to be finished and the tables and chairs could've been updated. The roof top furniture looks cheap but the ambiance is everything though. YOu can't order stuff from the main menu on the roof top though. I would love to see him add some table tops upstairs for people to order food and enjoy the roof top area. But the elevator ride up is a problem. There is absolutely no air or ventilation in it. It was hot as hell. Better yet, the whole place was hot as hell. We had to be moved from our plush seats to be set down at a table in front of the fan. Talk about hood.
Now I was excited about the food. I'd checked out the initial menu and knew exactly what I wanted to eat. But when I got there, they'd downsized the menu and jacked up the prices. Their bar was limited and I started feeling that the night would go downhill and I was right. I started with the lobster bisque. I will give it a 4.7 out of 5 only because it was a tad bit salty and they had some type of leaves on top that added nothing to it. If anything, trying to pick the grass looking leaves out was cumbersome. But there were huge chunks of lobster in it so that made up for it.
My friend ordered the buffalo oysters. The batter was good but the oysters were soggy. They could've been firmer considering that they were fried. We ordered the watermelon salad. I would've loved to have more watermelon in it. We were left with so much leafy greens and feta cheese and not enough melon to balance it out. Overall, it was pretty good.
Now our main course is where shyt just went left. I ordered the braised short ribs with garlic mashed potatoes and collard greens with smoked turkey. My rib was over cooked and tough as hell. I let my server know, who agreed with me and sent the chef out. I saw some burly man who looked like he did an 8 to 10 bid or someone who owns a barbeque shack come to my table. Very unprofessional. He asked what was wrong, when I told him he said it was probably left under the heat lamp too long. Then he had the nerve to ask me how should it have been cooked. I replied, 'properly'. My server almost passed out from laughter. So the chef offered to prepare another meal on the house including dessert on the house.
He brings out peach cobbler which was horrible. My friend had banana pudding which he said tasted like the food from our cafeteria in college. Now what completely slayed my soul is when they brought my food out to go. The man put my shyt in a fukking Wal-Mart bag. I was fukking done! Lol!
At that point, my server decided to keep it 100 with me. He said he's tired of people thinking because of their name, they can open a spot, call it upscale but don't want to put the money into it. e Hsaid he's been working about 60 hours a week and when he got paid, his check was short.
Then my friend valeted his Benz, paid them $20 and when it was time to leave, all the valet people were gone. LOL! Chile they had parked his car in the garage by mine and left the keys upstairs in the office of the restaurant. Then when we got ready to go, we still couldn't leave cause they had us locked in the garage. It was a fukking mess! Lol!
But before we left, they gave me a private tour. They will have a 'Blue Room' and a cigar area for celebs and other elites to separate them from the regular folks. The place has potential but TI needs to spend some money and hire a real, professional chef. He's trying to cut too many corners. He has random trash cans from Walmart just sitting in corners for trash. You can't have an upscale soul food spot with sub par food, service and decor. shyt won't work. I will add pics so y'all can see for yourselves. But the 'To Go' plate he sent me home with was some garbage. Nothing but stems in the greens, soggy, watery potatoes and hard ass 'braised' ribs. Couldn't even cut the shyt.
ETA...T.I. or Tiny, inbox me. I've given other high profiled chef's advice on how to make their restaurants better and they listened. My prices aren't that expensive. If you can push that nice white Benz you had parked by the door, you can afford to hire me to get your shyt in order. Your location has too much potential to be headed in this direction.
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