Flavor Rich Restaurant Atlanta — Restaurant in Atlanta

I'm convinced black-owned restaurants love losing customers! We stopped by Flavor Rich when they first opened and it was phenomenal! Excellent food, excellent customer service, and none of those ridiculous "black business rules" that seem to be popular in Atlanta 😒.

So, today, I decided to stop by for my birthday brunch and let me tell you...THEY'VE CHANGED FOR THE WORST! You can tell they're trying to charge their customers the most money while using cheaper food/products. The $50 steak and eggs was HUGE the first time I got it; it was so big I split it with my sister and both of us were full. Today, the steak was 1/3 of the original size. And the yummy egg whites I had last time tasted like box egg whites today.

Don't get me wrong, the food was still REALLY good but they've lost their mind with their ridiculous new rules 🙄:

1. An extra 4% charge if you use a credit card. They'll call it a "delivery fee" and they'll automatically put it on your bill without asking. We used cash so she had to remove it!

2. They only offer cheap bottled water for $3. They tore the wrapper off but you can tell it's the cheap, walmart bottled water. (Or maybe I could tell because I drink a lot of water and have tried most bottled waters.)

3. They automatically add 20% gratuity for 4+ people or if your bill is over $100. I usually tip 20%-30% but eating there was SUCH a hassle (see #4). I was so annoyed by the time I got my check! I see why they add gratuity, as our server would have gotten much less than 20%

4. AND THE DUMBEST RULE: No substitutions! I can understand if they don't want to deal with swapping toast for bagels, or grits for potatoes, etc...but they won't even allow you to remove food you don't eat! For example, my mom doesn't eat onions so she ordered the burger without onions and the server said she wasn't allowed to remove the onions. UM...WHAT!??

So I asked the server the reason for this rule, and she said when it's busy it becomes too confusing for the kitchen / chef to keep up with how people order their food. Ummmm, if the "chef" can't even remove onions from a burger I'm convinced he's not a chef. Like, who trained you!?? RIDICULOUS!

They also didn't have any hot sauce and the 1-ply toilet paper in the bathroom was the cheapest toilet money can buy.

‼️ That said, my server was very friendly and professional! Both times I've gone, the servers have been excellent. I kind of feel bad for them though, as they have to enforce those ridiculous rules--which makes for an unpleasant dining experience because customers get frustrated--but our server handled all of my questions with a great attitude and a smile on her face. EDIT: I changed the 3-star service review to 4-stars because our server has no control over the rules.

Lastly, between the good food, friendly servers, and aesthetically pleasing interior, this place gets 3-stars instead of 1-star.

This would definitely be a 5-star review if they didn't have all of those...

Flavor Rich lives up to the name!! The food is seasoned to perfection!

A little info from the website. This company started as a food truck back in 2018. They opened their first Brick and Mortar in 2020. Today they have 3 brick and Mortar locations (Atlanta, Suwannee, and San Antonio, TX).

The website does provide details on very important need to know before you go info as follows:

They do NOT split checks A 4% fee is addd to all checks that pay with a credit card You can NOT make any modifications to the menu items You can NOT return an item because you do not like it. All checks greater than $100 and parties of 4 or more WILL include a 20% gratuity on the bill.

A few items not noted, but should be known ahead of time:

They have a parking lot. The cost is $5.90 for 2 hours There is an hour limit on your dinning table If you make a reservation they immediately charge your card $5 per person. This payment will be applied to your bill. ( this was not done automatically for our party- we had to request it)

The experience:

I made a reservation for a party of 4 on a Friday for Sunday at 12:30pm. We arrived right on time and were seated as soon as we checked in. Our wait staff was a little delayed in coming to our table. It took about 15 minutes to be greeted by the wait staff. She went over all the rules I noted above! Since she took a minute to arrive we were ready to order when she arrived. They do not have paper menus. You simply use your phone to scan a QR code for the menu. Of note, they do not offer free water. They will sell you a bottle for $3.

My party of 4 ordered 2 fish and grits, 2 chicken and waffles, a side of vanilla waffles, 1 coffee, and 1 bottle of water. I personally ordered the fish and grits. I asked for my salmon to be cooked medium rare. I was told that it would be noted, but there is no guarantee that my request would be accommodated.

To my surprise the food took a while to come out! I was certain that nothing was being prepared to order given the statement that my request for medium rare salmon may not be accommodated.

The food tastes amazing! I just have to give credit where credit is due. The salmon and grits were full of flavor. The waffles were accompanied by fresh fruit that looked amazing, powdered sugar, butter and syrup- they too tasted great. My friends that had the chicken and waffles enjoyed their meals too!

Overall- food gets 10 stars! The chef is killing it! Service is good, but could be a little more attentive. The ambiance is nice! I loved all the art work of artist.

I say if you plan accordingly, by car pooling, and paying in cash it’s a win! Just be sure to understand all the rules before you...

This Sunday I got the chance to experience Flavor Rich and I see what everyone is raving about online, the food was AMAZING! We came with a large party of about 15 and not one person had a complaint about their food which is rare for my picky family members lol. But, Flavor Rich had tons of rules so make sure you are aware before going. First thing, the parking is $5 in the lot next door and they boot cars, AGGRESSIVELY. Please make sure you pay the $5 or pay $75 in boot fees. They also do not split checks. I don’t know if they didn’t split because we were such a large party, or if they just don’t split checks at all, but be prepared to pay all together. Also, there is a 4% processing fee for all credit cards. If you want to avoid the additional fee, bring cash! Lastly, they gave us a time limit of 1 hour to eat and get out lol. They close at 4 or 4:30pm and they are really busy with lots of reservations so to accommodate everyone, there’s a time limit. One more thing, there are no modifications on the menu. Everything is served the way it’s described on the menu. You can not add or take away anything from the entrees unless you would like to replace pork with turkey.

But the food was delicious! I had the French toast with a side of eggs and it was probably the best French toast I’ve had in years. My friends had shrimp and grits and shrimp and waffles and everything was seasoned to perfection. The plate presentation was beautiful for every entree. For the prices, I would have thought that the drinks would have been presented just as well as the food was. But, for a $7 pineapple lemonade, it came in a to go cup with lid. I had a $6 club soda which came in a bottle with no glass or cup on the side. When the server brought salt and pepper to the table, it was served in plastic ramekins for the table to share. Which I thought was a little unsanitary and tacky. Overall, I would definitely go back but NOT with a large party and I would probably sit at the bar area.

Also, they do play music. It’s more like R&B vibes which I love but the music was entirely too loud. You couldn’t even hear yourself talk to the people who you came...