The Brunch at East Atlanta — Restaurant in Atlanta

I really wanted to love this place and since they opened recently I was more than willing to cut some slack, but it was just sad and a little weird.

We were their first table of the day, but when we walked in and were sat right away, but it took a minute for the waitress to greet us. She was wearing earbuds?!? It’s a kind of diner like atmosphere, but not in a good way. Wobbly tables with no booth option, too loud music, no design theme whatsoever. There were weird little cards on the table that said Table 1 Table 2, etc.

Menu was small, but that’s not necessarily a deal breaker. But again it was weird. I guess someone has an issue with pork because although about half the menu had items like sausage or bacon, it was fake sausage or turkey bacon. No coffee drinks like a latte or cappuccino were available but the waitress offered me hot chocolate instead. They did have regular drip coffee from a percolator, which was fine, just totally basic like Folgers or whatever, but when I asked for a refill the waitress brought out a whole new cup with set up and tried to charge for another cup of coffee. Mind you, this isn’t a fancy pour over, just a regular cup of basic coffee. Waffles were kind of burnt.

Completely not relaxing as we were sitting at a wobbly table which threatened to pitch our food in our lap at any second as it wobbled around. We were probably there less than 30 minutes because it was so uninviting.

Another weird thing- an automatic 20% is added to your bill for a tip, which is not the norm for the restaurants in the area, but what IS normal is that your waiter should point out that a tip is added which our waiter did not. Instead of a normal credit card slip, you have to pay on a little machine they bring to your table, and when you do, you get a screen that asks you for a tip, even though a mandatory 20% is ALREADY added. Just really weird and shady. I almost always tip 20%, even at a diner, but a tip is voluntary, not mandatory and you shouldn’t get another screen asking you to tip AGAIN after you’ve already done the mandatory tip. As someone who worked in restaurants I would ALWAYS tell a table on the rare occasion that a Tip was added the check - like for a large table.

To sum up, I really wanted to love this place, but it’s just sad and...

The coffee was old and reheated, likely from the day before. I had eggs, bacon, and toast — all cold — with only the grits served warm. It was clear the food had been sitting out. My wife’s avocado toast was also cold, and the avocado clearly came from a store-bought container. When I asked the waitress, she claimed everything was made fresh, which was a lie. I ended up mixing the cold eggs and bacon into the grits to make a breakfast bowl — something they might consider offering if they’re going to serve old food anyway. I’m embarrassed I went there and even more embarrassed I paid for it. If they don’t improve, this place won’t last.

Update I've copied this directly from another review about the place.

Another weird thing- an automatic 20% is added to your bill for a tip, which is not the norm for the restaurants in the area, but what IS normal is that your waiter should point out that a tip is added which our waiter did not. Instead of a normal credit card slip, you have to pay on a little machine they bring to your table, and when you do, you get a screen that asks you for a tip, even though a mandatory 20% is ALREADY added. Just really weird and shady. I almost always tip 20%, even at a diner, but a tip is voluntary, not mandatory and you shouldn’t get another screen asking you to tip AGAIN after you’ve already done the mandatory tip. As someone who worked in restaurants I would ALWAYS tell a table on the rare occasion that a Tip was added the check - like for a large table.

Update on response from owner: I’m sure there’s another way to reheat old coffee. I told your server the food was cold, and she just stared at me blankly, repeating “it’s made fresh to order.” If it’s made fresh, why is it cold?

Also, where is it stated that an automatic 20% is added to the bill? If it’s on the menu, I didn’t see it, and our server didn’t mention it either.

Thanks for...

Went for Sunday brunch with my family. The first problem, as soon as we sat down, one of the waitresses came over, completely ignoring us and snatched the salt and pepper shakers off the table without even saying a word to us as though we weren't there or like she was invisible and we couldn't see her. She never brought it back and no one ever replaced it we had to go to an empty table and get shakers ourselves. My food had good flavor but was super salty, my niece's food didn't have salt at all and the portions were way smaller than what was pictured on the menu or what they post on Instagram(the reason we went there). They didn't have a kid's menu but to give u an idea of the small portion sizes, my 6yr old was able to eat all of her $15 meal (basic egg and grits breakfast) and we aren't big fat greedy people and she doesn't even usually finish her kid's meals when we go out. I didn't complain or let my server know how over it we were because she pretty much ignored us the whole time and it took forever just for her to do everything; greet us, take our order, check on us. I can understand if it was busy but we literally watched her just relax on her phone or take selfies while we and other diners were sitting there waiting. The atmosphere was very dry and dull even though they had music in the background. I will say I couldn't be too mad because like I said everyone got treated the same by their servers too and the overall vibe I got from everyone (employees and the patrons) was no one wanted to be there and was ready to go.

But I will say I understand it's a new business so perhaps they are just growing and it will get better with...