Cafe 209 — Restaurant in Augusta

I have supported this business from their beginning, and have watched the quality of food go down hill. Yesterday, I ordered the hamburger steak and gravy with corn, collards, and corn muffin. I got the hamburger steak with NO gravy, and extra onions. (I asked specifically for no onions.) I will take the blame for not checking the plate before leaving, but I can not take the blame for the way the food was cooked. The hamburger steak was thick, but was red in the middle, and wasn't cooked all the way through. It tasted like someone poured salt on top of it, as did the corn and collard greens. Both sides were overly salty, and I ended up throwing the plate in the trash. The peach cobbler was just peaches----no crust----and was more of a fruit cup than a cobbler. The best thing about the meal was the lemonade and tea that I had to drink to get the salty taste out of my mouth.

I am not sure what happened to this establishment, but the love and care for food that once was a staple in Cafe 209 has long gone. I will not spend another dime here because the last 3 experiences have not been good, and I don't trust the food to be as tasty as it once was. I lost $20 and my appetite, but I will not make that...

Based on our first visit yesterday, Cafe 209 will likely become our downtown Southern & Soul food go-to.

We were greeted at the door by a lovely woman – the proprietress, perhaps – and led to a large booth in the clean, spartan and spacious dining room. Service was friendly and attentive.

We ordered the fried chicken – which is cooked to order, so allow about 20 minutes – and our dishes were delivered to the table several minutes apart, which was a little awkward for my dining companion and me but no biggie. The chicken was expertly fried, perfectly moist yet slightly underseasoned for our tastes; something that was remedied with a dash of Texas Pete hot sauce. Not that we expect fried chicken to be spicy, this was simply the quick fix at hand.

Sides were all spot-on and the housemade baked mac and cheese – not the ubiquitous, slick stovetop glop served elsewhere – tasted like home. We skipped dessert.

Next time, we'll go on a Friday and sample the fried fish. Looking...

I went to pick up 8 orders that were called in. I was told the wait time would be 20-25 minutes. When I went to pick the food up I had to wait over an hour to get the food. While waiting there were only 4 tables of people in the restaurant & most were waiting to even get a drink. They were still waiting for food when I left. While during the hour wait there was no apology for the wait, no drink offered, nothing, no customer service. When the food was finally ready & I left & there were to meals missing from the order & I had to return to the restaurant to get them. The food wasn't warm when it was picked up & the whole restaurant just seems really unorganized. 1 waitress was running around working her tail off but it just seems whoever was in the kitchen had no idea how to manage it. Maybe I just had an off day but I wouldn't go if...