My Mama's Vegan — Restaurant in Baltimore

This was my first visit here and I had a tough time finding the place.

Suggestion: Please update Google with a visual storefront image not to be confused with an image someone posted of the prior location.

From my understanding now, previously they offered carry-out at 2915 Greenmount Ave., but are now located inside Urban Reads Bookstore and are branding as a deli/bistro.

Suggestion: Please update your Google address with "Address: 3008 Greenmount Ave (Inside Urban Reads Bookstore), Baltimore, MD 21218

I think it's great this black owned business has provided a different food solution contrasting the Asian carryout and fried chicken box circuits in the area. I don't know the specifics on what happened or why they relocated to a bookstore and obviously down-sized, but they are still hanging in there, so that's a plus.

The most frustrating part for me during my visit was many menu items were not available that were listed on their website or their online ordering menu link. Their website says 'Breakfast is served all day except for French Toast and Pancake Platters' as well as Sides available. I was told they had neither. I soon determined the chalkboard menu food stand items were the only things offered. I would have liked to purchase more items like desserts or sides etc. and willingly dropped $100+ as I've done in other BOB vegan spots.

Suggestion: Please remove the ordering online menu links to Toast Local, DoorDash, UberEats, etc. if none of those menu items are current. It's confusing.

I've never had food there before so I needed input. I had to pull teeth to get some recommendations from at least one of the 2 cooks on what was popular or what they personally liked. Neither of them were friendly and looked uncomfortable responding to my questions. It was extremely awkward.

Suggestion: Provide a physical menu with photos of some of the food. Post signs and advertise about popular items.

There is no kitchen, and the two same male employees were taking turns cooking the food on a medium sized griddle. That visual presentation in itself was unsettling to me. It visually looked low budget. No hood and no ventilation needed for the smoke from the greasy buttery foods they fry either? There was also a commercial refrigerator but hardly anything in it for me to be greedy and buy. Why?

In the food industry, food presentation is important. All of my sandwiches were gooey and soggy. I could not eat the sub or the burger due to this. However, the Triple BLT was tasteful and I managed to eat that.

Suggestion: The cooks need to wrap the burgers and other fried foods loosely so they have room to "breathe". You may think that a tight wrap will keep the food fresh, but all it does is seal in moisture and ensure that it will be soggy if it isn’t eaten fast. Also, placing them in plastic bags just keeps all the moisture inside and compounds the problem of a soggy mess and unappetizing food.

Overall, this experience wasn't what I expected and I was disappointed 😕.

This final statement is for the owner Ms. Wyatt: I've read many of your reviews and your responses particularly to the negative ones. I understand your heart is in this and you love your people and your community. Yet, some people are observing how you respond to bad feedback. Becoming brashly defensive and even rude when responding to customers is the symptom, not the problem. The customers are presenting you with the problem or "their problem".

What will your solution continue to be? There's an expression: "Never assume that every critic is a hater. Not everyone is hating on you. Some people are telling you the truth." We can love our business and our community all day long. But, the end goal is to make money and feed our families. Each customer you lose is a revenue loss and can cause you to lose another customer (more revenue) due to bad reviews and/or how you respond to those reviews. It's really something to think about and adjust (if you choose).

Overall, I wish you nothing...

So disappointed, I drove a total of 2 hours there and back. I wanted the fried chicken box oyster mushroom version. They don't have a visible menu besides a chalk board to the left and I thought I had order the correct item. I wish the cashier would have been more inquisitive and asked if I wanted the oyster mushrooms or there regular chicken box that I didn't even know they had. I paid sixty dollars to have waited over forty minutes for food, which I was told twenty minutes. To get the wrong thing. When I expressed this is not what I thought I ordered. I was aggressively snapped on told that's what I asked rude as idk what not even a apology nothing at least. I get it things happen but dang. Mind you I wanted to Kirk back but I am pregnant and honestly what would have that solved. I was so dissatisfied with the customer service and the actual chicken box was not satisfying what so ever. Total waste of time and money when my intention was to support. Service + value = profitably. I would recommend having plenty of time and making sure you get exactly what you like. No accountability and a total waste of time and money. Update your menu online and actually have a menu posted that is up to date would be nice. The problem with a lot of black own businesses is we don't manage out time or priorities which makes it hard to create autonomy and trust within our business community. Now you lost a customer yeah you could say you don't want me anyway because you'll be in your feelings about my review instead of looking at the domino affect of whom I could have referred and the connections customers could have brought. We have to do better, everyone deserves respect and good...

The plantsgiving event was just so poorly run and incredibly frustrating to sit through.

To keep things short, orders were placed weeks in advance and a pickup date/time was set for 11/22/23 between 5-7 pm. Between 5 and 830 pm, there was no real indication of where all the food was (some of it was present but not all) and how long things would take. All we were ever given when asked was that the owner was "on her way" (this was the response between 5 and 730) or "she's 5 minutes away" (this was the response between 730 and 830). Once the owner finally arrived, all we were given was a very basic apology and no explanation.

All it took was simple communication, transparency and genuine HONESTY for this to have been a much better experience for everyone involved. A simple Facebook post or email would have gone a long way. Many of the individuals that were waiting there for food wouldn't have had a problem with stepping away for a few hours and coming back when things were ready if all they needed was more time.

I do really hope the team learns from this and is genuinely receptive of any feedback they get. I, for one, do not attend on attending next year until I can see that the team learned from their mistakes from this specific event, but also in years past (we've heard this hasn't been done well for awhile, with personal experience from...