Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Boise

Tupelo Honey⭐️⭐️⭐️ Located in downtown Boise, Tupelo Honey is the 18th location of a small chain that started in Asheville, North Carolina in 2008. Tupelo Honey seeks to reinvent southern classics. I ate there for the first time on 11/25/19 with three friends. Although I didn’t love everything I tried, I appreciate the creative menu, good service and well designed space. Tupelo Honey is one of the few Boise businesses that is ADA compliant. And for that alone, they should be commended. They have a dog friendly patio and even a special menu for your fur kid. They graciously provide blankets and hot cider for those who wait outside for a table. The decor is modern, eclectic, bright, warm and homey. I like that I saw hipsters eating next to families with small children.

We started with five appetizers, four of which are on the Happy Hour menu and available for $4 each, which is a budget friendly way to check out a portion of the menu.They happy with our menu also has a $2 Fried Cauliflower Taco. None of us cared for the Warm Pimento Cheese Dip. It was smoky but didn’t have a hint of pimento. Everyone but me enjoyed the Famous Fried Green Tomatoes. There was nothing wrong with the dish but I’ve had versions that I much prefer to it. We all enjoyed the Fried Pickles, Mac & Cheese Bites and Crispy Brussels. Interestingly, the Mac & Cheese Bites were unexpectedly topped with the pimentos that the cheese dip was lacking. Of the appetizers we tried, my personal favorite was the fried pickles, followed by the mac & cheese bites.

Tupelo Honey has a drink menu that includes signature cocktails, as well as multiple versions of Bloody Marys and Mimosas. They also have a number of Fizz &Fruit drinks that you can add gin or vodka to. They even have a draft Kombucha. Pictured is a signature cocktail called Bees Knees, which was delicious. It consists of gin, honey simple syrup, lemon and a honey-droplet rim.

For entrées, two ordered the Shoo Mercy Shrimp & Grits. It was delicious, but all agreed that the addition of the egg was unnecessary and detracted from the dish. One ordered the Bourbon Peppercorn Glazed Meatloaf. The meatloaf had great flavor. I ordered the Buttermilk Fried Chicken, a boneless and skinless “forever free” chicken breast that had been brined for 18 hours with milk gravy. For sides, I got collard greens with bacon, which were good but not exceptional, and Yukon smashed potatoes, which were a bit dry and needed seasoning. I thought the chicken was very good.

For dessert, I ordered the trio of Mini-Mason Jar Desserts, which consists of banana pudding; peanut butter mousse and chocolate ganache with salted pretzel crumbles; Atlantic Beach lemon curd custard with buttery saltine crumble and whipped cream. I was most looking forward to trying the banana putting and that is the dessert that disappointed me the most. The pudding was thin and did not taste like banana. The peanut butter mousse and chocolate ganache was too dense and sweet for my taste. The Atlantic Beach lemon curd custard was OK, but not exceptional. I would not order this particular dessert again.

One of my friends got a slice of the Brown Butter Pecan Pie with dark chocolate sauce to go. Another order the Honey Buttermilk Cheesecake with mountain blueberries to go. I have yet to hear the verdict on those two desserts.

All in all, we had a great evening and look forward...

Underwhelmingly expensive.

The reviews I read on line had to be of times gone by.

The lauded Shrimp & Grits were not the crowd pleaser they were touted to be.

6 very small shrimp on a two cup portion of lifeless and grainy textured grits that lacked any flavor at all - and we both tried to isolate just one flavor to no avail.

The Shrimp were properly cooked to their credit but no flavor for these either. The one saving grace was the half lemon which provided some notes of citrus - but then that was the most noticeable taste after being squeezed on.

Eating the small shrimp gave the guest three minutes and six bites in total to consume them - which left a pile of neutral, improperly cooked, cornmeal porridge. We had to have something to eat the grits with and after requesting some bread - a single toasted piece of bread - which we were charged $2.00 for - was presented. Three bites a piece and still five more tasteless scoops of cornmeal remained.

We ordered a Chicken sandwich which had all the components as advertised but was just a Chick-fil-A reflection of a sandwich - but way smaller. It was a kid meal sized sandwich - period. Neat and clean in appearance - slightly overdone crusting and passed in the air over the condiments it seemed. Overpriced and lackluster. It took 12 minutes for the sandwich.

We told the server - you have one more minute to have the sandwich to us or we are done without it.

The Mac & Cheese side tasted burned from a few moments too long under the melter. It also was very portion miniature - 3 ounces at best.

Service - it was an interesting choice to wear common hang out clothes. Kind of like the restaurant said "wear what you want." Not pro looking at all - not for the bill size. He was kind and put up with our feedback.

$100.00 2 Shrimp and Grits 2 Diet Cokes 1 Slice of Toasted Bread 1 Chicken Sandwich with Mac & Cheese 1 Shot of Well Tequila

I won't be back and customers beware -...

I'd heard great things about Tupelo Honey but I was extremely disappointed with the Boise location.

I booked a reservation for a table for two a week in advance. On the morning of the reservation I had some minor car trouble so I called to say I was running a little behind and was told there was a 15 minute grace period so shouldn't be a problem. I arrived about 10 minutes late, well within the grace period I was informed of on the phone. Unfortunately I arrived just behind a large party (about 6 people) so I had to wait to speak to the hostess. By the time they sorted the party ahead of me out the grace period had finished and I was told there was no seats available. I informed them that I'd been waiting in line for over 5 minutes but to no avail. I asked how my table could be taken when the only party that had arrived before me was way too big for a 2 person table, and was told again that m table had been given to someone who had "arrived on time." There was several empty tables, too.

Aside from the obvious nonsense of the experience, I was genuinely taken aback by the rudeness and unhelpfulness of the hostess. I'm not the type of person that expects restaurant employees to fall all over themselves to appease customers, but the hostess that day was disrespectful and bordered on straight-up mean.

We were offered seating outside in the freezing cold and told that there were no heaters. After sitting in the cold for a few minutes my wife and I decided to leave.

Ultimately this was just one experience and, based on the other reviews, is obviously not the average one. Chances are if you do decide to eat here you'll have a significantly better experience than my wife and I, but I can't in good conscience give Tupelo Honey a good review. With the huge range of high quality restaurants in Boise, I don't see myself giving Tupelo Honey and...