9Five Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Brooklyn Park

My wife & I took her mother here for a late Christmas dinner. Figured we would check it out since it’s new. I wish we would have taken our business elsewhere. Luckily the wife and mother in law liked their food. They both got the smash burger and the shrimp appetizer.

I ordered the cream of crab for an appetizer. It was decent. Very peppery. Then for an entree i ordered the steak and crab cake. I asked for my steak to be cooked medium-rare. For sides i ordered mashed potatoes and broccoli.

When i received my order it looked very appealing. But looks were very deceiving. The mashed potatoes were un-seasoned and tasted like instant potatoes. The broccoli was more than likely old or microwaved because of how mushy it was. The crab cake was so-so. It had a really odd rosemary taste. But it’s hard to compete with the crab cakes in the area. And the steak that I ordered medium-rare, came out medium-well & no seasoning whatsoever. I ate two pieces and just cut my losses.

And as far as the service goes. They charge you 18% gratuity no matter what. And our server acted like it. Very inattentive, and acted like he didn’t have to so his job just because he’s already going to get an 18% tip.

Started us off with water & didn’t ask if we needed/wanted anything else. Always had to flag someone down for refills. And after appetizers our plates sat on the table for a solid 20 minutes. With our server just waltzing around and talking with other staff.

And before anyone tries to defend this as them being swamped, that is most definitely not the case. We were the only party there. And mid way through us being seated, another party was sat. So there were a total of two parties in...

Today was supposed to be a vibe. Our family switched up plans last minute, hoping for a brunch spot with great ambience—and of course, we wanted to support a Black-owned business. My wife found 9Five Kitchen & Bar through a phenomenal Instagram ad that had us excited to try something new.

We arrived just before brunch ended and were seated around 3PM. Brunch was over (understandable), but our server Lay was warm, professional, and truly a highlight of the experience—10/10 for her service.

Now, the food… this is where things got rocky.

We ordered cheesesteak eggrolls, crabcake eggrolls, honey Old Bay wings, and seafood pasta with a side of salmon, Caesar salad and a few other items After nearly two hours, the crabcake eggrolls never came. My seafood pasta arrived after my family had finished eating because the chef made the order wrong—and without the side salmon I ordered. At that point, we had to wrap things up and leave.

Here’s my honest breakdown:

• Seafood pasta: 5/10 (missing items, arrived late) • Salmon (wife’s order): 8/10 • Brussels sprouts: 10/10 (the star of the meal!) • Honey Old Bay wings: 8/10 • Cheesesteak eggrolls: 7/10 • Honey mustard sauce: 2/10 (needs a serious revamp) • Fries: 1/10 (tasted like old grease)

Ambience was bland—felt more like a lounge waiting room in a church than a brunch spot.

Wait time 2/10 Price point 2/10.

I usually rave about Black excellence, and it truly pains me to write this. I wanted to love this place. I wanted to walk away impressed. But today was a letdown, and unfortunately, I won’t be revisiting.

Instagram sold the dream. Reality...

My Dad chose to celebrate my brother & husband’s birthdays’ here for dinner and the food and service was terrible. My mom ordered lamb chops, medium well. They gave her 4 small lollipop lamb chops cooked well done without sauce or any kind of gravy. My dad & husband ordered the ribeye steak and mashed potatoes. The steaks didn’t have any char from a grill, mash potatoes were bland and they compared it to ordering a steak at Denny’s. (Which we’d never do). The Rasta pasta that I ordered was okay but over seasoned with jerk.

We ordered honey old bay wings and cheesesteak egg rolls for the appetizers. The wings were really good but the egg rolls were dry and flavorless

The ambience is dull and plain. The lighting and atmosphere can really use some warmth from an interior designer. The bathrooms however were nice and clean.

Our server was very overwhelmed since she was the only server in the restaurant due to someone else having to leave early due to an emergency. The manager on duty helped clear the table but no one regularly checked in to ask how things were. My mom didn’t want to replace her order after the dissatisfaction with the lamb chops and the manager on duty didn’t even come over to apologize for the poor quality. Our bill came up to $235 before tax and credit card fees for a family of 6. This total included the lamb chops being taken off and just three soft drinks. No one ordered alcohol and no one enjoyed their food.

My dad was totally disappointed. We really wanted to love this place but It didn’t meet our expectations...