Manna Culinary Group — Restaurant in Buffalo

I have been telling people about Manna just because its Black owned and I had breakfast there and it good enough. I finally had a business colleague go there and she ordered 2 shrimp and grits to go with a hot chocolate. We sat down and was chatting and then realized it had been a while for our order not to be ready. Just as we were becoming a bit concerned with the wait one of the owners came over to inquire if we had ordered etc. We said yes and she asked if we had our number for the order. We hesitated because we knew of no order number. It went downhill when the owner had this attitude and her hesitation as if we were required or should know what our order number was? Its 2 shrimp and grits (what's complicated about shrimp and grits), why not immediately find out the status of our order instead acting as if its our sole responsibility to have an order number. If it's your system then make sure your staff and system is in its order not the customer. My colleague immediately noted "she needs to work on her customer service". The order finally came out and we asked for the hot chocolate, my friend lets go I cannot be bothered even though I paid for it. Of course things happen restaurants get behind but its the push back that was given to us, the attitude of smugness. I have carried their sign over to our marketplace to help to expose the place. I forgot that I was back in Buffalo which is a strange bird of attitudes on the East side...needing all the help that it should get especially not being in a high density metropolis. As we walked out the door I said something is wrong with us. I finally get my friend to visit and this was her first experience, my friend even lives in walking distance and she never knew they existed. Poor marketing when your radius knows nothing about you. There is large marketplace that we run with over 20 vendors less than a mile away and you don't have enough business panazz to market yourselves in your own backyard? I asked my friend later how was the shrimp and grits...she said it was like a alfredo sauce and she did not enjoy it that much. She treated me with the same item. i must say it was a turnoff when I finally opened my container it was not what I expected, it looked like alfredo sauce poured into the grits and shrimp...I had a couple of bits and threw it out. I have not had a lot of shrimp and grits but this by far was weird...not the worst tasting but just weird not visually appealing...oh well. It is what it is. i will not bother to try and promote my vendors about this place. Our vendors are entrepreneurs who have money and are ready to eat and order out consistently on a dime and we patronize eating establishments. We ourselves have bought commercial times with channel 4 and 2...this establishment has missed an opportunity that's how I see it in the big picture of commerce. Sad. Maybe this place is just a...

The first time I ordered from them it was excellent. I had shrimp and grits. Superb! Second time, I ordered the same thing again, it was horrible. My husband ordered fish grits homefries with cheese. It was good however, They messed up the order. Forgot to put the cheese on the homefries and grits. We tried them again several more time due to the fact that they were black owned and we tried to support our people and everytime the order was messed up. So today my husband says "I'm going to give Manna 1 more try". And guess what happens, THEY MESSED UP THE ORDER AGAIN! My husband calls up there to speak to the manager. The woman that answered the phone said he was busy and would call him back. Took his number and we're still waiting. Our orders always be at least 30 dollars. Today our order was 50dollars and the manager has yet to call us. I gave them 1 star because of the first experience and the french toast...

I was in a rush to grab some lunch and head to work. They gave me good service and the food was fantastic and I got a business card. I will return and dine in to have breakfast before Black Restaurant Week is over. I love how this establishment is ran and I love the scenery too. It's also very clean and there and that's a major turn on. The workers are friendly and the chef is a amazing cook with a great attitude. I'm raving about this place. Please go support this place and check it out when your dining out. Hope you'll love it just like I do. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars 🌟 is because of the hours. They close by 7pm during the week, and only opened 9am-1pm on Saturdays and closed on Sundays. Would prefer longer and more flexible hours. (But they got a life too right....