Honey Seed — Restaurant in Chattanooga

Edited to include second experience when we went back for pizza.

First visit: My husband, one year old daughter and I decided to try this place out for breakfast as we are on staycation this week and wanted to try something new. As soon as we entered we were greeted by who I am assuming was a bartender who gave us a great first impression of the service. My husband and I split the chicken and waffles and the eggs Benedict with a side of their homemade tots and cheese grits. I also ordered a hazelnut mocha. Our drinks were out in just a few minutes and our food was out in about ten minutes. The waitress checked on us multiple times and made sure we had everything we needed. What transpired after we took the first bite was about 30 minutes of taste bud euphoria that led to me to almost tear up a little bit because the experience took me to a place that no other breakfast has taken me to in a long time. I promise I’m not being dramatic.

The chicken was cooked perfectly -not too much breading and perfectly crisp. The waffles were little Belgian clouds topped with the absolute best compound butter. No need for syrup. The bagel that served as the base for the eggs benedict had a great texture with crunch and chew. Egg was perfectly over medium and the ham was very thinly sliced. The hollandaise was heavenly. The cheese grits were so smooth and creamy with the cheese incorporated so well that they were easy to enjoy without having to pull stringy cheese off to get a good spoonful. The tots were a pleasant surprise and looked kind of like hush puppies. No generic tater tots here. These had onion and a light bater on the outside giving them almost funnel cake consistency on the outside. The hazelnut mocha was rich but not too sweet, which is the way I like it.

All three of us had a smile on our faces the entire time. Even my one year old’s face lit up each time she tried a bite. Let’s just say we can’t wait to go back and try the wood fired pizza. Don’t hesitate to give this place a try.

Second visit a few days later: Well, we went back to try the pizza. Major let down. Probably some of the worst pizza in town. It was not like any wood fired pizza I’ve had. No crisp, overly doughy and soft crust, no bubbles on the edges of the crust. The flavor was also majorly lacking. We tried pepperoni and the BBQ chicken. The BBQ was slightly better than the pepperoni but not much. I think this place needs to stick to what they do best: breakfast. Also, the service was not good the second time. The waiter did not check on us one time after we got our food. I was going to ask for a to-go cup for the remainder of my lemonade but ended up leaving it behind after we waited a while after we finished to see if the waiter would come back. Two polar opposite experiences between our first and...

Edited: The owner personally called me, to make things right. That in itself says so much. The bagels that he provided were delicious and the cream cheese, especially the jalapeno cream cheese is definitely one I would come back for. I can't wait to retry this place and hopefully meet the owner in person. Thank you again for the care you provided in making this right.

I definitely will give some grace due to the fact that this restaurant is still relatively new. While, the staff was very friendly and inviting, the service did definitely leave some room for improvement. Our table did not have a scanner for a menu and we had to pretty much ask for menus. Could we have pulled it up on our phone through a simple google search? Yes of course. However again, that's not how it should be upon entering an establishment. There were several things that occurred that made made it so that they're just isn't a reason to come back. The waitress while she was kind did forget our iced tea half way through the meal. We specifically asked for sweeteners for coffee and for the unsweeted iced tea and we never got any. Again until halfway through the meal and had to ask again. While the food was relatively delicious, it could have been hotter. We also asked to order take home bagels a dozen and we're pretty much convinced not to order at the beginning that we could order at the end of our meal. Due to the fact that we waited, there were none of the flavored bagels available. And instead of taking home a dozen, I took home six plain bagels with only one cream cheese because the flavored cream cheese again was not available because we waited too long. The bagels even though sealed didn't even last a day, there were hard by the next day and completely not edible. Due to all the different restaurants here in Chattanooga there are better experiencs to choose from. It is disheartening though because this was one I was excited to try. However, it's just not worth...

This was a great find right when we needed it! We were staying downtown and driving around trying to find a restaurant on a Friday night. So many places we were passing had stressful parking and looked so crowded. Then…just down the way…we found Honey Seed! With free designated parking and a wide open outdoor eating area, we were sold!

We were so glad to have found it because everything was top notch. We sat ourselves outside and were attended to quickly. The outdoor area was fantastic and the indoor area looked really nice as well. It’s casual and family friendly but would be a great inexpensive date night. Our server was kind, personable, and knowledgeable (I can’t remember his name but he was from Franklin, TN).

The food was delicious. I got a side salad and tomato basil soup. The soup was NOT what I was expecting at all, but so delicious. It had noodles and some vegetables in it but just the best flavor. I wish it had more of a description on the menu (especially if you’re gluten free, those noodles wouldn’t have been a fun surprise!) The salad was a good basic side salad and I loved the ranch dressing. My mom got the chicken and waffles that came with a yummy butter, and she thoroughly enjoyed her meal—it was a very generous portion. We split the tater tots, which again—they deserved a description on the menu! You HAVE to order them. They have more of a mashed potato plus shoestring potato vibe and I’m not sure what all is in them but the flavor was incredible. If I lived in Chattanooga I’d go here every week just to eat those! Next time I’m in town I’ll definitely grab a pizza and then some bagels for the...