Kitchen + Kocktails By Kevin Kelley - Atlanta — Restaurant in Dunwoody

Our group of 15 made a reservation for Mother's Day brunch at least 1 month in advance. Our visit was a failure and a big disappointment.

1. We were made aware of their dress code. No jeans, tennis shoes, etc. All I will say is we adhered to their stated dress code, but there were others that did not, so apparently, it doesn't seem to be enforced.
2. We happened to have a member of our party who had a medical boot on her foot, and she was in a wheel chair. They led us to the stairs, which posed a problem because apparently there is no elevator. We advised of the wheelchair patron and asked if there was seating available downstairs. We were told they would see if they could accommodate us downstairs but seemed uncertain to the point that our wheelchair bound party decided to hobble upstairs. It was about 8-10 stairs then somewhat of a landing and approx 8-10 more stairs. That was a major inconvenience.
3. In my opinion, the food and drink prices are way too high. I opted for a strawberry margarita, which was $29, and it was not in a fishbowl. It was very pretty and in a wine glass. It was very good but it was not a good value for the money.
4. As stated, we had reservations, which apparently they were not prepared to handle. We placed our orders and the food took quite a while and when it came only half of the table got their food which was completely unacceptable. Another 10 to 15 minutes later, the other half of our party was served only to realize everyone received their food except my grandson, who had the most basic order "waffles." That's it! After bringing it to their attention, after approx 15 minutes, he received his waffles with chicken added to it, which was a nice gesture, but it hardly made up for the oversight.
5. A person in our party had ordered catfish and advised it didn't taste right after taking a couple of bites. She returned it and ordered chicken and waffles instead. That entree took so long that it was served after we had gotten carryout containers. We were ready to go by then.
6. We brought our issue to the general manager, I believe, who very nicely offered nothing but excuses. She even advised that on such a big party of 15 like us, they put orders in 5 at a time, and that's why half the food came and the rest took more time. Yes, she said that! What is the purpose of making reservations if you can not accommodate the guest? I've never heard of anything so ridiculous.
7. After all of our issues, there was no type of adjustment made or any type of concession to make up for the inconvenience.
8. The food was not hot.
9. To top it off, there is an automatic 20% gratuity added to your check. I believe in tipping accordingly, but that is not an option there, except you can increase your tip.
10. There is a photographer that takes pictures of your party and they return with the pictures in beautiful frames. You have the option to purchase them for $25 each. Again, in my opinion, that is too much to ask. The pictures are 4×6, I believe, but they were overpriced.
11. I forgot to add that although it's located at Perimeter Mall, we had to pay to park. In closing, in my opinion, the food was just OK and was not worth the price, and you don't get what you pay for. I would not recommend this place to anyone unless you're rich and have plenty of time to wait for food that is mediocre, at best. If you have issues, as we did, there was nothing done to try to make it right. We weren't looking for anything free, just consideration for the many issues we experienced. This review is my honest opinion in hopes that others don't make the mistake that we did. Our planned Mother's Day brunch was not what was expected. We spent lots of money, and to be honest, I feel we were basically robbed. Last but not least, the person who took a couple of bites of catfish and returned it ran straight to the bathroom once we reached home....

First, let me start off by saying that I’m NOT some bitter customer because my experience was not 100% horrible. I’ll be completely fair in this review.

1. Ambience - 6 out of 10. I’m biased against grass & rose walls. I automatically assume the food & service will be subpar upon seeing them.

2. Food - 6 out of 10. The collard greens were delicious, but had too much turkey meat in them. They were out of candied yams, so I opted for the Mac n cheese…which was also solid. The lamb chops were slightly overcooked to my liking (prefer medium; these were medium-well) and a bit dry but seasoned nicely though.

3. Service - 1 out of 10. My friend & I had to repeatedly ask other passing staff if we cld get knives and each time no one came back. Our waitress was stuck with a larger party trying to get in orders, so it was a shame that we had to wait for her to finish and bring us knives for our dinners. My friend also had to grab someone to refill her water. Our waitress was cool, young & seemed very knowledgeable. When it came down to ordering our drinks, I asked her if they had tequila that was 100% agave. After she checked & confirmed that the blackberry margarita comes with 100% agave tequila I decided to order. She then suggested the añejo vs the blanco…mentioning that as the drink cld be a bit on the sweeter side, the añejo wld balance it out nicely. Ok cool. I ordered her suggestion. Here’s where it went wrong. I’m not sure if management instructs the waiters to or not but she never mentions the $10-12 upcharge for añejo. The drink was REALLY good, so I order another. I get the bill…it’s $160. I ask to see the itemized bill. They of course slap on 20% gratuity which I was prepared for, but I still think is ridiculous & steep for subpar service. Then there was another service fee 🤦🏽‍♀️. Then I see where they’ve ITEMIZED the 2 drinks as $12 - margarita(the base) & 2x $58 for the tequila. WTF?!? I’ve never seen where they break out drinks like that. I looked up at our waitress with disgust. I knew it wasn’t necessarily her fault but I still wanted to call her out. So I asked her why the hell she didn’t tell me there was a STEEP upcharge on the tequila?! Her response was literally “🤷🏽‍♀️”. I knew right then and there I wldn’t be coming back. My friend’s bill was $150.

It’s really frustrating & hard to support black-owned restaurants. But with these types of practices I have to question if they are really there to serve the community or serve themselves with these money...

We visited on Sunday, January 5, as a party of five, and unfortunately, the experience didn't quite live up to our expectations the rose wall picture was the highlight. While our server initially greeted us with a warm smile, it quickly faded as we made requests, and we could tell she became increasingly annoyed.

One major downside was how they charge for almost everything. For instance, my Chicken Fried Chicken, which was supposed to be smothered in gravy, arrived with barely any gravy. After asking for more, I was shocked to find a $5 charge for the extra gravy when the bill came. The waitress never mentioned there would be a charge, so I made sure to have the manager remove it.

Another friend ordered collard greens as a side to her breakfast, but when it arrived, she was surprised to find rice on the plate. Later, she realized she was charged $24 for a collard greens meal when all she wanted was a side of greens.

The menu is overwhelming, with so many options scattered in different sections that it’s difficult to know what you’re actually ordering. The waitress didn’t clarify any of the hidden charges, which added to the confusion. For example, I ordered a $15 blackberry margarita, but was charged $21. I didn't realize I was looking at the non-alcoholic version.

Our food was fine, though nothing remarkable. We waited a long time for it, and when it finally arrived, we weren’t overly impressed. The complimentary cornbread was a nice touch for the wait, but 2 pieces for 5 ladies, the jerk chicken soup was a miss—it tasted like canned soup with jerk seasoning added.

Another thing that bothered us was the lack of a detailed bill. The waitress have us swiped our card with no itemized breakdown. We only saw the detailed charges when we received the receipt via email or text. Transparency and clarity need improvement.

To add to the frustration, as soon as we sat down, a photographer immediately took our picture without giving us the opportunity to decline. A few minutes later, the photographer came back with printed pictures for $25. It felt very intrusive—this was our first moment sitting down, and we weren’t prepared for a photo session. It seemed like just another way to get more money from patrons.

There are too many great dining options in Atlanta and the surrounding areas for us to consider returning...