Bowman's Soul-N-The Wall — Restaurant in Hampton

As I try to support African American owned businesses, prior to this, Bowman's was one of the ones on my list to patronize.

First, there was only one waitress and she was forced to take care of about 17 diners. While she attempted to keep up, it was overwhelming and the place definitely needs help.

The cooks (?) in the back came up occasionally to bark orders at the waitress and was acting like she did not need any assistance. Later I found out that the owner and his wife were in the back and the two other males were on staff but not helping on the floor. Thus caused delays with drinks, utensils, napkins and vegan the experience on shakey ground.

The owner came out after we were there and waited on our food for nearly 45 mins. When the food came out we all ordered cheese burgers but the cheeseburgers had no cheese! The lettuce and tomatoes were from a salad and not for a burger. The fries were good and warm, however, we had to wait on ketchup and mayo was in small take out packs. No salt or pepper and the utensils were plastic usually reserved for carry-out dining.

Observations: the owner could have greeted us, especially since our party included some dignitaries. Even just an acknowledgement would have gone a long way...

The treatment of his overworked, overwhelmed waitress/hostess did not bode well for us. She was berrated before customers and while she is young, it makes me wonder is his treatment of the wait staff, why they had no other help.

Lastly, the food was mediocre at best. Simple burgers were overcooked and again, we all got cheeseburgers with no cheese.

I will always support black businesses, yet when they can do better, I am compelled to review their poor actions and take an objective analysis for black businesses to do better.

While this dining experience did not make a good impression, and other customers were frustrated as to the lengthy wait time in food, utensils, drinks, etc, there is an opportunity here to redeem themselves.

Needing help, Bowman's should seek out the culinary arts program at Phoebus High School and get kids from their restaurant and hospitality program. They are always in need of OJT apprenticeships.

Secondly, the owner needs to be more friendly towards customers and NEVER mistreat wait staff in front of customers. Especially in a Sunday afternoon when the church folk are looking for a great dining experience.

We spoke to the young lady (Aujunae?) waitress and gave her some encouragement to pace herself to finish the day on a good note.

Again, this was my first experience with Bowman's and I pray these words are constructive. Depending on the response to this review, it will determine whether I come back and...

I can't speak on the food for the other days of the week but the Sunday buffet was wack. We were a little disappointed it was a buffet but we weren't notified until we were already seated and served drinks. I was wondering why the hostess didn't bring us menus. I was hungry and settled in my seat so I decided we stay. I understand a lot of buffet food isn't always the greatest. It's a mass production of food to serve a lot of folks in a short period of time but at that hour on a Sunday, the after church rush was over but apparently, the buffet runs until 5pm. Since buffet food isn't the chef's best, the least they could've done was ensured the food was fresh. I know the hold/change out times on the food were definitely exceeded. Everything was dry. The cornbread was good though. By and large, the food was flavorless and over cooked. Even the salad bar was mediocre. I had every intention on returning a different day of the week (when the buffet was not running) to see how the food taste. After today's disappointing experience, I will not return or recommend. The restaurant itself was nice, clean, and welcoming. The decorations imply the owners are from New Orleans. I think NOT maybe from Houma or Arabi but even that is too much credit. I despise going to restaurants that pose as New Orleans cuisine but are not even close. The customers are none the wiser because they've never been to NO and don't know what real food tastes like. I'm so New Orleans. You can't fool me. It's like they say--once you've been to Italy, you'll never eat "American" Italian food again. As a native, I know they'd never bring out Texas Pete hot sauce. Can I get some Louisiana hot sauce or Crystal's please? When I saw that Texas Pete bottle, I was insulted (LOL). Plus, we season our seasoning with seasoning in NO and the food lacked even salt and pepper. A 3 rating would mean it was okay and maybe I'll be back or maybe I won't. Like I said, I won't be back. So I rated this restaurant a 2 because anything less would mean I walked out before finishing my food, complained to manager, and/or it wasn't even...

The food was “ok.” Despite being told it would take 30 minutes for fried chicken to be prepared and cooked, I ordered my food ans waited. I know it does not take a full 30 minutes to cook chicken. Nonetheless, I was excited to try this place. I also ordered Mac n cheese & collards. The Mac n cheese was like warm to almost cold. The collards were seasoned well, just not to my taste. The rest of my family ordered smothered pork chop, catfish, potato salad, mashed potato’s and sweet potato casserole. The potato salad was bland but that was attributed to it not being an egg based salad. The mashed potatoes were boxed potatoes, yet clumped together and blended poorly. The sweet potato casserole looked appetizing. No one tried it. The fish on the fish sandwich was barely done⁉️⁉️ On the other hand, the chicken was flaky. The smothered pork chop’s gravy looked good but the meat was not very tender. Of note: the hostess was amazing. A real chill vibe and relatable. Some woman (I’ll assume a co-owner) came from the back to tell me my 5 year old could not stand between two stables and swing. Mind you: the restaurant had maybe one other patron, so it was just us AND the child had just been reprimanded for the behavior, by 2 family members. The woman said “ma’am she can’t do that.” I apprised her I was aware that behavior was unacceptable and she’d just been corrected. She looked at me as though she was offended that I told her I was aware. Customer service was not great in that respect, and due to this I changed my dine in order to take out. But the food was passable, especially when hungry. Funnel cake fries were good. The cornbread was amazing, but I understand it to have come from Food Lion & they dressed it...