Royal Spices — Restaurant in Hattiesburg

I attempted to order food from Royal Spices in Hattiesburg Mississippi and unfortunately this will be the last time I ever try to give them my business. I have been ordering from them since they opened. I always get the same order. Several times I have not been able to order the spinach cream cheese rolls. I called the store to ask them if they still sell the spinach egg rolls. The owner told me that they do. I told her that I do not see them on the app. She told me to order through the website and not through Chow Now because they are more expensive and also they do not have all of the items listed consistently. The website was not user friendly. After placing the order it was shown that my delivery day would be for tomorrow. I called the store and was told that because they close at 3:00 p.m. that the ordering window online closes out at 2:00. I told her that I wish I had known that when I spoke with her and asked about ordering through the chow now app. This is where it went downhill. Without any apology, she immediately defended their process and told me that I never told her that I wanted to have my order delivered.(wouldn't that be obvious if i called regarding the delivery app?) She told me that she could refund my order. I told her that I was frustrated about that because I placed the order and looked forward to my meal. I also let her know that if she had a communicated to me that I would not be able to order online after 2:00, I would have immediately placed my order through Chow Now and just paid the extra money. Again she defended her position and stated that I misunderstood and that I overlooked my delivery time when completing my order. I own the fact that I did not see anything about my delivery time until after I placed my order however, it would have still been too late to place the order online as well, so neither option would matter. I told her that I was frustrated because since the beginning of me ordering from them over the last 2 years or so, there have been inconsistencies with their food and in spite of, I always place an order. Sometimes once a week for a month or two straight. She still at this point did not offer to deliver today. Only a refund.I also let her know that I had had a complaint in the past and she was very nice about my opinion and critique and also gave me a $17 discount on my next order. To which I have yet to use because I always use delivery. So in spite of inconsistencies, I continued to give her my business because the food in my opinion was decent. And I want to continue to support small, minority businesses. I also let her know that on my last order that I made last week (after not ordering from her for a year) was not correct. I told her that in spite of my order not being correct I did not feel the need to call and complain. But it is frustrating that her service and her food is hit and miss. There have been several times to which I never called that my chicken was overcooked or the grease tasted old. That the spinach egg rolls had way too much spinach and hardly any cream cheese. In spite of those things I continue to order from her because I want to support a small business. She was very rude not helpful. At that point i told her that i did want a refund. And THEN that is when she told me that she was going to deliver my food. However it was in a very condescending tone like well I would have but now you said you don't want it type of thing. Highly unprofessional and I am disappointed that I havr now experienced the attitude I read about in the reviews. She also told me that I don't ever have to order from her again and that she was fine with that. Even though I was never ugly with her and did not raise my voice. I'm sure her business will be fine without my $45 weekly order. As she said they've done fine without it for a year... Do better. In the meantime, Pete's Fish and Chicken is just as good and I will continue to give him...

⭐️UPDATE: Gave Royal Spices another shot and not only was the food amazing but so was the customer service! I was very pleased. I’m not sure if they made changes after my review but so glad that they made improvements as far as their customer service. I’ll definitely continue to go back and also tell others about how good this place is. 1 star changed into 5 stars! Thanks so much!

Let me just say, the food is delicious. This review is regarding customer service. I placed my order over the phone and was told that my order would be ready in 25 minutes. I ordered the chicken plate and a side of pasta. I waited the full 25 minutes before I walked up to the building, I waited another 10 minutes in line and when I got to the window the young lady told me that the chicken was not ready. I asked if I could just get a plate of pasta instead. She then told me that the pasta was not ready either and that it would be another 10 minutes. So in total, I would’ve waited 45 minutes for a plate that they told me was going to be ready in 25 minutes. I chose this place because the food is delicious and they are black owned, but the customer service is not delightful. There was no apology and I did not get my food because I left because of the wait time. If I were told that my food was going to take 40 minutes or longer then I would have placed another order somewhere else. Another reason why I chose this place is because I work downtown so I thought it would be easy to grab something to eat and still get back to work on time. I wouldn’t say not to try them, but definitely be prepared to wait because your food may or may not be ready at the time they told you it would be. I honestly wouldn’t have wrote this review if the young lady would’ve just said, I apologize it’s taking a little longer than expected. There was no kind of apology. If she would have some something, I probably would have waited because a person’s attitude and actions can change the situation. Stuff happens, yes I know, but I believe they need to train the young lady at the window or either replace her with someone with a more caring personality. Customer service is what keeps people...

Today I got to enjoy a nice and beautiful sunny day.I happen to stop in for my 3rd visit.I ordered the main street fried chicken wings with Creole pasta and a loaded mashed potato. The food came out in a timely manner, and I have to say everything was impressively good. The fried Chicken seasoned to perfection, creole pasta bursting with flavor, and the (s)mashed potato had all the trimmings…. I was able to look into the clean kitchen and saw a harmonious crew who worked great together….. The owner/Chef came out to asked her customers about their food.When she came over to me and I was able to express my deepest appreciation and love for her impressive skills. She remembered me from last time and redeemed herself even more by bringing out one of those thick,well seasoned, tender lamb chops. I took one bite and set it down to finish later… As the sun began going down, it started getting a little windy and blew my juicy lamb chop off the table. 🙄Remembering that awesome flavor, I had to employ the 3 second rule…🤓 It was and is that good…… 5-💫💫💫💫💫 and...