Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Indianapolis

Mother’s Day you expect it to be busy. We had reservations and were told the kitchen was back up 30mins and we agreed that was fine. Waited 15mins, they had a couple big tables needing cleared. Our waitress was trying hard to keep up as they were understaffed it appeared. We got our drinks and we got their homemade lemonade (which cost more) and the bar gave our waitress Minute Maid. So we sent it back and the bar told her they were out so they just swapped it. The waitress looked mortified they would do that to her and customers. We got 3 orders of biscuits which come with 2 for each order per the menu, hence we ordered a few; the kitchen sent out only five, so now they were trying to short us on that! Felt like attempted robbery! The biscuits only come in even numbers so what send only five. The waitress got us the other biscuit, so it was fixed. As for the timing we placed our orders right away since they said the kitchen was backed up. So after an hour we got the biscuits. Then after almost 2hrs we got our food. So they grossly underestimated the kitchen back up. We are very patient natured so we just sat and talked while we waited; especially since reviews had been good. Sadly the food was NOT WORTH THE WAIT! And we will never return. Everything was subpar and appears to just be doused in pepper; causing the food to have a kick of heat!! I thought this was supposed to be a really good fried chicken place but it was mushy in spots and had no flavor except flour and pepper. The waffles were edible but not one of the seven of us liked the chicken. Sad to say but this is in my top two WORST FOOD I HAVE HAD, and the other place gave us uncooked chicken so it’s not saying much! The bathrooms were dirty, out of paper towels and toilet paper the entire 3.5hrs we were there. They do not have any parking so imagine paying the meter street parking the entire time if it’s not a Sunday! I truly don’t know if they even had a cool. Maybe a manager was doing it and that why the taste was so bad. When you walked through the place to go to the bathroom there was no one with food. Everyone was waiting forever. A family that had been waiting over two hours for their reservation finally gave up. They sat on some of the bench we were on next to the door. So I also heard the host continue to tell people 30mins behind the entire time. We didn’t bother even trying for a manager, we just paid what was due and made sure tip extra since I know they were not going to be making as much as they should for a holiday! Because the kitchen screwed them with...

My sister and I took my mom and great aunt for mother's Day brunch here. It was our first time and the reviews were decent. Our reservation was for 12:30, but we asked if we could sit outside (it was a gorgeous day). They said 15-20 min wait. No problem. 30 minutes pass and I went in to check and they grabbed menus and sat us. I never received a text that our table was ready. We peruse the menu and about 10 min later, another table is sat next to us. Immediately, a server goes to their table and gets drink orders. About 10 minutes later, a frazzled server comes by and brings waters. She did apologize for the delay, as they were busy. I get it, it's mother's day and it's beautiful out. We place our drink and app orders (blueberry lemon drop mimosa, magic lemonade and seaside mimosa; 2 biscuits for a cause and fried green tomatoes). Drinks come out super fast...and they are pretty good. Apps come bit too long after. The biscuits were pretty good and the blueberry jam is definitely where it's at! The FGTs were, as another review said, not as ripe as we would have liked. The coating was good and the cheese grits were delicious! We place our brunch orders (2 omelettes, the mountain grain bowl and shrimp and grits). My sister also ordered another magic lemonade. We're just enjoying the weather and chatting, and we see 2-3 other tables get their food...one that was sat way after us. We give it another 10 minutes or so, still, no food. And yet another table, sat after us, gets their food. 😳 What in the world? Meanwhile, our server has been by refilling water several times. We finally had to ask her about our food. It's been about an hour since we ordered (post appetizers). She checks and after several minut s she comes back staring we're "the next ticket". I think she forgot to put our order in completely and asked for a rush. Not 10 minutes later, our good comes out, piping hot at least! The omelettes got good reviews from Mom and great aunt. Bowl got a decent review from sister....the egg orderwd over medium was hard cooked. My shrimp and grits were just okay. The shrimp was not fresh (not even frozen fresh...it had a smell and was mealy). The Creole sauce and chorizo were great with the grits. I'm glad we tried it, but we definitely won't be back. The service, as others stated, was extremely slow and the food was okay. There are so many great places in Indy, we'll find another...

My turn for Tupelo Honey!! It was really, really good! We had a 2:45 reservation for the bar, but probably didn’t need it. We decided to just sit at the bar top since it was empty. To start, my friend had a Bee’s Knees and I had the Carolina Dreamin. Both were very good! My fiancée joined us and got the Classic Bloody Mary, also good. They have a lot of different options for Bloody Marys (vodka, scotch, tequila, etc).

For food we started with the pimento cheese dip and the fried green tomatoes. The tomatoes were amazing. Very crisp on the outside, but still firm and juicy on the inside. The pimento dip was bomb, but I think the Tostito’s chips are a big miss. I got the lunch combo (1/2 sandwich and 2 sides- the sides are not all sides, but you can upgrade for $1, which I did). I had the Asheville Hot Chicken and Ranch Melt with baked mac and cheese and potato cracklins. The sandwich was amazing and honestly the perfect portion. Sometimes fried chicken gets the weird crispy bits of batter on the end, but this was so juicy! I love Mac and cheese, but baked is my least favorite way so I wasn’t a huge fan. My fiancée loved it though. If you’re into breadcrumbs and baked mac, this is totally up your alley. The potato cracklins were very delicious and crisp! My friend had the 1/2 pimento cheese sandwich, a side salad and veg. The veg was so damn good!! It had a spicy/ sweet sauce on it. My fiancée got the sweet and spicy chicken sandwich with a side salad. The sandwich was HUGE and he ate the whole thing. It was so good.

Two cons: There was some debate at the host stand over who would serve us and which server was willing to take another table. It was just kind of awkward because we were standing right there. We had requested bar seating anyway, so we just sat at the bar top because it felt like we were putting someone out. The hosts were also not very friendly and seemed confused on what to do. The second would be the chips that came with the pimento dip. They were fine, but definitely came from a bag and didn’t match the upscale vibe they were giving.

Also: I was concerned about the pickles when my food came out because I’m a freak and I hate cucumbers, but I love pickles. Sometimes house made pickles are just cucumbers. These were perfect!! I didn’t feel like I was munching on a weird, watery vegetable.

Overall I would give it 8/10, which is pretty good for a brand...