The Mustard Seed Cafe — Restaurant in Kingsport

Really really good food, and hot beverages. Our waitress was absolutely amazing, didn't skip a beat (short dirty blonde hair, wore a plaid shirt). The vibe is really chic and adorable. I have nothing bad to say about The Mustard Seed.

Edit on Jan 9th, 2024;

As of late, my husband and I have temporarily stopped coming here. The last three times we've gone, we've gotten terrible service, and the entire vibe has just been off. In October of last year, we were seated and were approached by our waitress(older, blonde) who said, "I hope you don't want this because we're out of it!!" Which was a weird way to phrase that. She wasn't super welcoming.

Then, during our most recent visit, I decided to order a hot beverage and it was absolutely terrible. The cup had streaks going down, and the top of the drink was curdled (not foam, curdled). They were super busy, so I didn't want to complain about my beverage right then. My husband ended up ordering me one of what he had, and it was brought by another waitress. Our waitress (older, thin, long hair) didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that I hadn't even touched the first hot beverage. Eventually, after the crowd died down, I was going to mention it to her, but she was very quick to get our check to us, and didn't stay to even let me speak (I said, "Excuse me", and she walked away) The untouched beverage was on our bill, and I know she saw that it was there and I hadn't touched it since she brought it to the table. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that this is a place that serves hot beverages, there is seemingly no barista, the drinks are made by the waitresses, why not properly train them on how to make hot beverages?? It's really disappointing, because this was one of our all time favorite spots.

We'll probably try again eventually, but if we end up having a similar experience, I can't justify spending...

Please note that I have reached out to the Mustard Seed via email & asked them to contact me before posting my review. I never heard from them....I was thrilled to find this new café with a wonderful atmosphere & great food. Actually went in 3 times in 2 days! On the third day I called around 3:30PM - maybe a little before - to place a to-go order. (They close at 4:00). The girl who took my order was very dry & flat in tone - didn't sound too thrilled at all to be taking my order. She asked me if I could be there in 20 min & told her I could be there in 5 because I was just 2 blocks down. Got there - same young girl that I spoke to on the phone asked - (not greeted at all) - asked if I had a to-go order. Told her I did & asked if that was ok with her. She walked away, turned around & glared at me - I asked again. She turned around & went to get my order. When she rang it up, I told her that she sounded like she wasn't thrilled at all to take my order on the phone. Her only "flat" statement was "we close at 4:00".......Never apologized for being rude. I should have - at that point - turned around and left. But I went ahead and took the food that I ordered and left. ON the way out - another woman came in behind me. I spoke to her & she said "boy, they're going to be mad at me for coming in again this late to get a to-go order"....so I assume she may have gotten the same treatment before. I HATE HATE HATE that I cannot go back in there because I really loved it but I will not be treated that way - regardless of the time that I call or go in. If they close at 4:00 - then close at 4:00 & wait on people who come in prior to closing with respect & kindness. That's one thing that I find with so many young people these days - they don't seem to understand customer service and that mistreating customers is...

My husband and I ate here several years ago and remembered this as being an excellent lunch spot. We are rarely in Kingsport, so during a trip there to ship for a new car, we were excited to eat at The Mustard Seed Cafe again. As soon as we walked in, the atmosphere seemed very different than what we remembered. It was very noisy - almost to the point of being deafening. After we were seated, it took a while before we were acknowledged, but our server was very friendly and took our drink order. Again, it took a long time to get an unsweet tea and a water. And then she left again and it took another while for her to come back to take our order. I had the pick 3 and my choices were a club sandwich, a slice of quiche, and potato salad. My husband had a turkey panini and a bowl of chili. Upon getting my food, I was shocked at what was supposed to be quiche; it looked more like spinach pie with some cheese baked in top. There was absolutely no evidence of that eggy custard that makes up quiche. The flavor was nothing but badly sauteed spinach with a little bit of cooked diced tomatoes. It was horrible! The sandwich was good and the potato salad was ok. My husband's panini was good but very small (I mean really, really small) and had one slice of bacon and maybe two slices of thin deli turkey. His chili was very good and if we had each had just that, this review would have been a little different. When I told our server why I didn't like what was supposed to be quiche,she took the price of that off our check and I have to say that I always appreciate a restaurant that empowers its servers to make these decisions. Overall, this wasn't the pleasant lunch we...