A Mother's Touch Bistro & Catering — Restaurant in Livingston

I hadn’t heard of this spot until recently when a foodie I follow on Instagram gave it a glowing review. Naturally, I had to try it for myself. We sampled a variety of items from the menu, including the Hennessy wings, mac and cheese, collard greens, candied yams, whiting fish sandwich with Cajun fries, mac and cheese + yam egg rolls, and the cornbread.

Overall, the food was excellent—fresh, flavorful, and clearly made with care. The Hennessy wings were a standout: crispy, well-seasoned, and packed with flavor. The whiting fish sandwich came on wheat bread and was another hit, paired perfectly with those Cajun fries, which tasted like they were seasoned and made in-house—delicious.

The mac and cheese was creamy and satisfying, though my wife immediately said she prefers mine (yes, I cook!). The collard greens were seasoned just right, with a smoky depth from what tasted like smoked meat. The candied yams were a personal favorite—sweet, tender, and well-balanced. The cornbread was a pleasant surprise—made with whole corn kernels baked in, giving it a unique texture and flavor I really enjoyed.

The only dish that didn’t quite land for me was the mac and cheese and yams egg rolls. They were edible, but something felt incomplete. Like most egg rolls, they seemed to be missing a dipping sauce. I don’t know what kind of sauce would work best, but that dish needs one to really come together.

As for the food itself, I give it a solid 5 stars—everything was fresh, tasty, and seasoned to perfection.

Now, let’s talk about the service.

This is where the experience took a hit. I placed my order at 1:09 PM and didn’t receive my food until 4:15 PM. Initially, I tried to order through the Seamless link on their website, but I couldn’t log in. I ended up using DoorDash for a pickup order, but noticed some items (like the egg rolls) were missing from the menu. Since I really wanted to try them, we showed up an hour early to add them in person—only to end up standing in line for 45 minutes just to do that. That single add-on delayed our order by almost another hour.

To be fair, I suspect the original order would’ve been late regardless. But the add-on process was frustrating and definitely not worth the extra time.

Another issue: the cornbread policy. There’s a sign that says, “Cornbread with all entrees while supplies last,” but I noticed the cashier wasn’t including cornbread with some orders—particularly DoorDash ones. When asked, he mentioned that cornbread usually doesn’t come with delivery orders but gave it “as a courtesy.” Given that DoorDash prices are higher than in-store, I think it’s only fair that cornbread be included as advertised, no matter how the order is placed. Consistency matters—especially when customers are already dealing with long wait times.

Final note: The restaurant seems to be going viral, which is great, but it’s clearly struggling to keep up with demand. I’d strongly suggest they pause third-party delivery services until they can better manage foot traffic. Prioritizing delivery over walk-ins during a rush is a quick way to turn first-time customers into last-time customers.

This was honestly the longest wait I’ve endured for food—outside of camping...

So boom.

It took me three tries, three different days to try out the food from this “viral” restaurant- never again.

The first day I went waited on line for 2 hours to be told at 7:30 they ran out of food.

No problem. Stuff happens.

On the second day, I arrived to see no lines at all, but unfortunately, they had barely anything available.

No problem. Stuff happens.

The third day. I ordered from DoorDash ahead of time to beat the crowd and finally try the amazing food that was seen all over Instagram. I ordered my food at 11:16 am and it was ready by 1:30pm. I want to preface that it is a 22 mins drive from my house and back so overall 44 mins trip.

I ordered $70.91 worth of food which was TWO entrees and TWO drinks.

I get back home open up my meal, already off to a bad start, they forgot the cornbread. So, start on the sides… Mac and cheese... could be seasoned better. I started on my yams, and it was okay. I get to the main dish... the Henny wings. There was a strand of HAIR in my food, so embedded in that you had to pull on it hard to get part of the hair out (once I tugged to see what it was and how tough it was to take out I left it alone for the store to see with their own eyes, still embedded into the wing).

Immediately felt disgusted, we packed up both entrees and drove back to the store. Told the front staff about the hair in the food, and he inspected, and PULLED on the hair, and part of it came out. He was on the phone with the managers… y’ALL NEED TO DO BETTER.

The managers told the front staff we need to contact DoorDash and get our money back. Ok- third party understandable. Call DoorDash and I only get PARTIAL OF MY MONEY BACK. Hello, I spent $70.91 why am I only receiving $33.59?

I go back to store and explain the situation, again he called the managers, and they say... go through DoorDash we can’t do nothing else for you. WOW. Great customer service. I AM HUNGRY, OUT OF $37.32 and y'all can’t do nothing for me? Cool. (plus, a two hour wait for any remake of food)

I received a call later from a female chef and to be honest it felt accusatory. I have short hair in braids and a Nike hat; the person I am with barely has hair. WHERE ELSE WOULD THE HAIR COME FROM? Also, it looked like as it was fried with the wing.

The chef insisted that nobody in the back had long hair. That’s not true. On a previous visit, I saw a young lady in the front who frequently went to the back, and she had long hair. If you're going back there without a hairnet, hair can travel.

She did offer to make us food again with no charge... but is it free if DoorDash gave me partial of my money back and the rest to the restaurant. ...

When I tell you, the food at A Mother's Touch Bistro & Catering was absolutely, delightfully delectable. I was a little nervous because sometimes when trying to support black businesses, things just doesn't go as hopefully planned. Upon entering this establishment, we were greeting by the nice gentleman behind the counter who's customer service was excellent. Now let's get to the food, I damn near ordered everything off the menu with my bill alone totalling around $80.00, you know I prayed for the best, Lol. I started with the collard green and smoked turkey egg rolls, I tore those two egg rolls up with no sauce, didn't even need it, off to a good start so far. Then I ordered the catfish entree with Mac & Cheese & collards, amazing 👏🏽. I also ordered the Henny wings entree with Mac & Cheese and candied yams, again top tier. I also ordered a side of potato salad, no I don't eat everybody's potato salad, but when I took a spoonful of this potato salad, I wanted to kiss who ever the mother was that made it. Now on to the desserts, I ordered a regular banana pudding, and that was perfect as well, not overtly sweet, just perfect with the right amount of cookies to pudding. While sampling everything in the car, I had to go back inside and praise the cooks because I was shocked that I enjoyed everything that came outta that kitchen. Everything was well seasoned, and not overly seasoned, just right. When I went back inside to praise the cooks, they had another strawberry banana pudding -w- cake that wasn't available when I placed my order. I grabbed the one they had in the fridge, tasted that and wanted to smack my friend who I was with in the face 🤣. I felt like the Tik Tok personality Tamika who reviews food, I wanted to yell out "B*#@$." All jokes aside, the food is amazing, and will most definitely be back. If your in the Livingston area, most definitely stop and enjoy "A Mother's Touch Bistro...