Milk & Honey Southern Inspired Kitchen — Restaurant in Maryland

Date visited: March 25, 2023 - Saturday morning

I was expecting The Real Milk & Honey wouldn't measure up to the Milk and Honey Cafe in Bowie (which is my favorite spot), but Honey!! The Real Milk & Honey Eatery and Bar measures up to my expectations...and that's saying something.

The restaurant is located on top of the Subway, and you can either take the stairs or the elevator up (handicap accessible). Very clean inside and I love their waiting area: warm, cozy vibe with the couches for seating. I appreciate the Black representation throughout the restaurant through art.

The food was fantastic 😋...at least what me and my family ate today. I ordered the same entree I ordered from Bowie - the Blackened Salmon & Grits with extra Blackened seasoning and creole cream sauce. This version had either spinach or greens in the cheesy grits which complimented the meal nicely. I also ordered the Fried Green Tomatoes and I would give it a 7 out of 10 compared to the Bowie location. This version had boom boom sauce which was spicy and the breading on the tomatoes was seasoned ok.

The only negative is the background music was background...louder than most.

I definitely will return to this spot...totally worth trying.

WARNING April 1, 2023 - Saturday evening, 7pm

I decided to take my 50+ y/o parents and 4 y/o niece to this place for dinner to celebrate my Mom's birthday. I've only visited this spot once before and it was doing the day. When we arrived, I noticed the host look down at my niece with a 'why did you bring a child here' face , but it didn't register why...until later, therefore I ignored it. I could tell the music was a little louder than my first visit, but it never dawned on me to look to my left where the bar was. So, we were seated quickly. Shortly after we were seated, the music was even louder - maybe because of the type of song being played. I heard Rock the Boat (Aaliyah) which is a sexual charged song. Then another song even louder due to the bass and acoustics. Both my father's ears and my ears started to hurt at this point. We couldn't even hear each other talk without yelling or moving close to each other. We contemplated ordering our food to go. I literally apologized to my parents for bringing them here; i was completely in shock the entire time.

The waiter came over and I asked if it was possible to turn the music down just a teeny bit, like an octave, and he said very kindly that he wasn't sure if it was possible, but would ask. At that point, my dad agreed we'd order our food and leave. He had had enough and was experiencing a headache, and decided to take my 4 y/o niece to the car and wait. As soon as they left, some very questionable, profanity riddled, and inappropriate songs were played while my Mom and I waited. We finally got our food and exited.

So there is a live DJ playing and the music is so so loud in such a small area. With that level of volume and small area, the sound doesn't have far to travel and disperse. It's definitely a Club vibe on Saturday evenings...if that's your thing and you want to be deaf after.

Not knocking the owners choices: I definitely think the live music & type of music is for a different crowd - I wasn't aware that Saturday evenings were like this. I left a review through another third party site where I paid my tab, and Monique (the owner) responded - so grateful she did. I was told info regarding the live music is listed on the website, on the inserts located in the menus, & on social media. I checked the website on my phone through Chrome and didn't see it advertised... unless it was listed in the running banner on the website homepage; however, it will not allow me to swipe left or right. The menus I received on the 25 March & 1 April was front to back laminated menus w/o insert. And I didn't use social media - I used Google maps to find this place.

Saturday evenings & Sunday Brunches may not be the best times to visit if your lifestyles are different and you want to bring family...

Date of Visit: Sunday, August 3rd Time of Visit: 2:20 p.m. Location: Milk & Honey – Temple Hills

DO NOT COME HERE

I came to this location with my family, hoping to try a different Milk & Honey experience. We were seated quickly, and the atmosphere seemed pleasant—until it became an absolute disaster.

We waited over 45 minutes before anyone even offered us a glass of water. During that time, we noticed an alarming trend: unless the manager was trying to flirt with you or, as one server was overheard saying, you were “extremely beautiful,” your table was essentially ignored.

When we were finally able to place our order, the manager—who never introduced himself—approached us to say we’d need to change it because brunch ended at 3:00 p.m. We informed him that we were seated at 2:25 p.m., to which he replied that the kitchen would still make the brunch items fresh. Fine. But then the chaos only escalated.

Another 25 minutes passed, during which multiple tables that arrived after us were served first. The manager eventually came by with two drinks, announced them vaguely as “some kind of drink” and “another something drink,” and told us to figure it out ourselves before running off. He also stated we would receive a discount due to the excessive delay.

Another 25 minutes later, two plates were brought out. Ten minutes after that, a third. Two members of our party had ordered yogurt, which never arrived—until we had to yell across the dining area just to cancel them. A chef (I assume) then came out begging us to take the yogurts because they were “already made,” insisting we wouldn’t be charged. He brought them out anyway—after we had declined them.

When we were finally done with this embarrassing excuse for a dining experience, we had to ask four separate times for the check. When it came, the promised discount was missing, and the canceled yogurts were still on the bill. The server went to the manager, who loudly asked, “Discount for what?!”—as if the previous hour hadn’t just happened. We had to remind him that he offered the discount himself. He rolled his eyes, sucked his teeth, and stormed off. When the bill came back, the “discount” was a laughable $4.

This was our first and last time at this location.

The only bright spot was Ashley—the one person who showed any professionalism or courtesy. Despite not being our assigned server and feeling under the weather, she was the only one who offered an apology and made any effort to treat us with respect. She deserves recognition. The rest of the staff—and especially the...

This restaurant chain is normally pretty consistent with delivering great taste and presentation of the food. Today was my first time visiting this location. The ambience presented an awesome aesthetic and I sat at the bar so I could have space to work on my laptop while dining. I deterred from my usual orders of either shrimp or salmon and grits and opted to try the fish and grits. The presentation was amazing with the honey butter biscuit, fried green tomato, and the stars of the dish obviously. The fish was nicely portioned and extra crispy as I like. I'm very logical and get that fish will OBVIOUSLY have a "fishy" taste. But amongst the batter, hot sauce, Cajun sauce, and lemon juice I added, the pungent sea flavor remained at the forefront. When asked by the server about my experience, I mentioned to him the issue, and I was told "it's whiting so that happens." The lackluster response rather providing a solution, or even asking if I wanted something else would've been logical. I should've asked to speak with a manager, but I felt it were too early in the AM to have to deal with the back and forth. I foolishly finished the smaller piece of fish with my grits (grits were soooo good). But after adding more lemon and hot sauce, I decided I shouldnt even have to do all of that and asked for my check and left. I am currently writing this review from my porcelain thrown. :( I have been here most of my day and have not eaten anything else as a result. I called earlier in the day once I made the connection to inform a manager about the issue to potentially prevent the issue from occuring to anyone else; however, a "manager wasn't available." I called again an an hour later, but it seemed as if it were new news to the manager on duty and so I doubted it was ever brought to his attention. Please work on the customer service to the extent of not assuming everyone is trying to get something for free; and therefore, gearing customer service to be confrontational vs solution-based. This is my first negative experience with this chain; however, this is also my first time at this location. On the bright side, I guess my abs might be in full effect by the end of the day. But this wasn't how I planned on losing...