Vonda's Kitchen — Restaurant in Newark

Overall disappointed, this was our first visit to this estsblishment. We waited fifteen minutes before waving down a staff member to ask for menus, then another fifteen minutes waiting again before waving down our server to place our order.

My husband ordered the fried chicken and waffles meal with a side of two eggs scrambled, our daughter ordered a side of beef bacon and I ordered Fried Whiting and grits......which according to the menu is served with two eggs....any style, whiting fish, cheese grits and two slices of Texas toast. I asked for my two eggs to be cooked fried over medium.

After about 40 minutes our waiter served the bacon, the side of two scrambled eggs and my fish and grits meal and immediately walked away. Everything was cold, my husband's scrambled eggs and my eggs had that hard glazed look of eggs sitting out in the open for too long and instead of Texas Toast, I was served a slice of cheap cold whole wheat toast.

I had to yet again wave down the waiter to come back. I reminded him I asked for fried eggs over medium and the menu said the meal was served with Texas Toast. He promptly replied "oh I told them, but I'll ask them to do it again and that's the only bread we have, I'll check, but I'm pretty sure that's the only bread we have".

My husband's meal was not served for another twenty minutes....by which time his scrambled eggs looked like a lump of cracking yellow play dough and my fried eggs still was not served. His waffle was cold with three piping hot chicken wings on top. He was expecting a fried chicken breast fillet, chicken legs, breast or thighs but definitely not only wings.

Taste wise......the whiting and chicken wings were fresh, perfectly cooked and tasty. However, on the salty side.....especially for a restaurant with a Health conscious motto. I had to ask for lemon to cut the salty taste just to finish one piece of fish. The grits were very good except for being barely warm.....had that thick membrane that forms when sitting out. The corn bread was warm and good, as was the lemonade and waffle except for being cold.

As we were finished with our meal and looking for our server to ask for to go containers, he brought the two fried eggs over medium which was cooked as two hard fried eggs.

During our meal, the patrons next to us asked to use our menu after fifteen minutes of waiting. No staff came to greet or give them menus even though the manager told then where to sit when they entered the restaurant.

One member of their party ordered the chicken and waffles and another ordered shrimp and grits. They asked for the manager because the wait was so long, the shrimp and grits was finally served but the chicken and waffle took another twenty minutes and was cold.

After the manager was finished speaking with them, I took the opportunity to share my experience with her. She listened politely but didn't seem to care. I asked her about the Texas toast and she promptly said "yes we have Texas toast in the kitchen but your meal does not come with that". I handed her the menu I had kept and showed her but she continued to state "yhea I see it says that here but we don't serve it that way, I don't know why it's like that on the menu, we've never served it that way". I then explained requesting multigrain toast in lieu of the Texas toast and she said "oh we don't have that here". Once again I showed her their panni is served on multigrain bread, but she gave the same brush off excuse of "not having that here". When I explained the eggs were not cooked as ordered she stated "oh but I thought he's bringing you another order". I showed her the new order of eggs which were once again prepared wrong, her response was "oh they're having a off day".

Unprofessional to say the least, total lack of customer service, pride or concern and sticky floors. We frequently dine out and generally patronize restaurants in Montclair, West Orange, Short Hills, Harrison and Madison areas. We thought we'd give this Newark based restaurant a chance but...

4 1/2 stars

Several years ago, I came here with a friend and had a perfect experience. It didn't get any better - the food was out of this world and at one point Vonda herself came out to chat with us for a few minutes. It just checked off all the boxes, and I recommended this place to tons of people. Shortly after this meal, I actually had Vonda's cater my Oscar party. I couldn't have loved this place more. This was my first visit in a while, and while the food was still amazing, some of the magic is gone, which is a shame.

Vonda's is not in the best neighborhood, but I've been in worse. We found street parking very close by, probably a hundred yards or so from the entrance. As with my last visit, my chum and I were the only white visitors, but I definitely didn't feel like we were being eyeballed or anything - we were treated just like anyone else (and I go out of my way to mention this because I know some people WOULD be nervous coming into an area like this; it is what it is. Also, I stick out like a sore thumb in all-white neighborhoods too). We stopped by around noonish this past Sunday. There were a few tables to choose from, but you could also tell Vonda's was slammed with to-go orders based on the frenetic activity behind the counter. Throughout our meal, there was definitely heavy foot traffic in and out, and I'd guess our food was delayed by 10 minutes or so because of that. Not a huge deal, especially since this is made-to-order goodness and you should expect a slightly longer wait time as a result.

I opted for the fried catfish entree ($12.50), which came with two sides - I went with the mac and cheese and the candied yams. Vonda's has the best mac and cheese I've ever had. It's not up for debate. I LOVE it, and like basically any warm-blooded American, I've had my share. It's just scrumptious on all levels. The candied yams are amazing. I definitely haven't had nearly as much of that particular dish for comparison purposes, but I feel like it's a good way to get dessert without actually getting dessert, if that makes sense. Perfect candied taste and texture. The fried catfish was also amongst the best I've ever had. I think it was supposed to come with some type of sauce but it was so juicy I didn't bother to follow up with the waitress.

My chum ordered the chicken and waffles ($13.50), as well as the kitchen mac bowl ($11.50). She liked the food but wasn't as over the moon about it as much as I was. That's probably at least partially on me since I talked this place up massively ahead of time, but what actually prompted this visit was a March meal that we had at Sweet T's in Montclair. They serve very similar food, and during that meal I told her that I thought Vonda's was better. (For the record, I really liked Sweet T's but I had concerns about their service and an oppressive reservation policy.) She still thinks Sweet T's is better, but she can write her own review if she feels that passionately about it. The price point here is excellent (WAY lower than Sweet T's), and the food is noticeably yummier.

So why can't I commit to the full five stars here? It came down to the staff. Everyone we interacted with seemed super stressed and overwhelmed (though I wouldn't say anyone was unpleasant to us). Our young pup waitress was very nice but also seemed to be in charge of manning the phone, which rang constantly. There were a few little things that slipped through the cracks. For instance, she forgot to take our menus off the table after we gave our orders, which prompted one of the other employees to ask us if we had been helped yet, and my catfish entree was supposed to come with corn bread and didn't. Huge problem? Absolutely not, but some of those tiny issues can add up over the course of the meal.

This is still a recommendation for sure, but my enthusiasm has diminished a bit. I think the problems can be rectified fairly easily, especially since they've...

I tried this place twice, There won't be a Third time. Note, I am from the West Indies, so my tastebuds may be biased, but i know good and bad oxtails and food in general.

Oxtails (0/5 Stars):Super Salty, Oily, Undercooked, Fatty, smothered in onions (waaaaayyyyyy too much onions), Salty.

Rice and beans (0/5 Stars): Soggy, overcooked brown rice with black beans (should be kidney or butter)

Cabbage (0/5 Stars): Oily, Overcooked, Salty, somehow flavorless.

Mac and Cheese (1/5 Stars): soft, near soggy Macaroni, cheese sauce, not grated cheese, tasted a tiny bit like milk just before the "best by" date. overall, even my 9 year old wouldn't eat it.

Collard Greens (3/5 Stars): The only redeeming item on the menu. i believe the only thing that saved this dish is that what hurt all the other items actually made this item good. Oily, Soggy, and Salty.

Cornbread: (0/5 Stars): I believe they purposely gave me old cornbread because i was a take out customer and not a dine in customer. they were still preparing my plate when i got there (i called ahead 15 minutes) and i saw the fresh cornbread brought out BEFORE they packed my plate. either they gave me old cornbread or their version of cornbread is absolutely terrible. we could only eat a couple bites. Seriously.

Price: Difference Pickup vs Delivery: IMPORTANT If you want delivery, it could cost you an additional $16.30. That's nearly the cost of a third meal.

Cost for picking up: Oxtail (etc).........$17.95 Oxtail (etc).........$17.95 Tax......................$2.51

Total...................$38.41 About average for 2 oxtail dinner

COST WHEN ORDERED THROUGH THE APP: Oxtail meal........$18.95 ($1 more than in-store) Oxtail meal........$18.95 ($1 more than in-store) Delivery................$2.99 Tax......................$2.51 Service fee..........$4.17

Total....................$47.57 Dasher Tip...........$7.14 (15% default tip) note, you must tip before you can submit the order. GRAND TOTAL.........$54.71

Overall: I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone unless you love Salty and Soggy Southern cooking. I have had southern and this is a poor excuse for it. roughly 1/3 of the food was left to the garbage because we just couldn't eat anymore.

Sorry, but...