The Carolina Kitchen with Plant Based options — Restaurant in Owings Mills

I am a long time fan of Carolina Kitchen and used to make the trek to Upper Marlboro often to partake in their amazingly flavored food and those corn muffins. Since becoming completely vegan I obviously had to miss out.

I was so excited to find that not only was a Carolina Kitchen opening closer to me but they also have extensive vegan options as well. My goodness! Win-win.

I knew better than to arrive at the opening time of a grand opening because I imagined it would be some kinks, crowds and perhaps chaos so after contemplating waiting a week or so I decided to stop by at on the opening day but at 9pm-ish after calling to find that they were open that day until 10 pm.

When I arrived I found the location beautiful and although it appeared busy at first on the outside, when I walked in I was pleasantly surprised at the beauty and how I was able to take in the view of the dishes while getting instant service.

Upon looking at the menu I did not see any descriptions of what was vegan but after inquiring, a beautiful woman named Ms.Moss, I believe, came out to explain an entire section of vegan dishes prepared for us vegans. She also let me and others who came in after try various samples and when I tell you that the food was delicious. Delicious is an understatement. I had to ask twice was the items vegan because it was hard to believe considering the look and the flavor.

There were vegan greens, cabbage, Mac and cheese, Alfredo pasta, baked ziti, jerk drumsticks, seafood gumbo, orange chikn, meatballs, sweet potatoe soup and several vegan cakes to name a few.

Everything I tried was Deeee- licous and I am not a paid reviewer….I promise.

I spent about $60 for myself as the prices aren’t cheap but honestly what is these days since the fiasco called “Covid” but anywhooo…..

I ended up getting a platter of vegan dishes that was priced at $30 flat. It contained a mix of cabbage and greens, seafood gumbo over rice, spinach Alfredo and Ms. Moss was kind enough to throw in a jerk drummy. Everything was the best darn food I’ve tasted in a minute outside of my own home cooked vegan meals.

The vegan cake slices were priced at $9 bucks each and the vegan oreo cake was unbelievable.

Still I am amazed that these items are vegan but they say it is. 😂

I wish I could have provided better pictures but I order at night and smashed shortly after, so excuse the poor quality of the picture. I promise you it will be worth your visit.

Now to everyone complaining about the late opening, line around the door and any other kinks for their grand opening. I get it. I understand all of you and yessss as a fellow black owned business owner myself, I agree that there are plenty of black owned businesses that should do better in service and operation but let’s give this restaurant a few weeks at least before counting them out. You know how it is and things do happen but come on, show some grace at least for a little while. Your taste buds will thank you 🙂

I will say that while there I noticed friendly service and lots of cleaning happening around me. The managers appeared to take pride in the presentation. Hopefully this will continue throughout the restaurant’s time.

Due to the price point, and the fact that I mostly prefer to eat vegan-clean cut veggies/fruits as opposed meatless/plant based/soy types of meat substitutes, I definitely won’t be eating there often. However when I want to treat myself and my tastebuds this will probably be my only stop as at this point they are the best in vegan/comfort foods around.

Oh and lastly…to the rest of you meat eaters….go on and knock yourself out. There are even more options for you that will probably cause addictions. 😂😂😂

I almost considered falling off my vegan wagon as I was making my drive there and remembering how tasty their chicken and other non vegan dishes were.

Happy to find that when I arrived I didn’t even need to consider backsliding anymore due to their extensive and delicious vegan options. Thanks for considering us vegans and I will...

Yesterday my husband and I visited the Carolina Kitchen Express, in Owing Mills, MD. My first impression was one of great expectations, because I am a southern woman from the Carolinas. The decorum is very busy, the smooth soulful music which feels the air, flowed by the infectious, “ welcome, welcome, welcome “ greeting upon entry, definitely made me feel like I was back home. There was a menu located at the entry, which reflected the chains wide , diverse, entree’s. As we made our way to the serving line the young lady could tell we had never been here before, but she was kind and patient as we looked upon all these different options, which had no labels to help indentify, exactly what any of these items could actually be. Now listen, I am all for a beautiful culinary presentation, but the food needs to be labeled and essentially, look like what it’s suppose to be. Needless to say, the server ran down the hot bar very quickly and I still wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint what was to be what,. I went with my first option, closes to the top of the bar and my husband all the same. I select the spicy chicken chuck, which the server said was more sweet, than spicy. I paired this entree, as suggested over its bed of rice and my two sides were collards and the candied yams. My husband selected the pork chops, collards, and Mac and cheese. I would think all of these are southern staples, you can’t mess this up. We waited to pay at the end of the counter and our bill after drinks and taxes was roughly $51 and changed. I don’t have the receipt before me. The food was bagged in an iconic Carolina Kitchen tote, which truly grab my heart, because the little subtle pops, immolate , how much love southerns put into everything we do. We find a seat and began to dine. Now I am a true southern belle so a critique is needed. At first glance I was appalled, by the portion size for the price. The spicy chicken chucks were three very small, dry tenders. The plastic fork bent when I attempted to use my folk and knife to cut into them. The collards had a smoky taste, heavy salted and we all know commercial food requires less salt, because everyone cannot have salt. I being one of those people. I was disappointed not to have that vinegar base to the collards so these were definitely a no for me. The yams, hmmm I was very disappointed. Yams are primary comfort food. Yams are suppose to have a buttery, vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar indulgence, which makes you feel like there’s no place like home. Well you missed the mark. The yams tasted just like entirely too much of nothing, okay too much white sugar. I want to feel the love in my food, not get a sugar rush. My husband sat across from me with a perplexed look on his face as I asked him how was the pork chops? He hesitated to reply, but mustard up the courage to say that the pork chops lacked flavor and were tough. We both agreed that all the food on the bar is going to waste, because everything is under the heating lamp and not fresh. It’s drying tge food out. Although we had watched the server put out a fresh container of Mac and cheese, the velvet , smooth, cheesiness was still lacking. The Mac looked as dry as the lady who had the last corner from the previous pain who had ordered, right before us. My husband also agreed that the collard were too salty for his taste as well. Well all in all I thought we would take a trip to the Carolinas, but we quickly realized that if that what we were intending to do, we should have just gone into our own kitchen. Many can try to prepare southern cuisine, but often most fail. While the staff made us feel welcomed, the decorum did make me feel like I was at one of my aunties house, where all the colors and themes were grouped together in one room and it wouldn’t be us without so soulful music in the air, this Carolina Kitchen just isn’t the kitchen I grew up in. It was the thought that counts, but an overpriced experience for me. Back home food is so good at a price we can afford.

Warmest...

Our visit to the Owings Mills location was Friday June 6, 2025

There were 8ppl in my party - 7 out of 8 hated it. I must have been starving because I was the only one not complaining. LOL. We all dined in. The greeting was similar to the one you get when you go Moe’s. I loved it! The dining room was clean. The service was really good. Everyone knew their jobs and did them well. The manager came to my table to see if I needed help ordering. Gave me a menu. Did the same for others in my party. Very nice people. All good vibes. But the food experience was a little bit different.

The good: The greens were different. Not nasty different. Just different. Someone had a heavy hand with the vinegar… IjS. The Mac n cheese was okay. The jerk chicken dark meat was tasty. I really enjoyed it. It had the right amount of heat. My cousin wanted a tossed salad… crickets. 🦗 The fresh brewed tea had to be cut with water. Total waste of sugar. Grandma gave away her candied yams. Mom was totally disappointed because she ordered fresh. She didn’t eat off the buffet. My cousin and his wife that wanted the salad, my wasband, my mom and my grandma all trashed their food. It was our son’s graduation day. He and his gf ate their food. But they’re teens. We can’t trust them. LOL

The bad: I bought two meals. One was for later, long weekend approaching. How do you cook fried chicken that tastes like cardboard?! Not even the air fryer could fix it! My peach cobbler was ALL cobbler with - and I am not exaggerating- TWO teaspoons of peaches and hella much of the sweet filling. The potato salad had ZERO flavor. “Tajin shall now enter the chat”. Their chic pea soup does not reheat well and their vegetarian something I had, had a weird consistency after reheating.

I spent $69.00 and half or it was trash. I know my family collectively spent about $300 and no one wants to return. I think they changed recipes or cooks. Because if you can’t fry chicken at a soul food place…can we even call it soul food?! Nawww… this used to be soul food. Now it’s plain American fare. Refunds are warranted....