Brunch N — Restaurant in Philadelphia

+📷✨ 3/2/24

We opted to give an honest review on this one. We came in as a walk in for brunch this morning and have never been here before, but figured we'd try it out!

*We were seated right after entering & informed that if we left a 'good review' prior to leaving that we'd receive 10% off per review, which we thought was a little odd. Still, we met our waiter and within 5 minutes, we placed our drink orders. He ordered a black coffee (no creamer (he did get a refill)) a glass of water (which never came), and after looking at the menu, I stated that I'd like the 'Brunch N Blue smoothie', which we also pointed at on the menu. Our waiter seemed to understand that the smoothie was the item I was ordering, though he didn't look up until after he finished putting everything into the handheld device. I say this because after about 15-20 minutes the drink that was placed in front of me was not a smoothie. It was the other Brunch N Blue drink (the Brunch N Blue Wild flower drink). An honest mistake so I asked one of the women behind the counter about it (we were seated at the counter), who stated that if we didn't say "smoothie" they default to the wild flower option. As someone who doesn't like to make a fuss or cause any extra confrontation/work due to childhood trauma, I just let it be. I bring it up because there are two drinks with the same name and maybe suggesting a rename of the non-smoothie option to "the Wild Flower" would be helpful to prevent confusion and someone getting something they didn't intend to get in the future.

**The other piece of info that would prove helpful to people considering dining in: there is a gratuity (I think it was 20%) built into the bill that you receive which does not currently appear on the website, Google, or the menus at the restaurant. This might seem commonplace, but the places that we've been that use this practice, both in Philly and elsewhere, have listed it somewhere for the customer to see and know.

*Now, let's get to the food. I ordered the peaches n' cream stuffed French toast and my boyfriend had the meat lover's omelets with white toast and a side of grits with cheddar (he doesn't like grits but he knew I did so he offered his side to me in case I didn't like my order (he's a sweetheart like that)). Anyway, so we placed our food orders within 5-10 minutes of sitting down. We then proceeded to wait 35ish-45ish minutes for our food to arrive to us. I had paid for parking so I had a timer going and was able to verify. Our food arrived to us with 1h18 minutes left of a 2h parking reservation. We understood that they had reservations for large parties (assumed as we were not informed of this when we arrived). My boyfriend said to me that his eggs were 'tough and had no seasoning at all' which isn't something he normally says about eggs so it stuck with me. I tried the grits, and the same. They were pretty bland and needed both salt and pepper to be palatable. Otherwise, they were creamy and not dry/gritty like some places offer. The stuffed French toast had one side that had a portion that seemed to have never been dipped in the batter. The syrup pourer that was given to me also was caked in dried syrup and it took some working to get the lid opened. Otherwise, it was ok.

**The last part is that the people behind the counter had several jobs it seemed. Our server was also making drinks & waiting tables, and it seemed like they were really understaffed for the work that they were doing.

When we were getting ready to leave, I hadn't finished my French toast & I was asked if I'd like a box to which I politely smiled & declined. I wasn't over the moon with it & I knew I wasn't going to finish it at home either.

What I think is odd is that we weren't asked about our experience or if anything wasn't right/was to our liking as most establishments that we've gone to have asked. We actually didn't get checked on a single time except when I asked about my drink.

We both agreed a 3 star review was appropriate and honest, given the above items. Probably won't...

Been seeing this place pop up on my Instagram for a month or so, so decided to try it out over New Year's weekend. Though the outside might give one impression of what the place will be, the inside has great decor and gives all the brunch vibes with grass backdrop walls, signs, etc (he was a little hesitant when we were walking up and then saw what I was saying once we got inside).

We went on a Saturday around 12pm and luckily they had a table available. It wasn't packed, but there were definitely a good amount of people there already. The place isn't huge but has a good amount of space. Our waitress was really great, setting everything up for us, very friendly and attentive during our whole dining experience. The place is BYOB so we brought our own bottle and I recommend bringing a twist off top or popping the bottle yourself because they have a $20 corkage fee which is super high (I've never seen more then $10 for that at other places if they charge it). Now to food, which is most important: we ordered the Egg rolls to share which was soooo good! It was really tasty, good size and had so much filling which we appreciated. I got the Shrimp n Grits while we ordered the Fried Chicken Benedict for our meals. Portion size of my dish was great and seemed more than I get at other places which was nice. When it's time to pay the bill, make sure they show you the receipt before you select the tip percentage on the mobile pay machine if they do that - we thought it was odd the tip percentages they offered were low then saw/realized they already added an initial tip amount to the bill.

Overall, it's a decent spot for breakfast/brunch. Worth checking out and I might try...

I am not sure who out of these 813 rate this spot remotely above a "1" in experience. 1st I called twice to make a reservation for 7 for my best friend's birthday brunch was told by several host that that wasn't required, only to be greeted by a young lady looking like she saw a ghost when we walked through the door that Sunday for brunch. Now let sit and eat, hopefully things would get better (as the AC wasn't working...) we sit and mind you this place is BYOB so of course we brough bottles as this is a birthday celebration. There is a $20/per bottle cork fee for bottle they don't even have to open. What the folks in the place don't know is that my best friend and I cooked downtown for years on 12th&Walnut at a 5-star restaurant for brunch and this isn't a thing UNLESS the server has to open the bottle and it's a flat fee! not a per bottle fee. So nix that we are like "we'll let just eat" When I tell you the food was beyond subpar here are some examples I got the chicken and waffles, the smell of the old grease was the beginning but the flame was too high and my chicken tenders were mushy inside, my boys French toast legit had a raw egg in the middle again flame too high as the French toast was a dark as could be, my other friend cheese in his grits never melted. I wouldn't EVER recommend this place for food and its shameful all these folks actually would, this is a prime example of us (black folks) settling for less. DON'T GO HERE.... last but not LEAST the bathroom is in the middle of the dining room with an open top, and when my friend actually used it the door handle fell off. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE...