Pretty Girls Cook — Restaurant in Philadelphia

September 8, 2019

PGC was on the list for Sunday Brunch to round out the weekend of birthday celebration with my cousin from out of state. Arrived around 11:30 a.m. which was the perfect time as dozens of people filed in closer to noon.

Yikes, too bad there's so much unsightly construction and you're forced to walk in traffic with your back against traffic if you parked west of Marshall street. No fault of their own of course.

The building itself on the outside and upon entering, much to my delight are both aesthetically pleasing. The playlist was nice, although a little loud.

The hostess was...well not very hospitable. She didn't smile, what she said was barely audible and her demeanor was really standoffish. Not a good first impression with regard to customer service. Whilst there, she walked by twice and made some strange eye contact that made us feel uncomfortable. It was almost a scowl. Very bizarre.

Our waiter arrives, didn't give us his name but he was nice which made up some for the cold hostess. We placed our order which also included a dish to go (chicken and waffles) and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the food came.

Salmon hash, Aquarian jawn (shrimp and grits), over easy eggs and a side of stone ground grits and generous portions. A-plus for sure!

The salmon hash was really different, something I’ve not seen before with white and sweet potatoes mixed and no egg. I wish it’d had more sweet potato than white potatoes. It'd be great if they offered a white potato or sweet potato only option. Regardless, it was pretty damn good, now the eggs on the other hand had way too much black pepper. Eggs (especially for sunny side up) are delicate and should always be left to the patron to season at the table. Regarding the grits, I've had better and I've had worse. These were somewhere in between I suppose. I was expecting a flavor burst of creamy, dreamy grits not just some shredded cheddar on top. I added the salmon from the hash dish to them and some of my cousin’s sauce from her Aquarian jawn and that was very tasty as I like spicy. She doesn’t like spicy, so whatever sauce I could scoop up, she was very grateful.

To accompany our meals, we had Arnold Palmers (half sweet tea and half lemonade) with a couple pieces of fresh fruit added. Very good, so much so that I got one to go.

We are at 30 mins since we’d started eating, and my cousin was stuffed and had visibly slowed down. I was right on her ‘stuffed’ heels, as I’d finished my hash and eggs but I still had my doctored up grits to polish off.

Our waiter (name still unknown) walks over and asks, “Are you going to finish up or do you want a ‘to-go’ container?”

Had we just been sitting there yapping and not eating, then the question would have been warranted. However, let’s be clear, at the exact moment he’d asked the question, I had a spoonful of my doctored up grits in my mouth. There were ZERO indicators that merited a ‘hurry up and finish eating or take it to go’ ultimatum. Why is that, you may ask? Simple- again, I was actually chewing when he asked us!

This was insulting and void of customer service which seemed lacking from the moment we walked in and were greeted with scowl face.

My cousin boxed her remaining food, I grabbed my chicken and waffle order, we paid and tipped the standard 20% and went on our way.

Side note- the chicken was great, the waffle, flat and meh.

My cousin hopped back on 95S to Maryland and I, back across town, both of us left with bad tastes...

Pretty Girls Cook Review: We arrived around 4pm on the the day after Christmas so it wasn’t crowded at all. We were met by the hostess who was also our server. This is a small but quaint spot with limited seating. The decor was cute and lighting flare was perfect for the small spot. The waitress sat us at a table in the back. The waitress, although polite, never mentioned her name. In addition, the waitress didn’t have a presentation of a waitress. The waitress had a plaid shirt tied around her waist, some black tights and a black shirt. The outfit didn’t scream professional at all. I would’ve liked to see a PGC shirt or some type of garment that represents the PGC business culture. My wife and I are foodies and love to support small businesses especially black SB’s. So we were a little disappointed especially when we noticed the cook didn’t have a hair net but was donning very long dreads in her hair. This is an ultimate no-no in the kitchen area. Especially in a professional eatery. The table we were seated at was a small counter top which was fine however the chairs, although flamboyant, were very uncomfortable especially for a woman with a little meat on her bones. I had to sit with one leg off the chair to have any type of comfort. I ordered the shout em Brussels sprout and the island girl turkey burger. My wife ordered the kale ceasar salad and the Whitney wings with Thai Chilli sauce. Okay on to what you want to know. How’s the food? The Brussels sprouts were good! The goat cheese added a creamy taste to the sautéed Brussels sprouts however the pecan has no place in this dish and it should be removed since it takes away from bacon, sweet sauce, and creamy goat cheese. The Thai wings were average. I expect more from small restaurants especially since they’re not a chain restaurant so you don’t have to follow the recipe card. The wings were spicy and I couldn’t taste any of the sweetness. I also would’ve like to see some blue cheese crumbles and/or chopped green onion as a garnishing top of the wings. Food running and cohesion was obsolete. My wife salad came out before my burger. My burger also had siracha aioli sauce all over the burger which I asked for on the side. The island girl turkey burger was well seasoned although there was a lot aioli sauce It didn’t take away from the the overall burger. The fries were hot but regular. My wife liked the Cesar but would’ve loved for home made dressing instead of a store brought caesar. The lemonade here was perfect! Not too sweet and not too watered down. Overall, PGC’s grade is a C+ due to lack of customer service, staff presentation and kitchen sanitary issues. The food is good but could use some attention in certain areas. I didn’t get the small restaurant we can do what we want flare from the food. Instead the common dishes taste just like that, common. Our bill with tip was $72.24 and my wife and I didn’t feel as if it was worth it. Overall this is a good place to eat with select dishes that offer a fine dining taste with a...

Came from Delaware and was very disappointed ☹️😔 with them meal and service... Got to the restaurant about 3:00. There was only one other table that was occupied. A few things that we wanted on the menu we were told they didn't have. Although they had just opened at 12:00 p.m. The food came out very slow. My niece received her food 25 minutes after we were there. My food never came out until about 45 minutes later then to be told they didn't have fries. I could only get the sandwich and when the fries come I could get those. I ordered turkey burger with the crab meat and the shrimp which you could not see either on the sandwich. It was totally different from the picture that was posted on the website. I ate my sandwich because I was hungry but it was just a frozen burger with a sprinkle of crab meat and three salad shrimp on the top. Was not good at all. They did not tell me that they did not have fries until he brought just a beer sandwich. I asked the host. Why wasn't I informed that they didn't have any more fries? The cook never came out to speak to us nor apologize. Once the fries came from the delivery person in which they ordered from a grocery store. By this time we were ready to leave. I did inform the host. Were they going to compensate my meal since. He stated now because you did get a sandwich I could see the chef. She never again came over to let us know what happened or try to substitute because they did not have the fries. I asked to speak with a manager. I was told that they don't have a manager. I was asked to speak with the owner. They said that the owner was not there and I asked if they could get her on the phone. I did advise that I was not happy. I had been to five star restaurants as well as one star restaurants and I know that they could compensate some kind of way. They refuse to do it and refuse to allow me to talk to upper management. Two gentlemen came in that was picking up there to go order and stated to the host. It's okay we'll take care of her meal. I will never be back to this establishment again. I was there on...