Yoolks On Us — Restaurant in Portsmouth

Ate at Yolks on Us in Portsmouth today for breakfast. It was barely edible. I asked for no powdered sugar on the pancakes & got pancakes with it. They took them back & tried to scrape it off & then flipped the pancake upside down & gave them back to me. I listened to the waitress & chef discuss it because he didn't want to remake them. The sausage gravy had no flavor. The homestyle potatoes were edible but no seasoning (not even salt or pepper), eggs over ready were liquidy whites that were still cold. Bacon wasn't bad. Be aware, you are automatically charged 16% gratuity! Yes, it's posted on the door as you enter so you are aware. Wait staff nice when at your table, but their cell phones are important too & take priority. I had iced tea & was never offered a refill or able to get a refill, one your fix is on the table you have to distract the waitress from her cell phone if you need something. Added note, as I was getting up to depart I heard the waitress tell the chef that a lady had asked to have her order remade because it had an item in it that she said she was not able to eat and the chef said that was her problem. The lady tried to explain that the description on the menu did not list the item, very much like it did not say that their pancakes are coated with powdered sugar, the chef said again that was not his problem and she would just have to deal with it. Please avoid this place! While the waitresses are polite when they are talking to you the guy in the kitchen that cooks (at least today) is awful! We ate at this place because we looked at the other reviews and walked away extremely shocked that today's experience was nowhere like the others that have recently been posted. In olooking at the photos of the people that were posting a couple of them actually look like some of the staff that was in the restaurant while we were there, that makes me question if they are staff or if they are family because they look so much like the staff that was there today. I will often give places a second chance, but this one... never...

We came in today yes on Easter passing through after a memorial and I am sooooo disappointed we did $118 later and 2 hours wasted. My family a party of 4 came in at 11:00, seated at 11:15 ordered at 11:30 and received food at 12:30 left at 12:48. This whole experience was not appealing as well as because it was a smaller business on a holiday you would expect a happier experience. They were not busy at all it was empty they had a table of four a table of 6 and a table of 10, then us. Our server Britney didn’t even come over to us until 15 mins after us sitting so of course we ordered everything at once to avoid further delay. She was all over the place and disorganized. We noticed the table in front of us(party of 10) when they received their food they were missing items and had to remake several plates. Then we sat there for awhile then the other waitress asked us if we wanted refills then waited. A party of 3 that came after us was now being served their food. We noticed there was an issue with the french toast and catfish the other server put in front of them. Then they took it back the three servers are then trying to figure it out by the kitchen window and that was actually our food so they then put whip cream and strawberries on the french toast and brought food to our table I asked her verbatim if they just took that food to the table and re dressed it she said no it was only the catfish plate and they are remaking it. I said no I literally just saw it all then walked away. We all were nervous to eat because they other table did touch in the food so that’s what I did not like and I voiced this so my husband ate and myself and my children picked at it. We then see Britney getting the checks together because she avoided coming back to the table the rest of the time and she apologizes to the other table and talks about their check and walks away then puts the check on our table and says cash or card. This was the worst experience and i would highly suggest you to...

I won’t be returning.

Service- Atiyah was nice and polite. I am skeptical of any place that includes gratuity and does not verbally and proactively inform the customer. I was a party of one. This is not a southernly custom- for a restaurant that claims to be a southern bistro. Also, when I walked in, I was told to wait five to ten minutes by one server when there were plenty of open seats. The other server let me seat myself.

Presentation, portion, performance: the kitchen is slow and understaffed. There are children of the employees running around the restaurant. If the place had more of a diner feel, no big deal. But a place aiming for a bistro feel- with an accent wall for people to take photos against- and prices to match- the place is underwhelming. Low quality dishes, drink ware is plastic mason jar wanna-be, and cutlery. Again- a place claiming “southern bistro” should, at a minimum, have brewed iced tea. They serve a soda mix tea.

The food tasted good enough. However, the portions are small for the price. They use medium sized eggs, you get a few mouthfuls of potatoes, one piece of toast cut in half. My crab cake was not crab. I believe it was Tuna seasoned to taste like a crab cake. In retrospect- it had the texture of the vegan tuna product if you’ve ever tried that. Employee beverages were out in plain view on the bar, not under or behind the bar.

The catfish was fried well- it was cooked through and fried to a crispy golden brown. However, it was not served with any garnish or sauce. In the south, catfish is almost always accompanied by lemon wedges and tartar sauce. It had neither, but Atiyah managed to drum up an old lemon wedge from behind the bar for me. No sauce though. Wild stuff!

This place needs some leadership to get everyone on the same standards for whatever the vision is for...