The Soul Kitchen formerly Messi Soul Kitchen — Restaurant in Riverside

I've been coming here for a little over a year and I love the food. Tonight the young lady working in the front was extremely rude, disrespectful and lacking common courtesy. There is a way to talk to customers, especially those that frequent your establishment. My daughter ordered our food at 5:42pm and was told that the Mac and Cheese would be a 20 minute wait. That's fine... But then it changed to an additional 15 minutes and then an additional 10 minutes, until it was almost an hour wait. I understand this is home cooked food but don't lie about the times. If it's going to take 45 minutes to an hour then say that up front. You know good and well how long it takes to make Mac and Cheese so don't play with the times. We wanted gravy on the rice, top and bottom and the waitress says " wouldn't you just want it on the top? I'm the customer right? It shouldn't be a problem if I want it for both. She asked for a little extra barbecue sauce on the side. She said" we don't do that "!. She told her I've done it before and it wasn't a problem. She told her" well I can't do it. Okay fine... She asked if she could get another silverware and she said we don't have anymore. So, it's only 6:30pm and you close at 7:00pm and you don't have any more silverware? There's still customers coming in, so are they going to eat with their hands??! That's just petty rudeness and we don't appreciate it, not one but. We got our food and left. As we were sitting in our car, two customers came up to our window and apologized, and told us they witnessed how rude the waitress treated her They also felt like the atmosphere was uninviting. They said your restaurant felt like a pop up. They said they waited in line for a long time and they asked your waitress what was left and she never responded. She just continued to scoop and make other plates. When they finally reached the front, what they wanted was gone. They drove 45 minutes away just like we did. My daughter only asked for another silverware because we usually share the plate of food. So I had to wait while she ate and vice versa. I don't understand how you have people like this working there and you call yourself a family business. We support black businesses on a regular basis. We frequently come here as well as Hotlanta but now we'll think twice about coming here. We've had bad experiences with the food as well but didn't let that keep us from coming back. The rudeness that we experienced tonight was uncalled for. She was mumbling stuff under her breath, making huffing sounds and rolling her eyes. We would love to come back but wouldn't ever want to deal with that young lady again. Complete turnoff!!...

I used to be a loyal customer of this restaurant, appreciating their amazing food and convenience. However, my recent experience has left me incredibly disappointed and frustrated.

After noticing that DoorDash was not taking orders, I called the restaurant and spoke with a very helpful young lady who informed me that they were no longer accepting orders through DoorDash and all orders must now go through toast.com. She guided me through the process, which I appreciated. After navigating through the various websites, I successfully placed my order for delivery.

After waiting over an hour without any food, I called back to check on the status of my order. The same young lady answered the phone again, and after checking, she handed the phone over to the owner. This is where our interaction took a turn for the worse.

Upon speaking to the owner, her first response was, “Okay, your online order is now updated. If you refresh your order, you should be able to see that it’s received and we’re going to start working on it. Did you refresh it?” I pointed out that I had placed my order over an hour ago and was still waiting. Instead of empathy, her tone changed as she snapped, “Well, what do you want me to do!”

I tried to express that her approach felt rude and dismissive, especially given the circumstances. Before I could finish my thought, she raised her voice and declared, “I’ve been in business for four years and have never had issues with my systems until now. It’s not my fault; do you want a refund or to wait for your food? It’s your choice.”

Her blunt responses left me in shock. I reminded her that as a business owner, one must maintain control and professionalism, no matter how challenging the situation is. Customers deserve to be treated with respect, especially in times of frustration.

I concluded our call by asking her to please process a full refund. It’s disheartening to see a small business neglecting the importance of customer service, especially when the food is great. I truly hope they can improve their approach moving forward, but until then, I cannot support...

This place is so good but unfortunately today was not the day. After sitting for an hour for two plates, with no one coming to tell us the food almost done. It just so happened that the new girl took our order. We were initially told that the chicken would be done in 15 minutes. So we said said ok, we can wait. After 35 minutes my boyfriend went to check on the order and was told it was almost done. So we continued to wait. Then after seeing groups of people come in, eat and leave. I decided to check another 15 minutes later. So by now it's been 45 minutes. I was told, "oh, shes getting your plates right now". I said ok. I then heard another employee tel another customer who was sitting that the yams weren't done and it would be another 25 minutes. But still no one has come to us. The new girl should have come and said something. So 15 minutes later we decided to get a refund, which in total was now an hour of waiting. We were told that they were just waiting on the yams. I said "hold up".... we were initially told that the chicken was all that we were waiting on so now it's the yams?? Then I told the new girl that it's ok. But had you came over to us a while ago and told us "the chicken chicken was done but the yams aren't, would you like something else or wait for the yams" we would have definitely just picked something else. The new girl had no comment at all. No apology or anything. Then she proceeded to do a refund but didnt know how. Which was ok because she was new. When we first walked in and sat for a while the place was empty. But after waiting so long the line was beginning to form. Didn't look like much food was cooked or ready. But anyways, the new girl needs to probably learn more customer service skills. Waiting was ok with us, but the non communication was a major issue with me. Especially when I seen the other young lady to over to another customer so nice and tell him the situation on the yams. Anyways, we come all the time but will wait about 4-6 months before...