Sweet Tea Cafe — Restaurant in Smithville

Edit 2 - 4 months later: A couple of months ago we went back once for drinks. We weren't ready to commit longer than a drink, which I believe turned into 2. We talked about eating, as it was at a good volume level but just not hungry at the time. The specialty cocktails were delicious and we enjoyed chatting with the bartender.

Today I called in a to-go lunch order, since there's no online order option. The staff member was very nice taking my order. Very nice when I got there and the food was ready. Both staff members were lovely. Unfortunately, the computer system and their menu that was published 2 weeks ago had different prices ($3). The staff can't change/fix the discrepancy, so they were going to have someone refund it back to my card when they got in. They did not fix the charge, I won't have time to try again tomorrow, and I'll forget by next week. So, today's PSA is CHECK YOUR BILL AGAINST THE MENU! The BLT was delicious! I would just recommend maybe putting the egg on the side if you're getting it to go with a runny yolk. Stick it back on carefully when you get home. The fries were delicious!!! I haven't had fries like this in years. DE-licous! The brisket mac and cheese... meh. It's okay. Was kinda bland, which mac and cheese often is, but I thought the brisket would have given the dish more flavor. More of the bark flavor would be excellent.

Overall, I would give them 3.5 stars if the system would let me. We'll be back, although I don't think it will ever be a 5 for me, due to the atmosphere. The food is excellent. I would imagine the brisket mac and cheese would be perfect for another's pallet. I will always be hesitant about when we go, so that we don't cross visits with major play time. I look forward to trying more.

Edit: After this review, management’s actions on social media stating that we did not “pay for anything”, were uncalled for. We paid for our drinks, appetizers, and tip. They stated they had “plated our entree”, but this would have been done 15 minutes before our second appetizer was delivered to our table, for this statement to be true. I would not have given 5 stars on food if this would have been the case. So, we will not be returning to try at another time when the sound is likely to be quieter. And I have changed our service score from 5 to 3 stars, bringing the overall review from a 4 to 3 stars. Which is a shame. The food was really good.

Original Review: The fried green tomatoes were amazing. The tomatoes on the caprese appetizer were delicious. We stuck around to have those, but couldn’t deal with the kids. They have an indoor play area, with inattentive parents and no sound buffering. We had to quickly cancel our entree. I was so looking forward to the Chicken Fried Chicken. A loud kid’s play area just doesn’t work for such a small area. Pockets has a playground. I don’t go to Pockets because appreciate that they need their space, too. This would be a great little bar/restaurant that we need in town, but after too many 14 hour days in a row, we had to bounce across the street. Hoping they either remove the play area, or limit it to lunch. Would love to go back and try everything on the menu. Oh, and the Sweet Tea...

Sweet Tea Café – A Kind Welcome, But a Culinary Letdown

I always try to support local spots, especially those with a warm and welcoming atmosphere—and Sweet Tea Café absolutely delivers on hospitality. Our server was a true highlight of the experience: kind, attentive, and genuinely trying to make our visit enjoyable. She handled a complicated situation with grace and professionalism, which I deeply appreciated.

Unfortunately, the food itself was another story.

Our meal began with a rundown of items that were unavailable, which was a bit disappointing but understandable. We chose something from what remained, only to be told it, too, was not available—only to then be told moments later that it actually was. It was a bit confusing, but we rolled with it and appreciated the communication.

We ended up ordering the flatbread and grilled cheese. The flatbread arrived with almost no flavor—just a scant sprinkle of cheese and that was on only half the slices. Three pieces were entirely bare, and the marinara sauce tasted eerily similar to the kind you’d find in a kids’ pizza Lunchable. The grilled cheese was equally underwhelming, with so little cheese it was overshadowed by the tomato. It truly lacked the basics of what makes comfort food comforting.

I say this with no malice: this was, unfortunately, the worst food I’ve ever been served at a restaurant. The presentation, portioning, and flavors were simply not there. It felt like something went very wrong behind the scenes—perhaps a staffing or kitchen issue—but the food was not at all up to the standard one would expect.

I won’t be returning, and I wouldn’t recommend Sweet Tea Café until they address what seems to be a serious issue in the kitchen. That said, the front-of-house team deserves credit for their professionalism and kindness. I sincerely hope things turn around, because the people running the floor are doing a...

AVOID THIS PLACE. After reading several positive reviews, stopped on our way from visiting La Grange. We waited briefly to be seated (12PM on Sunday 11/10) and were shown to a table. It was an extremely small 2 top directly next to the women’s bathroom. Despite multiple larger tables clearing out shortly after, there was no offer to be moved to a less questionable location. After waiting for about 10 minutes an apologetic waitress asked for our drink order. We ordered a sweet tea and a draft beer and also placed our food order. On Sundays they are limited to breakfast or brunch and there are no drink prices on the menus. This is an important point. We ordered the BLT and the brunch burger. Again, we waited a bit longer than the norm for our drinks. The tea was overbrewed and not sweet enough to really be classified as sweet. The beer at first looked like a good pour but it sat on the bar for 10 minutes and was no longer cold when brought to the table. After several more minutes the waitress came to our table to tell us they had run out of bacon. With the exception of the French toast and chicken and waffles on their 2 page menu, literally every other offering incorporated bacon as the primary protein source. They wanted us to wait while they went out to buy more. I asked to close out our drinks, we had to wait for the manager to override the order system. I included the lowest suggested gratuity of 20% because, after all, none of this was the server’s fault. No manager or owner ever came to apologize. There was no offer to comp our 95% full glasses. We walked out after roughly 40 minutes having spent $9.77 for a couple of sips of mid tea, 1 drink of warm beer and really poor...