Katch Kitchen & Cocktails — Restaurant in Tucker

For context, it was Mother's Day at peak hours (3:30pm). I was prepared for some amount of chaos. Waiting: Initially, I presumed that the reservation app was not being utilized because there was so many people waiting in the foyer. Nathan and another gentlemen came around and frequently checked to ensure everyone's comfort. Hosts were working diligently to sort out the people waiting to be seated. The Bar: I went to the round-ish bar to grab a drink for my mother while we waited for our reservation. For perspective, sometimes it can be difficult to get bartenders' attention. Often times it's because bartenders are deliberately ignoring some guests and or not deliberately NOT looking for guests seeking service. This happens at many luxury dining spots, where there's handpicking of guests. I did not have that experience at Katch. The bartender here was very kind and aware of guests showing up to her workspace. She went to the back to get a diet coke because it's not a fountain drink at the bar, apparently. She would not charge me despite my insistence. I did later order a henny margarita and it was promptly delivered. Seating: My mother mentioned that she liked the seats we were given, without me asking. A lot of people might like to be in the center for the entertainment or people watching. There's a sense of privacy that comes with sitting in the cut, all the way in the back. The center is bright. If you like privacy and intimacy, sitting on the periphery might be a better choice. Servers/Staff: Adyam was a very pleasant server. She checked on us frequently enough. Our order was accurate the first time. Servers seemed to be frequently present throughout the building and engaged with guests, not absent or off in a corner engulfed in phones. A young gentleman came to bus my plate but very appropriately paused for my approval. Subtlety matters, because I've been under-bussed and over-bussed (i.e. food taken when I was not finished). I appreciated his approach. Food: There was a significant wait of about an hour. That was expected given the demand of Mother's Day. Somehow, our food still came out hot and fresh and well seasoned. We really had no complaints. I had Blackened Salmon and Seafood Rice, less the Tilapia. About 15 minutes after my order was placed, I asked for the salmon to be cooked well done. It was cooked perfectly with a nice crisp over the top. I order my salmon well done all over Atlanta and Gwinnett. I eat salmon 4 to 5 times a week, out or at home. This meal would be in my top 3 favorite. Mom had Lobster Tails with broccoli and a baked potato. She also had Lumped Crab for appetizer. She was well satisfied. I even caught a glimpse of someone's pancake order beside me. Their pancakes looked amazing. I will have to come back for them soon. Ambiance: The music was at the right level. The selections were appropriate for the occasion and time of day. The music level and selections appropriately picked up as the night progressed. The music was light background selections and picked up from slow RnB to 2-step stuff and a little more party-type as it got closer to 6pm. The volume went up a little more too but was still appropriate, in my opinion. There were many mother's there with kids and grandkids, but the music was all clean. Kudos to the DJ on set. I heard the DJ working in a bit of scratching. Again, it wasn't over the top. Good work, DJ. The men's bathroom was in good shape too.

Overall, I see people watching and working to make the guests experience meet expectations. I have to say, I had a very good experience from...

We made a reservation for my brothers birthday on January 18th at 9:30 pm. We got inside at 9:35 because of the lack of parking in the lot that they have. We had to park at the hotel across the street. We speak to the woman at the podium named Licia and she tells us it’s going to be a 30-45 minute wait for a table we already had reserved at 9:30. 10 o clock comes by and our table is STILL not ready. We ask the woman again about the table and she said another 15-20 minutes. We wait and then our table is still not ready. At this point we let the woman know that we have been waiting for over an hour. We understand we could have already left but it was a Saturday night and we wanted to give them a chance and it was for my brother’s birthday.

We visibly see a table that has been open for over 10 minutes for a party to be seated and she tells us it’s not our table it’s another parties table. We then ask her why is that party not seated and she says because their party is not all here. At that moment someone has to make an executive decision because if u have a party of 9 people here for over an hour , waiting and there’s a table open you’d sit them down right ? No , instead she gives us an attitude, rolls her eyes, raises her hands and talks to my cousin and i like we’re children.

Then she tells us we don’t work there so we wouldn’t know how their restaurant works. We inform her that clearly something is wrong with how the restaurant is being ran because there should be no reason 8 other parties of people are waiting for as long as we are. There is a 2 hour seating limit on their website , which means they are not enforcing the time limit rule for reservations to be on time.

Then Licia threatened to kick us out because we tell her that her attitude and customer service is distasteful as we are just a frustrated group of people who have literally been waiting an hour and a half , she did not care and continued to roll her eyes and be passive aggressive. We finally sat down at 11 pm because they wanted us to stop complaining but they gave us a small table that only fit 5 people and had to bring us chairs to fit 9 of us.

The server we had was very nice, she took our order and was respectful. She brought us waters in glass cups and about 10 minutes later , my sister picked up her cup and it broke in her hand allowing the water to spill everywhere. The server came cleaned it up and left. My cousin ordered a small side ceaser salad as her appetizer when everyone else ordered a full meal. The food didn’t get to us til 12 am. So we had to wait about 45 minutes for it to come out. Mind you still no side salad and it’s 12:20 now. The server comes to have everyone pay their bill and we asked for the salad to be compensated because of it taking so long. They refunded $1.44….. the salad itself was $14.40. After the terrible service already from the beginning , waiting long for food , $1.44 was the only thing they could do.

We spoke to the “manager” and she wasn’t much help either , she made it seem like she didn’t know she not discounted only 10% and she told us to come back and she’ll give a free meal. We didn’t want the free meal and we definitely won’t be going back , we just wanted the salad taken off because it didn’t come out til it was time to pay. She then stated that it’s her brothers restaurant and she’ll be out of town the following day so we’ll have to speak to someone else. Although the food and drinks were good , i rate everything a 2/10. We would never try this...

I honestly don’t know where to start, but the only thing I enjoyed about this place was the nice group photo we managed to take while waiting—waiting for a total of one hour and 30 minutes despite having a reservation for 8 PM that was made weeks in advance.

Now, I understand that restaurants get busy, especially on a Saturday night. That’s exactly why I booked a reservation ahead of time—to ensure a smooth dining experience. However, from the moment we arrived, it was clear that organization and customer service were lacking.

When we checked in, the restaurant was packed, which again, I expected. What I didn’t expect was for a reservation to mean absolutely nothing. Our full party of ten arrived on time, which I was honestly impressed by—hooray for my friends for being punctual! But apparently, that didn’t matter, because Catch Kitchen’s staff did nothing but make us wait, wait, and wait some more, sprinkling in apologies along the way that felt more like routine excuses rather than genuine concern.

At some point, I had the opportunity to speak with the owner, who was casually strolling around, seemingly more focused on looking cool than actually managing his overcrowded restaurant. He apologized, yet again, acknowledging that they were busy but offering no real solution. He assured us he was going to find us a table—then disappeared and never followed up.

After some time, I approached a manager and politely asked if she could follow up with him. She agreed, walked over to where he was still leaning against the wall, trying to look important, and I watched in disbelief as he refused to move or acknowledge the situation. When she returned, she let us know that he wasn’t coming back over to address us. That, for me, was the final straw.

This level of service failure needs to be acknowledged just as much as businesses accept praise when things go right. A reservation is meant to secure a table—not to have guests waiting an hour and a half without prompt communication, without an update, and without any effort to make things right. Sorry is not how you make things right there needs to be an action that follows. The lack of professionalism and accountability was truly disappointing.

I wanted to give this restaurant a fair chance, despite seeing some negative reviews beforehand that I had saw on social media . I thought, maybe my experience would be different. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. In fact, it was worse than I could have anticipated.

As for the food? I wouldn’t know. We never even got seated. And at this point, I wouldn’t recommend anyone else waste their time trying to find out.

Would I ever return? Absolutely not. Would I recommend this place to others? Not in a million years.

If Catch Kitchen wants to be taken seriously, they need to do better. Reservations should be honored, guests should be treated with respect, and management should take ownership instead of dodging responsibility. Until that happens, I’d suggest saving your time and money for a place that actually values its customers.

I honestly would love a resolution from our horrible experience with this establishment, but honestly, I’m not going to hold my breath seeing how the first time the owner act like we didn’t exist and never came back. I really love to support black businesses, but you guys got it wrong and I would hope that somehow you would try to make it right.

Dine at Katch Kitchen it you have time to waste waiting and want to be treated badly...