Urban Kitchen — Restaurant in Wilmington

I was so excited to see this new brunch restaurant open; but given the underlying racism and countless micro-aggressions I experienced during my first visit; I absolutely will not return. The waitress was visibly unhappy with my presence in her section as she couldn’t control her facial expressions making her displeasure with even my small requests obvious.

I ordered grilled tomatoes. I was then chastised for asking that they be grilled and told “that’s how they come” (cold sliced) when they arrived. I asked again, for the 3rd time; waitress finally rendering my request. When she returned she made sure to inform me that “this was a 1x courtesy and that they will not do it again ‘next time’ because they don’t have enough staff in the kitchen and it takes too long to grill the tomatoes” I assure you there will be no next time. She was very sharp and snarky. Ma’am I just wanted my breakfast cooked to order…after all- this is a restaurant last I checked.

My poached eggs were over cooked so my Eggs Benedict was dry. Runny eggs is kind of the point. Unfortunately that’s not what I received. I was too unnerved to even complain to the waitress because she was already being mean towards me. I did mention it to the man at the host stand as an FYI. I had to ask for a refill on my drink even though I watched her refill others drinks without them asking.

When it came time to pay she announced to me very loudly that their payment system is going to “request a tip” while pointing at the tipping option on the screen. Like seriously Miss… did you just explain to me how dining at a restaurant works? Did you just try to shame and gaslight me into tipping you after being a complete jerk towards me? Like wow. She had the audacity to be condescending towards me. I guess she doesn’t know that I know that TIPS is an acronym- T.o I.nsure P.roper S.ervice. I gave her the small tip she deserved.

Little did she realize I typically tip very well. If she had of been kind instead of allowing her implicit bias towards black and brown people to taint her quality of service and disposition; she would have gotten a better tip. I honestly believe she expected a poor tip; so she treated me poorly as a prerequisite. I’m sure she’ll continue to unconsciously self-sabotage; as an excuse to continue being racist, and as an excuse to continue treating black and brown people poorly simply because of their skin color.

FYI racism isn’t always overt. It’s as simple as being treated poorly at a restaurant for absolutely no reason at all. Cannot believe this is still...

Good evening Google Family. I visited for the first time after my incredible weights workout at the Edge Fitness Center in Pike Creek. I needed to kill time since I wished to purchase a few items from Buff City Soap but they didn't open till 11 am. and it was 9:30 am. I decided to eat breakfast and I wanted grits. I googled nearest breakfast places and then this spot came up. I decided to come here. I was seated quickly in a nice two seat booth. The hostess was nice and smiled. The server was named Caryl. She asked if I wanted a drink. I was checking out the menu. They had a drinks menu plus a regular menu. I wanted some pumpkin hot chocolate without the alcohol. They could't make it without the alcohol. So I just ordered the hot chocolate. It came with whipped cream, but I did not know that until I looked at the menu and saw the picture. I did not want the whipped cream, but I ate it anyway. The server did not ask me did I want the whipped cream, it should have been an option. I ordered shrimp and grits. They had it with cheese, onions and peppers, but I only wanted plain shrimp and grits without all the trimmings. They serve it on a skillet, which I thought was different. I ate it all, I was so hungry!!! Thank goodness, it was what I asked for, PLAIN!!! I started talking to a young man who was dining alone. His name was Jim and now we are following each other on Facebook. Its amazing the things that can happen when you open your mouth. Urban Kitchen is a bit noisy, not quiet and intimate that I like my restaurants. It has been there about five years, Jim told me. I had a good experience here. Not sure if I would return again though, on account of the noise, lol. This is not a good choice for a romantic dinner, thats for sure, lol. Have a good night, Family, workout, be healthy, fit and Fabulous!!! I paid cash for my order. It was $22.50. Wanted to add that they have two unisex restrooms....

I really wanted to like this place, but it just didn't work out that way. When we arrived the host told us to sit anywhere. We did, then waited over ten minutes for a waitress to ask if we needed menus.

Well yes, I can't order from a menu that I haven't seen and the place is brand new, so menus seem in order.

I think that was the last words out the waitress. No greeting, no my name is. .. I'll be serving you. No can I get you anything else Nada

For me, this is a big point deductable area... Friendly service is important.

I ordered the chicken soup and Mediterranean flatbread. My friend ordered a burger and onion rings.

The soup was good, the onion rings as well. The flatbread didn't work for me. It had a lemon poppy seed dressing on it, seemed like salad dressing, and it was way too much, too tart. It overpowered the taste of the dish and felt like I was just eating salad dressing! Concept of the dish is appealing, the execution however missed the mark.

My friends burger was ok, not anything special. It was served dry though and the waitress failed to ask if we needed any condiments and never came back in order for us to ask for condiments. Another service fail

We took home a peanut butter banana smoothie and chips with salsa and guacamole. This is where they lost me completely.

The smoothie was not balanced at all and tasted only of PB. Later in the evening we opened the chips and dips only to be disappointed once again.

The chips were just average grocery store bagged chips, but the kicker was the guacamole and salsa were in tiny little condiment containers each with about a teaspoon serving size! I'm not exaggerating! This was supposed to be an appetizer? My friend called to inquire if this was a mistake and was told, no that's the serving size.

Overall, its a no for me. Won't take my money there in the future....