So here's the thing: I've never been a morning person, EVER. For as long as I can remember, I have always been a night owl, along with the rest of my family. The old saying that goes "the early bird catches the worm," has never applied to me since I always tend to go to bed late and rise late, especially if I don't have anything to do the next day. As much as I love eating breakfast and brunch type foods, I usually never wake up in time to make it, because let's face it, weekends are meant for being lazy and staying in bed all day! When I do end up making plans to grab some brunch on the weekend, it's usually a pretty big deal to get me out of bed early, drive into the city and eat a meal on my days off. So when I recently overheard some of my co-workers rave about the brunch at Home Grown the week before, in addition to many of my food blogger friends, I decided I finally had to check it out myself to see if it was really worth the hype. Having glanced through the online menu and checked out the southern breakfast fare, I pulled myself out of bed and made it here around noon on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Let's get started:
❀Exterior
❀Interior
❀Menu
❀The Comfy Chicken Biscuit ($10)
❀FOOD (1/5): After glancing through the menu, I decided to order their famous comfy chicken biscuit because who doesn't love a good chicken biscuit smothered in sausage gravy?! However, as I took my first bite, I was immediately disappointed in it for a number of reasons. The biscuit was cold, the fried chicken was mostly breading and the sausage gravy was way TOO salty! I mean, I could almost feel my blood pressure skyrocketing because it tasted as if an entire container of salt was dumped onto my plate. Don't get me wrong though, the gravy was tasty and had all the right seasonings, but it could've definitely used 1/10th of the salt that was already in there. Personally, this dish certainly didn't warrant the $10 price tag.
❀SERVICE (0/5): From the moment I entered the restaurant up until the moment I left, service was beyond horrendous. I stood around waiting for quite some time to be seated until I finally took an open seat at the counter. For nearly 15-20 minutes, every single customer on both sides of me were being taken care of by the staff in terms of getting their orders placed and drinks served, except for me. I had been sitting there for a while trying to get some of the server's attention and no one paid any attention to me, especially when they clearly made eye contact with me. At that point, I was ready to stand up and leave and just as I was about to stand up, a female server came up to me and asked what I wanted to drink. So instead of being rude, I calmly replied with my drink order and hoped that the afternoon would get better. Unfortunately, it didn't. Customers who ordered the same exact item that I did, much later than I did, received their items about 15 minutes earlier than I did, no one ever came around to check up on me, offer refills or brought the check to me until I had to physically get the attention of another server. That was the last straw. I left completely and utterly irritated, not to mention with an overall bad taste in my mouth.
❀DECOR (3.5/5): I can't recall much of the decor here since I was mainly focused on getting in and out as soon as possible from what you've read above, but I do recall Home Grown being in a white building with forest green awnings. The inside has more of a country log house type of vibe to it with its wooden interior and antique-style set up and color scheme. By the entrance, there's counter style seating, in addition to several booths on the outskirts. And then to the left of the restaurant, there's another dining area with more tables and chairs. The restaurant itself isn't very spacious, so there are crowds of people just standing around in the entrance area and parking lot waiting for tables to open up. From the outside looking in, it certainly has a comforting grandmother's house feel to it, which adds to its charm.
Overall, I'm really disappointed in my experience at Home Grown and will probably not be returning any time soon in the near future. While I understand that it's an Atlanta staple and is wildly popular, I refuse to buy into the hype just yet because of how upsetting both the food and service was on this particular visit. I may make another trip later on down the road, especially during lunch time, but I will say that Atlanta has plenty of other restaurants worth dining at for brunch. Here's to hoping that my next visit is 100% better than this one.
-Sandy
FTC: I was not paid or compensated for this review. All reviews and opinions expressed are my own.
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