A $45 cornbread waffle loaded with chicken, collard greens, yams, and macaroni and cheese sets an unusually high bar before the first bite is taken. Flying to Charlotte specifically to test that price gives the review a simple, effective premise: sample enough of the restaurant’s menu to determine whether the celebrity connection and premium pricing are backed by memorable food. The unexpected restrictions on filming, takeout-only service during patio renovations, and chance encounter with DaBaby add plenty of incident without completely overwhelming that central mission.
The signature soul-food waffle produces a decidedly mixed verdict. The chicken is described as juicy but lightly seasoned, the collards land somewhere in the middle, and the macaroni and cheese receives by far the harshest criticism for lacking flavor. The yams fare better, particularly with the pecan or praline-style topping, while the cornbread waffle emerges as the standout component thanks to its sweetness and recognizable cornbread character. Interestingly, combining everything improves the experience, suggesting the dish works better as a composed plate than as a collection of individually exceptional elements.
Price becomes an even larger problem elsewhere. The $25 strawberry shortcake waffle arrives without the chicken the reviewer expected and is judged closer to a $12–$14 experience, despite praise for its strawberry sauce. A $25 crab fried rice draws an immediate negative reaction based on its appearance and portion of visible crab. With roughly $182 spent including tip, the broad sampling gives the criticism more credibility than it would have had if the entire judgment rested on a single expensive menu item.
The surprise winner is a batch of G Spot wings recommended during the visit. Their combination of flavors is enthusiastically compared to a meeting of buffalo and sweet chili, and they are quickly declared the best thing eaten during the outing. The yams and cornbread waffle also earn repeated approval from others tasting the food, which gives the review a useful collaborative element. Those additional reactions generally reinforce rather than contradict the main assessment: there are genuinely enjoyable ideas here, but the execution is inconsistent relative to the prices.
The restaurant experience itself creates some of the most entertaining and uncomfortable material. Staff initially make the filming rules very clear, and the reviewer appropriately acknowledges that an establishment has the right to prohibit cameras or interviews. His account that someone outside threatened consequences if he recorded, however, becomes an escalating running conflict, and the later joking about fighting stretches the bit longer than necessary. Because viewers only receive the encounter through the creator’s perspective, the exact nature of the exchange cannot be independently established from what is presented.
Meeting DaBaby unexpectedly on the way out provides the trip with a natural payoff, particularly after the tense arrival. The brief interaction is friendly, and the creator does not allow meeting the celebrity owner to soften his food criticism afterward. That independence is important: he compliments the customer service, acknowledges the pressures of a newly opened and heavily visited restaurant, praises dishes he likes, and still argues that premium prices require considerably more consistent seasoning and execution. The result is an energetic restaurant review that sometimes gets distracted by its surrounding drama but ultimately delivers a clear and reasonably nuanced account of what the money bought.
Pros
- Sampling several menu items makes the value judgment broader than a one-dish reaction.
- Specific observations about the chicken, collards, yams, macaroni and cheese, cornbread waffle, strawberry waffle, and wings give the food criticism useful detail.
- Strong dishes and weak dishes are treated separately rather than forcing the entire restaurant into a uniformly positive or negative verdict.
- The unexpected DaBaby encounter adds a memorable payoff without changing the reviewer’s subsequent criticism.
- The reviewer acknowledges the restaurant’s right to restrict filming and gives credit for friendly customer service despite the earlier conflict.
Cons
- The security dispute and later fighting jokes consume attention that could have remained focused on the restaurant and food.
- Some price criticism is based heavily on appearance, expectations, and first impressions rather than detailed evaluation of every ordered item.
- The catfish and grits receive comparatively little substantive assessment despite being part of the broader menu sampling.
- The takeout-only circumstances mean the visit cannot meaningfully evaluate the restaurant’s normal dine-in experience.
- Several reactions become repetitive, particularly around the need for stronger flavor and the high menu prices.
The trip succeeds because the creator treats an expensive celebrity restaurant as something that still has to earn its prices plate by plate, while remaining willing to praise the dishes that deliver. Uneven menu coverage and unnecessary security drama weaken the restaurant-review side somewhat, but the extensive sampling, specific tasting reactions, and unexpectedly friendly celebrity encounter make the journey entertaining as well as informative.
