text: I went for lunch on Thursday afternoon and the place was packed! Great sign, usually, so my giddiness continued as I waited for my friend and hungrily watched other patrons place their orders and receive their lunches. The place is cute, clean, and comfortable. There were two large parties (one leaving, one ordering) when I came in. All in all a good vibe, good music in the background that still allowed for conversation, and smiles abound. I was excited!\n\nIt pretty much ended there. I really, really, really wanted to like this place. I would have preferred to have loved this place, but I would have settled for an \"I love you, but not in THAT way\" sort of conversation here. \n\nAlas, I am not sure I want a second date.\n\nFirst: The service was VERY slow. Yes, it's a small place. And mostly it was service with a smile. But it was slow. We all but flagged the waiter down to order our drinks. And then again to order lunch. He kept pointing out how slammed they were. I could see it, I sort of get it, but then there should be more help on the floor. He was genuinely kind and happy to help us, but it doesn't make up for the fact that once both of us were seated, it took 15 minutes-plus to finally let them know what we wanted to eat. Add to that the wait for the food itself? My hour lunch was approaching an hour and I hadn't had anything to eat yet.\n\nNever got a drink refill. Had to ask for silverware. Getting the to-go boxes (I took those greens to go!) and the checks was OK, but then had to wait for the payments to be processed while watching the waiter do other things.\n\nOK, OK, there were SOME good points.\n\nHere we go... food. I decided to try the liver and onions. You get to choose three (huge portions here!) sides. I went with mac and cheese, collard greens, and fried cabbage. (Oy, I did not come here expecting to adhere to any diet, that's for sure!)\n\nThe large portion of liver was cooked perfectly but the cut was off. Too much connective tissue running through it. I'd rather smaller pieces cut away from the parts you can't chew/eat. It had a hint of a breading/coating on it that was not bad, not over the top. But I had a small bit where it was all flour. No bueno.\n\nThe collard greens were the best ever. Seriously. Eat them. (Insert \"Eat All The Greens! meme here.)\n\nThe mac was good, definitely homemade. I only tasted it because pasta is not my friend, but the flavors and composition were really decent. Not amazing, but decent.\n\nThe cabbage was, against all odds, really great. Too oily/buttery for MY tastes, but still managing not to be wilted and brown; it was bright, a tad crisp. Surprisingly good but slightly over on the grease scale for MY tastes (trying to be fair... it is, after all, \"fried cabbage!\").\n\nS's massive portion of meatloaf with rice with gravy were good, she said, though the yams were a tad on the raw side. She also had the mac and agreed: good, yes, tasty, but nothing to write home about. (To go box for the food here, too, so that says a little something.)\n\nAnother thing I didn't love? The photos on the menu didn't seem to totally match the food. Not just like, \"hey, mine doesn't look like that,\" but in a \"they don't even offer that on their menu!\" sort of way. I felt cheated that I couldn't order cole slaw or green beans, even though they were so prominently displayed.\n\nHuge portions of mostly OK-ish food. Smiley but slooooow service. Prices are fine based on portions, but when it's just OK? *sigh* \n\nJust not excited about a return trip.