Long drive from Chicago to Matteson, but it was worth it. Packed restaurant on a Saturday afternoon and I understand why. The Louisiana in me approves for the most part. There were a few "Huh?" moments. The fried green tomatoes are the best that I've had at any restaurant I've had in Metro Chicago. They're not topped with lettuce and green onions. Nope, they're not gourmet, just blooming good. The shrimp and grits deserve an encore. The fried corn is more Mexicorn than proper Southern fried corn. The etouffee was a bit heavy handed on the Worcestershire sauce. It made the dish slightly vinegary. The fried lobster tail and waffle were what dreams are made of. It's not the usual chicken and waffle combination, just better. The desserts aren't made on the premises. The pound cake was course but the flavor was there. The banana pudding "was" gourmet: more like key lime pie with bananas and cookies. Not bad but you notice the hint of lemon in it. The strawberry cheesecake was a hit, for sure. Because of the hours and distance from where I work, weekday visits are not an option. Future weekend visits will be for breakfast and I'll get there as soon as the doors open because the place fills up fast. They'll get my dollars. read more

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I LOVE the look and atmosphere! It's very cozy and I got an old down south feeling while dining. The staff was nice and friendly. It was clean and the dining area is nice and intimate. I am looking forward to attending when they feature live entertainment. Although this was my first time dining here during lunchtime. I ordered the fried wings and fries. The wings were not cooked as hard as I prefer. They were understanding and I received a new batch. Even so, they still weren't good. However, before I count them out I will check out more items and make my decision as to if it's worth a 35-minute ride from my house. read more

Love the hidden gem that is Hidden Manna Cafe. I go for the Shrimp & Grits. All the other food looks good, but I never make it past the Shrimp & Grits. The sweet tea is great. Someone asked me do they sell it by the pitcher and I have no idea. Would be great if they do. read more

Late post-- Hubby and I always talked about coming here and last night, we finally stopped in. Our waiter's name is Jordan. My job deals with customer service satisfaction and Jordan is as excellent as customer service gets! Very pleasant demeanor, answered all of our questions, and always referred to my husband as "sir" and "my lady" to me. For starters, we ordered the spinach and artichoke dip. We have never had dip that tasted so light and fresh! He ordered the jambalaya with shrimp and chose to go with regular spice. He loved it, even though he said it was a bit spicy for him. The next time we go, he will opt for no spice. I had the New Orleans pasta with shrimp. I chose penne rather than linguine, and extra spicy. I loved it! It was just the right amount of flavor, plus spice. Next time, I just might add a little more spice. Our experience, and having Jordan serve us, was top notch. We will be back to try breakfast. When we go back for dinner, we will try something else as everything looked good on the menu! read more

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Saw this restaurant on Check please on 10.17.20. Ordered on line and drove from downtown Chicago 36 miles to get carry out to support locally owned business. Upon arrival we were told our order was not processed and it would be 30-45 min wait. My card was charged for the order and I received confirmation. Would never come back ! If they have no respect for their customers, I would never have respect for their business read more

Hidden Manna Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Matteson, Illinois

Well I returned to the Hidden Manner Cafe in Matteson, IL and once again my food was deliciously excellent. I had the catfish and grits the sauce that it came with made it so delicious. We had a server name Amber and she was great. This is a restaurant I will continue to patronize. read more

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This was my first time eating at Hidden Manna. I saw good reviews so I thought I would try it. I ordered the New Orleans Chicken Pasta. The presentation was nice. The pasta sauce itself was runny and it needed salt and pepper. Also the meat to pasta ratio was off. I had more meat than noodles. The dish tasted okay. If I go back I won't order the pasta. The chicken and waffles looked tasty so I may try that next time. read more

Hidden Manna Cafe - New Orleans Chicken Pasta - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Matteson, Illinois

I've only been once and the cube steak at the time was chopped up ground beef lacking even the slightest hint of salt and pepper at minimum. I haven't returned. read more

Terrible food no taste bland twice them twice very disappointing fire the cook chicken vook in corn mill we will never go there again you wanna go to excellent restaurants maple tree inn on Dixie way in Homewood very good food hidden manor not going to make it read more

Food was served piping hot and it was delicious! Service was a little bumpy, the waitress redeemed herself under the circumstance. Ambiance was great, as the people came to grub on some good home cooking in a homey, super clean atmosphere. read more

I ate at Hidden Manna last month. If it were up to me, I would never patronize this place after my horrible experience with them on Mother's Day 2020. I never received an apology, refund, phone call, or any acknowledgment that they ruined Mother's Day for my mom. My mom treated me to lunch last month. Upon walking into Hidden Manna, we were not greeted. There was an older silver-haired man behind the counter who I assume was in charge, but he didn't say hello or acknowledge us. The servers looked confused and walked by a few times before someone greeted us and took us to a table. Our server was a nice young lady. Our food was really good. Honestly, I don't see myself returning or recommending this restaurant to anyone. The atmosphere is cold and unfriendly. This is the most unwelcoming restaurant I have ever been to. There is no ambiance whatsoever. Here's what happened on Mother's Day during the pandemic: My mom has dined at Hidden Manna twice and she enjoyed both meals. She wanted Mother's Day dinner from Hidden Manna. I placed an order on Saturday evening for a Sunday pickup at 3 pm. I was waiting for a text at 3 pm for curbside pickup of my meal. I called at 3:15 pm because I had not received a text. The voicemail was full and no one answered the phone. I arrive at the restaurant at 3:30 pm and SURPRISE! My food wasn't ready. I was told it would be another 45 minutes to an hour. What was the point of ordering in advance? No one offered any explanation or apology for the delay. I got a call at 5:50 pm that my order was ready. They ran out of potato salad and only had one peach cobbler left for my order. I was given a slice of pound cake instead. I was very annoyed by this unprofessionalism and terrible customer service. Why were they not prepared to fill these orders? My annoyance only increased when I made it home. The food was terrible. My mom said her catfish wasn't seasoned well. My chicken was undercooked and the French fries were soggy. The pound cake was hard. This was my first & last time patronizing Hidden Manna. Thanks for ruining my mom's Mother's Day dinner. read more

Started brunch with a bottle of champagne an orange juice $25 wide variety of delicious food to choose from so we tried catfish,chicken wings,shrimp an grits,egss,potatoes an we split the dishes nice size portions all where hot an seasoned well most definitely recommend an service was great read more

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Great food and service. The owners are very nice and friendly people. I have enjoyed different entrees but the fish and grit cakes are !!!! read more

This is one of my favorite brunch spots in the Chicagoland. They are black-owned and specialize in cajun offerings. This is definitely the place to be when you want a creative meal that's hearty and going to stick to the ribs. I mean c'mon, you know you're somewhere special when there's a catfish wrap with fried green tomato on the menu! read more

Hidden Manna Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Matteson, Illinois

Pro tip: if it's a weekend, sign up for the waitlist online and then head to the restaurant. They can be very busy. I always get the fried catfish and grits which are delicious. It's a bit spicy but you can change the spice level of the items. The Carmel pound cake is good for desert. read more

Be sure to check your mussels. 7 of mine did not open so I had to send my plate back. When it came back they were open but little and scarce. I was disappointed to say the least. But they did taste good. read more

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We was celebrating a early Mother's Day dinner four sisters together dinning for the first. Very excited to try something new from the menu. Two of us ordered the 6. Wing dinner, over fried on the outside and under cooked on the inside. The fried green tomatoes beautiful on the outside and ice cold on the inside. Our waitress was very nice and apologized several times. The manager never came to our table to apologize but did agree to provide a 50% discount... I will never visit again. I hope you don't experience what we did .. read more

We love the food. We enjoy the warm and friendly atmosphere. Gracious hospitality. We held our first book-signing event there.

Where do I begin...came here bcuz a few ppl told me this place was good, and of course it was featured on Check Please. I really wanted to love this spot but everything went wrong...literally! The soup looked and tasted like mashed rice and milk with no flavor, yet they called it cream of chicken. The omelets do not automatically come with cheese, how is that possible? Even with the .75 up charge they didn't add cheese to either of the three orders. The eggs were all fried over hard, with NO seasoning whatsoever. The once frozen white hash browns appear to have been boiled with water only & you guessed it no seasoning. Is salt an epidemic here??? The giant pancakes tasted like hot water cornbread, the fried corn was boiled or fresh out of a can, the pecan pancakes only had a handful of sprinkles on top, no sauce came with the seafood omelet, the mashed potatoes tasted like powder, the short rib (not sure what that was) was hard, rubbery and a lot like meatloaf (oof)- Stop Playing; and last but not least, the 'free' cup of coffee when you check-in on Yelp was great. I hate this experience happened this way, all of our food was comped as we didn't eat any of it, was too scared to have them recook it. However, the owner was very apologetic, understanding and our extremely awesome waiter Jordan deserves many accolades. Strongly doubt we'll be back. Duces!!! read more

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It really saddens me to have to make this post. I like to support local businesses especially when they're black owned. I came in as a party of one to have a meal for my birthday I put myself on their waitlist. I came to the restaurant there was hardly anyone in the restaurant yet they still would not seat me for one even at their bar. There were two parties of two before me that were not even there yet. I asked to speak to the owner, she would not come out stated that I would have to wait and they could not give me a wait time. That behavior just lost my business for good. The least they could do is let me sit at the bar and have a coffee or a glass of wine. It blows my mind the poor service that comes even when you try to support small business! my recommendation is to not waste your time, but if you do, beware there has always been poor service here and today was the worst. read more

Excellent food! Full of flavor. Some dishes I don't care for but overall good eats! I've been going here for years.

I wanted to like this restaurant since my brother and sister-in-law highly recommended it, but I was woefully disappointed. The website did not accurately list the time of the live music performance, and we were too early to experience it. We tried calling a couple of times to confirm the time, but no one ever answered. Once there and seated, our server, KeOndra was inattentive, unpleasant and unhelpful. When asked about their sweet tea, she told me that it was being prepared. I asked her to let me know when it was finished so that I could tell her if I still wanted to order it (I didn't want to order when we were almost done with our meal). She did not return to tell me it was done. Instead I had to ask her this, and she dryly said yes it's done, do you still want it? Um, no... By the way, we sat for an entire hour before our food came out so that glass of sweet tea should have definitely been offered on the house! Speaking of the food - we had two orders of I believe the New Orleans shrimp pasta, and my sister had the shrimp and grits. All of these items lacked salt, and my sister's grits were not creamy. During the meal, my brother asked for a refill of iced tea. We asked KeOndra about the refill twice. Each time she stated she was waiting for the bar to provide the tea. After about 30 minutes, she brought the tea, and by this point the ice had melted, so it was no longer "iced" tea. She never apologized, but when she brought the check, she told us that she had provided us a discount on our checks - it was a 10% concession. KeOndra needs serious training in serving customers, with a smile, or she really should not be employed. During the ordeal, I asked my family, did she come over to try less at her job? In all of my years of dining, I cannot think of a more horrible serving experience. read more

WOW - OUR FOOD WAS OUTSTANDING!!!!! My wife ordered the lobster and waffle which featured a fried lobster tail with a garlic butter dip and succulent waffle with hot maple syrup - incredible. I had the fried pork chop, eggs, and pancakes, which was REALLY GOOD! Truthfully, I had a difficult time eating as I watched servers present dishes to tables all around me, causing me to fantasize and desire other plates. . My waitress recommended the fish or shrimp and grits and I witnessed the scraped plates of those around me wise enough to take the recommendation, and the presentation was !!!!! Finally, my wife ordered the sweet potato cheese cake - MY LAWD, I had NEVER experienced such a delightful treat!!!!! (Picture attached) I will CERTAINLY come back! Don't sweat the wait, it will be well worth it! Happy to see food alternatives to the norm, and look forward to enjoy other menu items. I'm so glad my wife dragged me in, since I hesitated due to the unflattering reviews. Hear me now, IGNORE the negatives and get yourself in. The food is EXCEPTIONAL, and the service is to match!! read more

Hidden Manna Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Matteson, Illinois

One day at work I mentioned that I've never had fried green tomatoes and always wanted to try them. My coworker told me I needed to go to Hidden Manna to get true authentic southern fried green tomatoes. She was right - they were great and came with a yummy spicy sauce on the side. For our main courses, my husband chose fried fish and grits, I chose shrimp and grits, and my daughter chose Cajun macaroni and cheese with shrimp. We were able to choose our spice level with each dish which was nice, since my daughter likes mild, I prefer medium, and my husband is a "set me on fire please". person. We all loved our meals (and each other's) and the portions were so generous that we all brought half of our food home. We also wanted to save room for dessert! Our server recommended the key lime cheesecake, so my daughter and I shared that (and again, brought half of it home) and my husband had a giant piece of caramel pound cake that he will be eating for at least the next three days. The homemade sweet tea and lemonade are both perfect compliments to the food, especially on a hot summer day like the day we went. The restaurant itself is in a converted mansion that has a very homey feel. The staff is friendly and welcoming, and the other customers that were there were also super fun to talk to. Eating at Hidden Manna is like eating at a longtime friend's home with delicious food made with lots of love. We will be regulars there, without a doubt. read more

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I been to this restaurant on several occasions. If you want a perfectly fried catfish fillet, this is where you need to go. The waitresses are very nice. The environment is that of what I like. Very jazz like neo soul vibe. It's like an establishment you would find in Bronzeville or Hyde Park but it's in the south suburbs so that's mean outside it's nice and calm and there's parking. I've also had several breakfast items. There's nothing bad about this place. They are as legit as they come. Def worth a try if you're a brunch person or you just even joy a quality meal. read more

We came here right before they closed, and was amazed at their friendly customer service. Most places when you show up before they close, they rush things, they have attitude, not here. Extremely professional. They took their time to make sure we were well taken care of. My wife ordered the New Orleans pasta which was amazing, and I ordered their jambalaya. She said it had a kick to it when I ordered it and asked if that was ok. I said absolutely. When I received my entree, I could not taste one bit of spiciness. About a couple bites in, our waitress came back and asked if it was too spicy, when I then replied not enough. She offered to bring in more seasoning. Once I added more of their Cajun seasoning, it was all she wrote. Perfect kick in every bite. It was a little bit on the pricey side, but worth it. I wouldn't definitely return because of their friend service and great food. read more

Hidden Manna Cafe - Jambalaya - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Matteson, Illinois

Service was pleasant. The food was only "OK". I love the character of the restaurant but as an foodie and amateur chef the food (I had breakfast) was good enough to return but not good enough to praise. I may be too harsh as it was my first time going but I'll try it again before deciding weather or not to include it in my local restaurant rotation. read more

They should rename this place hidden gem - the food is hands down delicious! Try the catfish and grits with medium heat, trust me you won't regret it. This food will make you want to keep eating when you're full. They know what they're doing !! read more

Amazing place! Always come here for brunch. Our waitress said they had a $200 takeout order come in so everything is going to be longer than expected when she brought out our fried green tomatoes. But, the food was still delicious and highly recommend!! read more

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Close in the neighborhood. Seating area reminds you of a living room. Clean cups and utensils. Friendly faces. Over average food. Shrimp and grits was a lot of food, personally would have liked more grits because it was a little soupy at the end. The pancakes are delicious! Tastes straight like homemade pancakes just add some butter and syrup. The carnivore omelet was good, tasty fluffy eggs and we added some of the creamy sauce from the shrimp and grits because it was dry. Never got our salmon croquettes we ordered but was ok. The reason for 3 stars instead of 4 is because of the extremely long wait. 20 minutes to just be seen by a server, 45 minutes for the food, and extra time after we ate to receive and pay for the bill. Like I said smiling staff but the wait is too long, may not be a regular for me but if a friend asks I'll come ‍. Hopefully they'll hire more servers. read more

Hidden Manna Cafe - Leftovers - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Matteson, Illinois

Hidden Manna, I heard was 5 stars, from the TV Chicago On the Block portrayed them, It was also you would be overwhelmed. I was not. The general dinner I got was the Spicy Chicken pasta. It was hot and made my nose run but was lacking in taste. I needed to add a little salt and cheese. Also, the pasta had 2 clumps of partially cooked stuck together. From what I heard, I expected more, for the price. About $20 and all it came with was half a piece of buttered toasted break. Very little if any garlic on the bread, and no small dinner salad. As for the portions, in Some of the chains, like Red Lobster, or Olive Garden, for about $15-$20 you get enough pasta for 1 person, with a little extra. Kismet might need to add a little more garlic, but their portions are twice as much and $8 cheaper. \ read more

Food was OK. The wheat toast was hard as a rock. Salmon Pattie's were fair. One thing annoyed me with this restaurant was when we finished eating they never took the plates off the tables. Yesterday was my aunt 90 th birthday and we had a surprise party for her. My uncle drove in from DC so I treated everyone to breakfast. The waitress was very nice. I have eaten this place before but this visit was not good as the-last time. Prices was reasonable and the coffee was excellent. read more

I am disappointed as this was my first time coming to this restaurant but will say the fish I order was delicious and the rice was cooked to perfection. I am disappointed from the green that presented with more stems than greens. I'm not sure if these green were the bagged glory greens form the store of if someone actually cut them this way but this is not something I would present to any customer. Additional one of the services states " states sorry for the hot sauce without the top we lost the top a day or two ago and have no idea where it went" which should have been a sign not to bring the hot sauce to the table. Is iths sanitary to have had an item sitting for a time with out coverage?The severs very nice and did ask if there were any other sides I wanted but the sides they had was not what I wanted. I asked if we could have Mac n cheese but they only offer this as a meal. As some one who is involved with customer satisfaction, if your customer is disappointed give them a discount or offer a free desert or something if you are unable to replaced an item. This is the first review I have every wrote and I hate having to write this but I believe customer satisfaction should be a priority to keep customers coming in I believe they should work on more robust customers service practices. read more

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The food was very flavorful. The fish had a good taste and the grit cakes were different but good. The fried lobster was good but not enough. The Waffles we good as well. I didn't care for the Sangria, I've had better. Overall a good place to eat and enjoy good food. read more

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I had my 2nd experience with the cream of chicken soup. You can taste the richness and freshness of the real cream. It was a beautiful song on my tongue. My mom and I split a fish sample plate. There was a large fillet of catfish: seasoned and cooked to perfection; 2 very thin and fairly small fillets of perch: tasty but not sufficient; and 2 filets of bluegill: I did not like the taste, but the texture was that of a white fish. The Tatar sauce was thick and delicious with a nice mixture of seasoning. The sautéed spinach was also good. The sweet tea was okay. Our table service was nice. There was a lot of busyness that was going on that produced nothing much, with some of the other service staff. We will be back! read more

Me and my girlfriends have been wanting to come here for brunch. on Saturday We finally got our schedules together. We ordered mimosas and appetizers to start. The appetizers were okay. Two of us order shrimp and grits , one had jambalaya and the other étouffée. We chose spicy and we got bland and hot, not spicy. None of our meals were seasoned properly. Salt and pepper could not help it and I am not big on salt. Shrimps were few and small. The dishes lacked any seasoning whatsoever. The taste was as though they just used cayenne only. We were disappointed and will not be back. read more

This place was amazing! I loved everything! We had a group of 5. We all tried all of each other's food. We had the Craw fish Etouftee- this is amazing the tase was so good. Cajun MAC N Cheese- this is literally one of if my the best Mack and cheese that I have had. Meatloaf- great taste just simply great. Blue gill- this was one of the best batches of bluegill I have had. (I grew up in a lake so that's saying a lot.) Look forward to eating here again. read more

Hidden Manna Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Matteson, Illinois

This place "always" delivers a great culinary experience. Warm and friendly service, food with attention to detail makes this the place to eat in the south south suburbs. My new favorite is the catfish and grit cake. Yum!!! Fried green tomatoes were crisp on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. The dipping sauce is spicy- be careful. Wifey had an egg white seafood omelette. Yes, they use "real" crabmeat in their seafood omelet. If u are looking for a non- chain food experience be sure to put this place on your list. read more

Hidden Manna Cafe - Egg white seafood omelette Sweet potato w/ peppers & onions - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Matteson, Illinois

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I have been trying to go here for a while, I always see them. So my co-worker was leaving for good it was going to be a goodbye lunch and I suggested for us to go here. The first waitress nice and said 15 min so we were like ok we can wait. But then we had another waitress with an attitude saying it's gonna be 1hr and ROLLED her eyes was so rude. We were a party of 7 would of been nice to try this place. But no interested on going back. Rude workers! read more

Wow the food here is beyond delicious! We had a large order that I called ahead to pickup. We had a small group of couples getting together and we wanted to support black owned businesses. Everyone enjoyed every piece of their food. The only reason I did not give 5 starts was because of the wait. I called ahead because it was a large order and we needed carryout. The order wasn't ready at the designated pickup time. I think something was missing but it was correct when we got it home. Our guests ended up being late so it worked out but if they had been on time we would have had them waiting for an hour :( I'm so mad I forgot to tKe a photo. We were so hungry and the food was sooo good lol. Definitely gonna be back for more! read more