The Personal Chef, Customized Catering & Design

I visited the personal chef several times.
The food is good, but the taxes and a dollar for a can soda is a bit too much. I always get the combo with the chicken shrimp and fish, the corn bread is delicious. Sometimes either the wings are tiny or the fish is tiny but after eating everything im normally full so it balances out.
The place is nice and perfect for small events and the price is nice as well. I should have known it was going to be some problems when the first day I went to look at the venue she said they opened at 12, i got there at 1230 she didn’t come until after 1. bad business right there but because I liked the space I still wanted the party there. (so I guess I have to blame myself) The owner has a VERY nasty attitude and is very unprofessional. I have heard how she talk to people and also witnessed her attitude myself. A week prior to my event I went there to ask questions about different things and if the lights could be dimmed her reply was «why do you want it dark are you having STRIPPERS and being sneaky «HOW INSULTING! Umm excuse me maybe you wanted to sneak a peek at a stripper from behind the curtain but no I wanted a upscale adult event with lights in the balloons to create a more adult ambience. Just because I look young, don’t judge a book by its cover. I am not a young black who was going to have weed smokers and corner boys at my event.
She was very rude to my guest and made them feel uncomfortable as they were leaving. The kicker is she didn’t even speak to me. let me guess she didn’t see me… it was a all black party and i’m the only one that had on silver, maybe she didn’t have her glasses on or it was past her bedtime.
Note of advice when leaving a venue instead of having a stank face, try giving out flyers or business cards to make people want to come back to your restaurant. A customer service class may help you as well. In the end you just lost a lot of potential customers because of your nasty attitude. I could go on and on but at the end of the day all that matters is that I enjoyed my party. So good luck if you go here!

This food business is in my neighborhood and I walk by it all the time. I’m an Artist and Photographer with an MFA degree. I take photos wherever I go and know the laws about public photography. I’m on the sidewalk taking a picture of a paper holiday decoration in their store window (which actually has curtains behind it) and this rude, paranoid woman with a nasty attitude comes out and starts policing me about my behavior. Wow!

awesome lunch specials for $ 5. Personable and attentive staff. great wings

The Personal Chef; Mt Airy/​Germantown
Upon entering the restaurant I was immediately turned off by pushing my way through curtain panels to get into the dining room. I have never experienced this practice before in any business and my first thoughts were about a transfer of germs from prior and present customers — touching and pulling on these very same curtain panels to get into the dining area.
Feeling a bit uneasy — after being seated to wait for my called in order I wondered… what would OSHA say about this unsightly practice of subjecting customers to place their hands on pieces of material that every person entering and leaving the establishment had touched. What about the probabilities of bacteria and germs being transferred from one person to the next. Geez! Now that I got that out of the way…
The Food: I had the Lunch Special that consist of (4) Wings: Fries and a Soda — total with tax $ 5.40. The frozen wings were not exactly fresh, they were heavily battered, cooked very hard to the point of being extremely dry, heavy on the salt and tasted as though they had been fried in fish oil. The frozen crinkle fries were literally dripping (emphasis added) with grease. They looked and tasted like they had been refried for a second time. There was no corn bread in this order. The «Lunch Special» was a shocking and repulsive disappointment that was un-​eatable, and a total waste of my money. I trashed the food contents, and stored the soda.
Did I call the establishment to complain — No I did not. The reason being: It is my belief that the written word is more memorable and creditable than a 3 to 5 minute telephone call — that will eventually be forgotten or totally disregarded. Will I visit Personal Chef Restaurant in Mt. Airy /​Germantown again … Absolutely Not!

My daughter took me for the Mother’s Day Special. The food was great after a very stressfull seating even with reservations. They wanted to seat us on the takeout side that wasn’t air conditioned and had the front door open. The hostess was not accomodaing at all. The wait staff were very pleasant but it was obvious they were not trained and only brought in to handle the overcrowed space for Mother’s Day. Room was so packed you could’t get up one seated. And very noisy! Our food took forever to arrive and then it was not all at the same time. When it came it was very good. Our waitress made gross errors (to their loss) on our bill. I don’t think they are prepared to handle large groups. Will only go back to get take-​out!

After seeing all the beautiful pictures for the Personal Chef on Germantown Ave. I went there and ordered lots of food for take out. The greens were tastless, the fried chicken was so hard and crunchy my guess and I could hardley eat it. The shrimp was not good crunchy as well, but what had me so angry was that they put my fried fish and greens and scallps which i threw away they were so rubbery. The fish soaked in the juice of the collard greens and everything was wet included the nasty sweet potatoes which was mixed with collard green juice. I paid a lot of money for all the platters that I brought and none of the food was good. The cheesecake was not that bad but the slices was so thin I think the person who cut them, accidently called their hand. The WORST SEAFOOD I EVER TASTE. OH AND THE macaroni was tasteless and horrible as well. Save your money this place is overrated and pricey.

$ 5 lunch specials! Love the fish or grilled shrimp wrap. Don’t miss the moist corn bread.
I will be back to try the wings and pie.

I visited this restaurant once & I asked if I could Sample there Mac&Cheese and they brought me one single elbow noodle on a fork & said SORRY WE DONT GIVE OUT SAMPLES RUDELY… I kindly gave them back there one noodle sample like IM REALLY SUPPOSED 2 c how something taste with ONE NOODLE! I was very Disappointed with the owner for that one! If IM A NEW CUSTOMER & u Literally see money in my hand ready to buy and tell me NO I cant give you a sample… what type of customer service is that? This place will never get a DIME FROM MY POCKETS. There very Rude & ignorant like I could of been a steady customer and brought more people to their business but the OWNER CAN KEEP ALL HER SAMPLES & Stick them up her A**

Coming from NY, we were looking for another restaurant that went out of business and saw The Personal Chef. We decided to walk in and check it out. The owner and chef Sharon came out of the kitchen and welcomed our party of four. Saturday’s special was $ 1.00 per shrimp any style, fried, grilled or sautéed. I wanted shrimp and grits which is usually served on Sunday for brunch but immediately Sharon stated she would accommodate as this was an easy meal. To my heart’s content I had the most savory scrambled eggs, scrambled soft and to perfection. The shrimp was fresh and tasty in a butter sauce and the grits, plain but good (I like grits with heavy cream and some type of white cheese for rich texture) along with warm cornbread. Seldom do I enjoy scrambled eggs in restaurants but at 1:00pm in the afternoon I was totally satisfied with my impromptu Saturday brunch. The others in my party had fried whiting, fried chicken and fried shrimp with collard green and mac and cheese. They totally enjoyed it. Matthew, Sharon’s husband and partner made sure we were satisfied with the food and service. We were looking for comfort food and boy did we find it.

Whats Going on?
My last two — three visits to the Personal Chef restaurant has left me wondering — is this the same place that I went to just a few months ago, and enjoyed the cuisine? What happened to that quality taste and well prepared dishes that left you wanting for more. Sad to say — it has disappeared. The fried chicken wings are over loaded with SALT, Cat Fish over cooked and largely dry, the Potato salad has been poorly prepared with extra large chunks of potatoes and watered down salad dressing that leaves the salad texture — loose slightly watery and lacking flavor. Another disappointment is the The «Yams» that are at best — simply Sweet Potatoes — straight from a can. The Collard Greens here of late has been oily. So,… I say again.
WHATS GOING ON?
Aside from the food is the ambience — «The Curtain » (that is unsightly and inappropriate) that separate the dining area from the kitchen would add to the décor if it simply disappeared.
.
While this business started out (reportedly 1 year ago) preparing great dishes at reasonable prices, Something Big has happened that has negatively impacted the quality; flavor; preparation and presentation of their food product!
My tab has always been from $ 30 to $ 40 plus dollars and tips. My last 3 visits has not proven to be worth the money that I have spent.
And for that reason… I’m OUT

The food here was so fresh and excellently prepared! The atmosphere was warm and welcoming as the servers and owner were very courteous and grateful for our patronage. We tried the fried chicken and flounder; both were delicious. The platters had a gracious amount of food and were ready in about 20 minutes. The cornbread was delicious and moist also. I would definitely come back here for the price, atmosphere, and quality of food!

Everything on the menu is good, the salmon was delicious and the catfish fingers are banginnnn. You can tell the food is made with love and after meeting the owner you see why, she’s awesome. Anywho there was never a long wait, beware the cake is on the dry side, you don’t get that many fries and ask for the cornbread.

Stopped by to order food here. They said 20 minutes for a combo platter and wrap. Okay that’s fine. We went up to Chestnut Hill to grab some sweets for my mother. Came back. The food was not ready. I had checked in 30 minutes ago at this point.
Worst still they didn’t even give my brother, the one who ordered and came in to pick up the food, notice until I made him ask. Finally found out it would be at least another 20 minutes as they had other orders to complete ahead of us. Nope– we let them know we weren’t willing to wait for an already overdue order. Never had to wait an hour for food anywhere.
They lost some customers and for their poor customer service they also received this review. I try to give local places a chance. Maybe long down the road I’ll come back. But I’m turned off at this point.

This place is sooo good and the owner Sharon is such a sweet heart. She is so nice and she guided me through the menu as it was my first time dining in her establishment. I shared with her my Wife Diaries organization and she immediately showed me her private dining area that she allows small businesses to rent at a extremely reduced rate. I thought that was very kind of her. Talking to her, I felt like I knew her for years. Now about the food. I had the Grilled Shrimp Caesar Salad. It came with a side of «THEE BEST» down home grandma cornbread. The whole meal was delicious. The shrimp were big, cleaned well, and grilled to perfection. And it was a good price of $ 10.95. Most pizzerias in the area charge more than that for a salad not half as good as the one she prepared for me. Even the dressing was on point. For dessert, I had a slice of her homemade red velvet cake. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. It was delicious! I will definitely be back. I can’t believe she and her husband have been there this long and I am just now finding out about them. So long pizza Fridays, hello Private Chef!

I was driving down Germantown Ave. looking for something to eat and noticed the old Groben’s Seafood had been replaced. Hoping for some fresh fish, I was happy to see their menu and fresh fish in the case. The menu is large with many combo choice’s but I went for my favorite, catfish. They offer one piece for $ 11.99 and two for just two dollars more, plus choice of two sides and freshly made cornbread. The fish was encrusted with cornmeal and cooked to perfection. Moist and juicy on the inside and seasoned just right. I’m glad to see that they don’t skimp on the sides as both were just as good. They give you a choice about six soul food inspired choices. I went with the mac and cheese and sauteed cabbage that were done quite well. Sadly I got there late and missed out on the collard greens but maybe next time. The only thing I might suggest is calling your order in, as good good takes a little time to make right.

Solid take out food with a giant menu of any kind of traditional take out you could want. Fast delivery with big portions.
The cheese steak with fried onions was pretty decent too, one of the better ones in the area.

I had the pleasure of trying The Personal Chef at an event that they catered. I will get to the food in a second, but I was shocked at how professional they were. They had a beautiful presentation and were so friendly and nice to everyone who came to their station. Next, the food was awesome! I had their shrimp pasta with a nice cream sauce. It wasn’t heavy and tasted 100% homemade, which I liked. The shrimp was flavorful and cooked just right. I also had a salad which was fresh and tasty and their cupcakes were super tasty! I really enjoyed them and can’t wait to check them out at their restaurant to check out the entire menu.

Love love love lobster bisque!!!

Sharon and spouse Matthew have put their mark on a long standing neighborhood eatery with fantastic food and service. In less than a year, The Personal Chef is THE place to go to for fresh fish (uncooked to take home or prepared to order), delicious sides and scrumptious desserts. This is not the place to go if you are watching your waistline (I go anyway!) with the full platters, corn bread (the best I have every had) and I dare you not to buy a dessert selections. The sweet potato pie is very good, but the sour cream pound cake… it reminds me of my paternal grandmother’s. The highest praise of the land. LOL Run (you will need to exercise anyway) to their establishment for the specials and Saturday brunch. Tell them I sent you. :) And for your next event… they cater too!

It is so very cold outside today but we so need it along with a snow storm to clean the air… but I digress…
I wanted some warm soup and walked into The Personal Chef to get some soup… I have never been here before and didn’t know what they had…
I ordered the Clam Chowder… and the first spoonful was clam paradise in terms of flavor… they definitely use the juice of the clam to make this soup! Flavorful and the unpeeled chunks of potato was a nice touch! The clams were whole and it was the perfect soup for a cold day like today!
Now on to the mini Sweet Potato Pie… The crust was thick and kinda soft… I make better crust but the filling was good, the crust needs work… more butter in the crust and rolled out thinner.
I would go back and try something else… and I wish them the best!