Southern Surprise (A Flannel Review)

August 9th, 2023

Authored by Nina Wilson and Dynisha Murray

As Philly natives, there are not a lot of opportunities to try southern food. Sure, if you travel to the vibrant and bustling streets of New Orleans, or spend a weekend square dancing in Nashville, getting good traditional southern food is as common as getting a cheesesteak. However in Philadelphia, where the cheesesteak is king, It’s a bit more difficult to sate your craving. Sure, there were restaurants like Warmdaddy’s, Relish, and even South which pioneered in efforts to bring southern soul food to the Philadelphia area. Unfortunately two out of the three restaurants mentioned have since closed, not being able to bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Enter Flannel and its owner Marc Grika, who is noted as being a “restaurant veteran and ex chef” (Philly Mag). Grika gained his insight on the restaurant industry through his experience working and managing restaurants under Chef Jose Garces and Stephen Starr. It’s this experience, and the desire to open a concept that has a “Whimsical and fun” twist on “Southern comfort food” (Philly Mag) that gave way to Flannel as the restaurant we know it to be today.

We visited Flannel on a temperate summer day. It’s located in south philly, which makes it super accessible to get to. Reservations are not mandatory, but we made them anyway just to err on the side of caution.

Here’s what we ordered during our visit. For drinks we ordered the Honey, Whiskey & Crack , $14, (Yes that’s a drink, sans crack) and Crackberry Cosmo ,$14. For our entrees we ordered Daddy’s Omelet ,$17.68, Malt Flour Waffles ,$12, and The Bennie Mac ,$16. Now enough background information, let's dig into this review.

Drinks

Honey, Whiskey and Crack & Crackberry Cosmo

*Pictured above are the Honey, Whiskey and Crack and Crackberry Cosmo ($14/ each), photo courtesy of the Brunch Besties.*

First let’s start with these addicting drinks. The Honey, Whiskey and Crack is made with Mandataste honey-whiskey with Flannel’s signature crackberry lemonade. What is crackberry lemonade you ask? We don’t know, but what we do know is that it was good. The drink was balanced between having saccharine and fruity flavors, which combined well with the honey whiskey and made a delicious and refreshing drink. Thus why we rated this drink 4.2 out of 5 stars.

Next onto the Crackberry Cosmo. This drink contained boardroom vodka, blackberry lavender lemonade with lime, honey, raw sugar, and orange liqueur. The flavor it came across is rather neutral, refreshing and a bit unlike its crack adjacent cousin, strong but had a prominent berry flavor. Thus why we rated this drink 3.89 out of 5 stars.

Entrees

Daddy’s Omelet

Since our visit to Flannel fell on a weekend, Daddy’s Omelet was listed as a special. So although it was not listed on Flannel’s official menu, if you go on a weekend you may be able to get it.

Our server described it as a southern frittata and contrary to the name this is not your father’s omelet. It is a thick dense square of egg, with chunks of andouille sausage, cheese, peppers and onions. Topped with Hollandaise sauce and accompanied with a large deep fried hash brown.

First impressions would lead you to believe that this would be a heavy and greasy dish that is traditional of southern fanfare, it was the opposite. Light and fluffy. Chocked full of seasoning, although a tad bit salty. We could taste the creamy umami flavor that came from the Hollandaise sauce.

The hash brown had a crisp exterior which nicely offset the saltiness of the “Omelet.” It was flaky, and although a bit bland, did not need to compete with the flavortown express that was the omelet. Overall this was a really good dish and we decided to rate it 4.2 out of 5 stars.

Malt Flour Waffles

During almost all of our brunch reviews we always try to sneak in a lil’ sumthin sweet. Our visit to Flannel was no different. Enter the malt flour waffles, which really don’t require a description as the name is a description in it of itself.

We had a choice of topping between mixed berries, Nutella, or chocolate chips, and opted to go with the mixed berries. The waffle was well executed and had a really nice shape and form. The berries were nice and light and added a tart element to the dish. The waffle was not heavy, and the use of malt flour rendered a pleasant texture. The flavor of the waffle was buttery and earthy in nature. Which really pulled the entire dish together.

However, in spite of that, we felt that the waffles could have used an extra push in terms of flavor which we didn’t get. Overall, these were pretty decent waffles, and we rated them 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Bennie Mac

Last but certainly not least. The egg, the myth, the legend. The Bennie Mac. Named after the infamous and legendary Bernie Mac, this dish takes a whimsical southern twist on the traditional eggs benedict. It is two blocks of fried mac and cheese, topped with two poached eggs, Hollandaise, chives, and a “bacon bridge to heaven.”

First impressions, the dish had a really stunning presentation. It looked exactly the way it’s described on the menu, and we mean that in the best way possible.

The fried mac and cheese had a crunchy exterior while still maintaining a creamy and rich mac and cheese on the inside. The egg was poached perfectly, and mixed in well with the fried mac and cheese. The bacon was crispy and added the right amount of umami between the two pieces of fried mac and cheese. And although the majority of the dish was fried, it tasted light, and did not have a greasy flavor or aftertaste. This is probably one of our favorite renditions of this dish. We recommend you get this, if you visit Flannel in the future. Thus why we gave this 4.9 stars out of 5.

In Conclusion..

A couple of final remarks about our visit. The service we received was awesome. Our server was knowledgeable about all of the menu items, attentive, kind, and warm. It really added to the experience, especially being in theme with southern hospitality.

If you go, be sure to be prepared to pay in cash as well as card. On the day we went, there were some issues with the card machine that were resolved prior to us paying for the check, but we’re not sure if this is a regular occurrence or not, so just be mindful of that.

And that’s all folks! Thanks for taking the time to read this review. We really appreciate it. We are officially at over 400 followers on Instagram (@brunchbesties_) and over 200 followers on our Tiktok (@brunchbesties) , so if you are not following us there, please be sure to do so. We truly are grateful to be able to have this platform, built on honest genuine reviews and we will continue to do that as long as you guys allow us to. So thanks again, and until next time…

Until next time,

XOXO

The Brunch Besties