The Mildred

Significant other and I were waiting outside at a nearby establishment for quite some time when he suggested we visit the Mildred. Normally, the menu is a bit out of our budget, but brunch prices are pretty similar everywhere. We walked in from the cold and were met with the warm, seasonal scent of burning wood from their hearth. We had no wait and elected to sit near the wonderful fire. Our entrees came out in cast iron skillets and were excellently prepared. I had their version of steak and eggs atop delicious little cubes of sweet potato. The fiancé got some chorizo-​included dish that he also loved, but to which I did not pay much attention, as I was blissfully occupied (this doesn’t happen often). I think the portions could have been a bit larger, but that’s my only critique!

I was both a little surprised and not so surprised to hear earlier this week that the Mildred had closed after our recent visit. I had heard a lot of great things about it before our visit, so I was really looking forward to it. My fiancé and I visited on a Saturday morning for brunch, and there wasnt a ton going on inside. There were only a few people there when we got there, so we were seated immediately. Looking over the menu, the options were definitely upscale brunch items, but it was definitely still approachable food for the less adventurous. We decided to go with our usual brunch strategy of a sweet dish and a savory dish and split them both.
I hadnt been feeling great prior to us going here, so we decided not to eat anything particularly heavy. We decided on the ricotta pancake with lemon curd and the scrambled eggs with prawns, harissa and rosti potato. My fiancé also ordered a bourbon based cocktail that was very tasty. We also decided to start with the soon to be famous biscuit, which didnt quite live up to its name. Unlike most biscuits I have found in the area, this one was too far to the opposite side of the spectrum. usually they are dry or overcooked, or were simply kneaded too much. They were the exact opposite. It was very moist which was great, but it litterally fell apart at each touch. The flavor was good, but it just didnt hold up as a biscuit. I really liked the jam served with it though.
The eggs and the harissa were very good. The rosti was overly oily for me. The prawns were pretty good, but I just dont know that they paired very well with the eggs. Its parts were definitely better than its sum. The pancake, which it literally was one humongous pancake served in a cast iron skillet, was good, but again nothing to rave about here. If I didnt know there was ricotta in it, I would have been hard pressed to know. The lemon curd on top was great, but I definitely could have used more of it to really give the pancake that lemon flavoring.
I never like to see good restaurants go, so I was sad to hear of its closing. I definitely would have liked to give it another chance to see how it was. O well, I am sure the owner and chef will pop up again soon.

Came here for Whiskey Wednesdays. Which surprises me, because I’m more of a margarita girl than a whiskey girl. I like my drinks tasting like juice but then hitting me like a freight train. It’s a hard thing to accomplish, so who knew that whiskey cocktails could step up to the challenge and bowl me over happily!
They had almost a «tapas» type of menu on Wednesdays, but the portions were pretty filling for the size which made me immensely happy. Fish stew = comforting and yummy. Buccatini = spicy and fresh. Their homemade biscuits were soft and delicious. A free sample of carrot cake? Thank God.
The service wasn’t slow for us, but that may be because it was downpouring afternoon and only my friends would happily get drenched to get tanked. Salud!

We were waiting for so long at a nearby top picked restaurant that when we decided to give up and leave, the hostess recommended the Mildred. We walked over a couple of blocks and were whisked away to our table by a sweet hostess who was so appreciative of our business. Our waitress was pleasant as was all of the other staff that alternated bringing us our our food. The soon to be famous biscuit is already famous in our minds and hearts — DELICIOUS! The hostess brought us some home made ricotta and toast compliments of the chef since they felt it was taking too long for our food — we had been waiting less than 15 minutes! We just realized that the level of hospitality was high! When our food arrived, eggs Benedict for the husband with the best Canadian bacon he’s ever had and my steak and eggs, we were thrilled with our choice. Must also mention the coffee was fantastic as well!

Many times I Unilocal I wish there were a half star option. This is one of those times. The Mildred’s menu, décor, food, and drink selection definitely deserve a 4. But the service – both when busy as well as when woefully slow – leaves much to be desired.
The first time I came was for happy hour. And what a deal. Excellent food and drinks at reasonable prices. Everyone must know this because it was packed. I chalked up the laughably slow, and I-couldn’t-give-shit-about-you service to the volume. Though while there was no time to serve us there was plenty to consort with fellow staff.
Despite that the chicken and biscuits was amazing, the drinks were good and strong and I didn’t Unilocal,determined to give it another shot when they could redeem themselves.
I did this for Saturday brunch. We were literally two of six people there. Despite that, service was still slow and unengaged. Example: my friend ordered tea. It took 10 minutes. When he server brought it, he poured it, already steeped. Which explains why it took that long. He did not, however, leave the teapot (tea was $ 4 for one small cup) or bring sugar or cream. Nor did he offer any. Nor did he come back.
Considering we were one of three tables, our food took a really long time. But we kind of expected that at this point. What I did get, though, a pasta with kielbasa dish, was plentiful and delicious, as well as reasonably-​priced.
Overall I really like the food, so If it’s close and convenient for you, it could be worth checking out, but be sure to budget plenty of time if you go.

This place has bad feng shui from the moment that you stumble up the stoop.
From multiple experiences, I can say that the service is often exceptionally slow, meaning that it takes 20 minutes for a cocktail to arrive. The last time they comped our cocktails because they literally forgot about us. They also forgot to give us basic things like napkins.
On the other hand their bread and butter with a touch of truffle oil can be quite lovely and take up that waiting time.
The food is generally good, especially the basics like chicken, but I have to say that there are some major missteps. Like the gnocchi in squid ink. I am fond of using fresh (a lot of effort for a very little bounty) as well as Japanese squid ink. The latter comes in an oil base, which means that it does not stick well to things not prepared for an oily sauce. The gnocchi was completely beige, and the plate was completely black = bad application to pay for squid inked plates with gnocchi on top.

My sister and I perused the best brunches in Philadelphia list, and we really wanted to love The Mildred. Unfortunately, this place is mediocre at best.
Let’s start with the quality of service: terrible. We came in around 12:30 on Saturday, and the restaurant was almost completely empty. There were two other groups, approximately 10 people in the restaurant. We did not get our entrée until after 1:30 PM. It took ages between every coffee refill and every water refill. I have no idea what the servers were doing, but they spent a lot of time chatting at the bar.
Then, there was the food. We started with a salad, which while fresh and reasonably good, was tiny. We also got two of their «soon-​to-​be-​world-​famous» biscuits. I don’t know why they think these are so special. They were good, sure, but not worth 3 bucks a pop.
I had the french toast — sweet and rich. Slightly burnt, but not too bad. A little too much sugar if you are not someone who loves sweets for brunch. I did enjoy it, and I was pretty full. My sister had the omelet special. It was over salted, slightly overcooked — just lacking in fluffiness. My sister ate less than a 3^rd, and when the waitress asked if she like it, my sister could not even lie. It wasn’t horrible, again, just not worth it.
Overall, this place is just not worth the exorbitant cost. The food is halfway decent, but in a city like Philadelphia, with many better options on the block, The Mildred is not a great choice.

Last evening was my second visit to The Mildred; about six months after my first. In summary, I was a bit disappointed this time around for a few reasons. Read on!
We arrived to what I was surprised to see as a fairly empty dining room, and only a few people at the bar. It was the first really nice night, and our server said it was busier earlier, so it’s possible folks were out enjoying the weather. We were seated next to an obnoxiously loud group of three couples, and asked our server to move to a quieter table. She was happy to do so; our new table was in a quiet corner, the only problem was that the lighting was so bad I needed to use the candle on the table to read the menu, and could barely see my food. Not much that could be done, as I didn’t want to ask to be moved a second time. Definitely need to look at the lighting a bit, as it was far less than romantic and squarely in the «dark cave» category.
My GF ordered the pasta rags, which are basically a hand-​torn pasta, with a creamy cheese sauce, we shared the braised chicken and biscuits, and I had the fish stew for my entrée. The food was well prepared with the exception of one theme in all three dishes: excessive salt. The pasta was passable, but the chicken and fish stew were very heavily salted, so much that I really couldn’t finish the fish broth after eating the proteins and vegetables. Both dishes would be above average had it not been for the salt that made them borderline.
We did mention this to our server, who said she’s notify the chef. As someone that is fairly liberal with the salt myself, this was definitely over the top.
We’ll be back to The Mildred for another try; hoping last evening was just a fluke, as our first visit was outstanding, and I left last evening feeling less than satisfied.

What a gem — glad we stopped in! Service and food were all A+.
Recommend: the homemade bread and truffle butter, Chicken & Biscuits, Endive gratin, a glass of the «11 pinos» bobal old vine.
Gave it a 4 because the whole wheat pasta dish (that we subbed out buccatini for) was a little salt heavy.
Will return!

I’ve only been here for Sunday brunch. To me this place is like a little touch of the mountains right in the Italian market. Weird analogy I guess but go there and enjoy. Especially now with the cold weather. I sat by the fire and enjoyed a bloody Mildred (oh how quirky). My friend got the «soon to be famous biscuit» and yeah, its not healthy but so delicious. I would definitely recommend this cute and unique place. Looking forward to going back for dinner.

Been here twice in the past month, so that alone should tell you something since there are few places I visit more than once. Not due to lack of places I enjoy but to a wealth of options in this city.
Overall Mildred is just a nice, comfortable place to have a nice, comfortable meal. The schtick here is cast iron dishes, or cocettes, which is cool. Homey, yet somewhat refined. Insert fireplace, sweet service and a nice date spot emerges for those who have fallen in love south of South.
There’s hints of interesting technique here such as the rotary macaroni shape under the braised short rib, the full pot tea pour at brunch, or the vertical roasted chicken but for as nice as that is there always seems to be something that falls a bit flat here. Not with a plop, but with a fizz. The macaroni a bit dry, the pork in the pork sugo being a touch undercooked, etc. Just liiiiitle misses. But nothing that should make you avoid the place.
It’s a great place for the area and I hope it does well. It’s been woefully empty both time I’ve been there which is nice for a quiet meal but bad for business. Go give em a try.

Maybe two stars is a little harsh, but «meh. I’ve experience better» is pretty much what I was left with after a recent brunch at Mildred. Brunch is a staple in my weekly rotation, the weekend wouldn’t be complete without it. Breakfast? You got it. Lunch? You got it. Booze before noon? No brainer.
Because Mildred is close to my abode and because it’s been on the short list of places to try for awhile, when the invitation was extended to have brunch with a few of my favorite Unilocalers I didn’t hesitate to say yes to the meet up. Aside from the rambunctious child or two, the restaurant was pretty quiet for 11:30 on a Sunday morning, but decided not to think much of it. Our waitress was friendly enough in describing a few questions we had regarding fancy menu words like bottarga and trotter. She was quite persistent that we place an order of biscuits prior to our meal and so we agreed and chowed down on what would end up being the best part of our meal while sipping on a few brunchy cocktails. Notice I said that the biscuits were the best part of our meal? Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration because the side of slab bacon we ordered to split was pretty good too but come on, it’s bacon.
See, here’s the problem I have when a meal goes south… when you’re focused more on what the tab was than the quality of meal you just consumed, you know you didn’t have a great time. Myself and Aaliyah P. both ordered the baked eggs which upon delivery looked phenomenal and smelled nice and fishy as we were informed that bottarga is fish roe. The baked eggs were also supposed to include truffle, but there wasn’t any hint of any scent or taste to indicate that it had made it into the skillet. Zachary H. was a little dismayed by the portion size for the price of the menu items and out of sympathy we offered him the last of the bacon because a growing boy needs his swine. Our meal was underseasoned to the point that we actually asked for salt, something I hardly ever do at a restaurant.
When the check arrived, at least one item was rung up for a higher price tag than the menu indicated but was quickly taken care when brought to the attention of the waitress and it turns out that the biscuits were never charged on the bill so I guess there’s a silver lining to the meal. Would I rush back for another meal? Probably not immediately. For as many brunch spots that I have on my radar, I’m flying by the «one and done» mentality. Maybe one day I’ll be back, but I’d order with caution going forward.

I returned with my foodie-​group. Michael Santora created an amazing meal for 21 foodies. We had the best time on a sunday night while 4 courses of wonderful food came out to us and the result was everyone leaving in bliss! The concept he had was a medieval dinner with contemporary touches.
Highlights to the meal he created:
Braised Cockscomb with barley risotto and celery root: this was fun and adventurous but honestly anything he put on his heavenly light risotto would’ve been great. It had layers of flavor that made the mouth sing.
Fish Pie with the most perfect flakey heavenly crust. Again, flavors that swam together to make me remember the feeling for days.
Hot –pot baby lamb with turnips: this reminded me of something I enjoyed in France recently so I can see the chef’s influence and expertise. It was simply wonderful with a rich and savory yet still light broth that made this stew-​like dish feel perfect as a 3^rd course.
Lastly, the meal closed with Classic apple pie with royal dough, cinnamon ice cream, & streusel. Freshly baked and still warm, extra slices were left out for some of the more indulgent members of the group to revisit. This guy knows how to do crust!
See a more detailed account at:

The Mildred is thisclose to being a 5-​star neighbourhood establishment, but a few little missteps lead me to a 4-​star assessment.
I had been to the previous restaurant in the space, and it was much cozier this time around, although I find the window next to our seat to be strange. It was a window to the entryway and it was slightly higher than our heads, and every time people were in the vestibule waiting we felt like we were in an aquarium.
However! Last-​minute tables were to be had at 7:30 on a Friday evening, and people need to get on this band wagon. The food here is excellent. My BFF and I started with cocktails– she went with the cucumber elderflower and gin cocktail and I requested a gin sour. Hers was tasty, very much cucumber, and mine was good as well although slightly too tart. They were not lacking for gin, though, and when I got home after having two of them I was pretty drunk.
House-​baked bread and butter came to the table pretty quickly, and it was good bread, but the butter was too cold and they never brought out more bread after we finished the first two pieces. The water sitch is my other beef: they offer sparkling or still from bottles they carry around, and the water was room temp. If there isn’t ice, the water should at least be cold. It made me drink more cocktails, which was likely not a coincidence.
We decided to share everything, so we got the chicken and biscuits, the potato tortellini in a Madeira mushroom sauce, and the vertical roasted chicken, then two desserts to share. The chicken and biscuits is phenomenal and I’d come back over and over again just for that. Savory, warm, and comforting. The biscuits were a little twee, however. The highlight of the pasta was the mushrooms and sauce, but the pasta itself was very good even though it could have used maybe 30 seconds more cooking time. It was like an Italian version of a pierogie. The roasted chicken was insanely moist and tender and all the veggies with it were spot-​on.
For dessert we shared the plum clafoutis and the chocolate peanut butter mousse thing. They were both decadent and heavenly. The plum clafoutis would make the world’s greatest brunch dish, hot out of the oven with sweet whipped cream.
The total for 4 cocktails, 3 dishes, and 2 desserts was $ 120 including tip. Not bad at all! We could easily have saved $ 20 by getting one drink each, but it was a girl’s night so who wants to do that? Service was great, the server was new but capable and friendly and didn’t rush us out when we lingered over our last cocktails.

First of all, you should know that I am a diner person. My favorite food is grilled cheese sandwiches. Some might call me classless, but I like comfort food and comfortable surroundings. I avoid places like the Mildred.
Now that being said, I had a great time here on Friday night. My boyfriend and I showed up for an 8:00 reservation and were seated immediately. Our server came immediately over to bring us water and introduce herself. At this point, I was pretty tipsy from a spontaneous Devil’s Den trip and wearing a loose sweatshirt, jeans, and moccasins. My hair was all over the place. Our server was beyond nice and didn’t make us feel like idiots for googling half the words on the menu. (Confit? Clafoutis? Cocottes?) Her timing was perfect and I never found myself waiting for anything.
The menu was so overwhelming that we decided to splurge and get the four-​course tour. The first dish was a bowl of alternating hot and sweet peppers. My boyfriend has a high spice tolerance and mine is low, so he devoured the peppers while I gulped water and panted like an idiot. The chef came out and commiserated. The waitress brought over some bread and shot me a pitying glance. The next course was sweetbread, sweet onions and plums. After googling «sweetbread» we were a little hesitant, but the dish was perfect — a little sweet, just a bit crunchy.
Before we were quite finished we got the next course, prawns with mussels and squid-​ink pasta. The mussels were on par. The prawns were tender and seasoned well. I do wish the pasta hasn’t been quite so fishy, but the fish taste was slight — I’m just not a huge seafood person.
Earlier in the evening, I tentatively asked the server what would be on the tasting menu, since I am not a huge fan of red meat. While it was still cooking, the server brought out the chicken they were replacing the beef with for us. I thought that was a really nice touch. When we got the chicken it was accompanied by chanterelle mushrooms and charred onions. SUPERB. The meat was moist and the chicken had an ultra thin crispy layer. It was a little saltier than it could have been, but we devoured this dish, even though we were verging on uncomfortably full.
Last, our server brought us the clafoutis with plums and a house-​made whipped cream for dessert. Oh my God. My boyfriend and I were still looking sadly at the empty dish when the chef came out again to see how we liked the meal.
The tasting menu was $ 45 pp, but completely worth it. A great way to be introduced to a new spot.

I’m really surprised there’s any positive reviews for this place. It’s baffling!
We were a party of 4 on a Saturday night. Firstly the menus they have online are not what’s on offer. The wine list is almost non existent and the dinner menu is approx 50% less in reality. We queried this and were told the wine was sold off to buffer a slow summer (???). The service was super slow with empty plates being left on the table far past an acceptable amount of time. Trying to order a second drink was difficult but ordering a second bottle of the red was impossible due to them actually having none left! One course I ordered was the prawn ragu which consisted of two prawns… I could go on.
Take my advice and skip this one. There’s way too many nice restaurants in Philly to waste your time here.

Let’s face it. Mildred sounds like an old smelly great aunt’s name (no, just me?) Despite the name, this Mildred cooks up a delicious dinner.
My college roommate drops in from time to time and she loves food as much as I do, so I always have to pick a good restaurant that we both haven’t tried whenever she comes in. Having flopped the last two times she came to visit, I needed a sure thing, and the Mildred has been on my to-​do list for while after it was recommended as a graduation dinner spot. Reading Vinny P and Cat D’s reviews sealed the deal. We went, we ate, and were very pleased. Finally, a win!
Cute, casual atmosphere, and good service. Warning: tables can be a bit close (hey old guy, stop staring at my food, weirdo. I know it looks good but c’mon.) Also, we had to ask to have our water refilled a million times (we were thirsty) and I’m a big proponent of the great-​service-​means-​ninja-​waiters –refill-​your-​glass-​without-​you-​noticing school of thought.
We are those kind of 20 somethings waiters hate because we just felt like ordering a few plates to share and no drinks or dessert because we were going to be doing some drinking later. They didn’t seem to annoyed though. Here’s what we ordered and thought:
–Squid stuffed with summer ratatouille with ink mayo-​really delicious, lovely presentation and interesting flavor, but kind of small.
–Prawn ragout-​we were not fans of this and I would not recommend it. The taste and texture were off, odd, and generally just not great.
–Duck with beets and onions– this was delicious, a large portion, and the highlight of the meal. Juicy, tender, flavorful, and I would definitely recommend.
–Vegetable of the day was romanesco (we’d never heard of it either) which is like a cauliflower-​type deal-​really good.
As Art E. commented on my check-​in: I [also] think Philadelphia is sleeping on the Mildred. Wake up, Philly! This place is a gem, and you’ll be able to get a table (and a delicious meal) on a Saturday night! They also have a $ 45 tasting menu and a $ 38 Sunday night dinner. They are also having a 1 year anniversary dinner with drinks for $ 55 soon.

My meal at The Mildred was very enjoyable. I really think this restaurant has come into its own and is hopefully here to stay.
We arrived for our reservation and were seated promptly. Since my previous visits were for drinks, I started with a cocktail (something with gin, it was delicious) and we ordered the trotter as an appetizer. I loved the confit potatoes and the trotter was really tender and very flavorful.
I opted for the chicken and boudin sausage for my main. While chicken and sausage is not a new combination, this dish really blew me away. The chicken was perfectly cooked and straddled that fine line by having both crispy skin and tender meat. The boudin (blanc) was rich yet not heavy. I was able to eat the entire dish without feeling overly full afterward.
From service, to décor to food, this place really nailed it. I’ll be back.

I’ve been here 3 times, and The Mildred is 3 for 3!
I went for brunch the first two times, and tried dinner with my parents the third time!
Both brunches were outstanding… the first time I had some type of apple pancake, which I think was replaced with a lemon pancake, and the second time I had the duck benedict… delicious! My friend’s boyfriend could not stop raving about his baked eggs dish!
Anyway, dinner was superb as well.
My mom and I tried the house punch, which was the perfect balance for me… I could taste the alcohol but not enough that it was too strong, yet I felt a little buzz after just one! She felt a buzz about half way through but I always joke with her that she’s a lightweight!
They asked if we’d like to sample something they might try for spring… it was raw fluke with a blood orange vinaigrette (or something like that) and pieces of blood orange! SO SO GOOD! I hope they do put it on the menu!
We had the mushroom app (which I ordered and my dad mostly devoured) & the mackerel shared app, which was probably my least favorite dish but still good!
My dad and I did the bouillabaisse for two and my mom had the short rib. I’ve never had bouillabaisse & I thought it was really tasty. It didn’t look like it would be filling to me, but I was wrong!
Now that short rib entrée… OMG. I think that was one of the best beef dishes I’ve ever had IN MY LIFE!
I do like beef and mashed potatoes, but The Mildred had a different spin on it with a house-​made pasta tube that swirled around the beef and had a homemade cheese sauce… like gourmet mac n cheese! Delicious!
Lastly… desserts!
A chocolate cake with mint ice cream that my dad and I did the fake fight over. It was SO rich, but not sickeningly sweet! And a rhubarb crumble that my mom enjoyed!
If I could describe our experience in a phrase, it would be «Real food.»
It sounds stupid, but I can’t explain it any other way… the sauces, the combinations of flavors… they aren’t anything you’d find on allrecipes!
Everything just tasted like it was made in an old-​fashioned way that no one has time for anymore… I mean that in a good way.
Like boxed mac n cheese versus homemade mac n cheese that your grandmother made every Thanksgiving!
I will definitely be back to try their spring menu! :)

One of the finest meals I’ve had in Philadelphia. I can understand some of the other less than stellar reviews because at least one person at our table thought that is was just O.K., but they also went off menu a little with one of the sides. Our very friendly, accommodating and knowledgeable waitress started us off with cocktails. I had the usual Sapphire martini up, dry, and with olives. Others at the table sampled some of Mildred’s specialty cocktails and were not disappointed.
The starter was a perfectly presented and amazingly delicious cow’s milk ricotta Gnudi. These little pillows of perfection got the table exited about what was yet to come. I had the braised rib of beef with «mac and cheese» and roasted cauliflower. The beef was so tender that it would fall apart if I bumped the plate. The «mac and cheese» really blew away my expectations. One very long continues tube of al dente house made pasta spiraling around the cast iron skillet Mildred uses as a plate baked with a delicate béchamel sauce. Unfortunately a few of us were really tired and decided to leave without desert… next time Mildred.