We searched for a black owned breakfast restaurant and I'm so glad we found this gem! We had the shrimp and grits which were amazing (sorry - no pic). The consistency was on point and the jumbo shrimp were sized and seasoned to perfection. The fish (whiting) and grits with eggs and homefries were also perfect. The fish was well seasoned and delicious, the homefries 😋 were delicious, the eggs were cooked perfectly.👌🏽 Even the blueberry as well as strawberry lemonade were delicious (if you like sweet drinks). Vonda's owes us nothing. It was well worth the 40 minute drive from our hotel. We had hoped to return while in town today but unfortunately they are not open on Tuesdays. 😔 We will definitely return when in NJ.

I ordered on Uber eats. Catfish and grits. The food was neatly packed and good quantity. The home potatoes were so flavorful. Tasted like mushroom unions and peppers. I loved them. The grits with white cheddar cheese was very good too. Overall great meal.

Whoa! This spot is incredible. Some of the most DELICIOUS breakfast food I've had in a LOOOONG TIME! Ingredients are fresh and food is made to order. Great service and the owner Vonda, is great! My friends got the catfish and grits and I did cheese eggs, home fries and cheese grits. Will definitely return. Go, you won't be disappointed, I promise!

Love Vonda and Vonda's Kitchen!! I always get consistent quality meals there! Everything on the menu is great! I especially love the blackened catfish and grits and the shrimp and grits! Looking for some good soulfood while in Newark? Stop by Vonda's and you won't be disappointed!!

The food was delicious! Every item! I especially loved my catfish ! My friend ordered the salmon cake and tore em up ! Our waitress was so sweet and smiled a lot, loved her service ! Her name started with an F. I would def eat here again !!!!

We came from L.I. and it was well worth the trip. We had several dishes and sides, everything was delicious. The service was welcoming, friendly and professional. Nice place on a quiet block. You must get the shrimp and grits.

The ladies at the front were friendly and there was a steady flow of customer orders being placed and being picked up. The wait was about 20 minutes and the food looked scrumptious. Despite being super thin, the whiting fish meal was good. The mac and cheese was not too creamy and was not bland. The green bean's were delicious too. The chicken breast sandwich and fries looked commercial ready, but wasn't as great. Unfortunately, the thicker end of the chicken breast was not fully cooked and didn't come with what was listed on the menu description. It came with a piece of lettuce and tomato, which wasn't even listed. The coating on the fries gave them a weird, flavorless sweet potato vibe. Seems like the menu was outdated because a few items I asked about weren't available.

My family and I went here for Sunday brunch and it was pretty good. Outside of the waiter mistaking salad dressing for oil and the brioche French toast and bananas could have been a better presentation, we had a great waiter. It was amazing and I would definitely go back and try something else.

I really wanted to give this place 5 stars, but I did not have a good experience at all. I was barely greeted on entry, the floors were sticky, and the service was terrible. The only thing saving this place was how amazing the food was when finally came out. I hope the owner gets the employees some much needed retraining

I used to love vondas kitchen, now this is by far disappointing my Mac and cheese is not mac and cheese i was eating macaroni the cheese was there but not on the macaroni. I'm done spending my money here this is the last time. Vonda is very nice but I'm not sure what's going on in the kitchen 🤔

I love Vonda's! I have been going for many years. We had not been there in about 2 yrs. The entire staff seemed new. The food was good, but not as good! The chicken wings were enormous and had a lot of feathers on them 😢. The grits were very lumpy, and the Gravy didn't taste as good as it used to. I hope it was just a one-day occurrence. Mrs. Vonda is very caring, and she takes pride in her business and making her customers happy!! That is a fact!!

***4 1/2 stars*** Several years ago, I came here with a friend and had a perfect experience. It didn't get any better - the food was out of this world and at one point Vonda herself came out to chat with us for a few minutes. It just checked off all the boxes, and I recommended this place to tons of people. Shortly after this meal, I actually had Vonda's cater my Oscar party. I couldn't have loved this place more. This was my first visit in a while, and while the food was still amazing, some of the magic is gone, which is a shame. Vonda's is not in the best neighborhood, but I've been in worse. We found street parking very close by, probably a hundred yards or so from the entrance. As with my last visit, my chum and I were the only white visitors, but I definitely didn't feel like we were being eyeballed or anything - we were treated just like anyone else (and I go out of my way to mention this because I know some people WOULD be nervous coming into an area like this; it is what it is. Also, I stick out like a sore thumb in all-white neighborhoods too). We stopped by around noonish this past Sunday. There were a few tables to choose from, but you could also tell Vonda's was slammed with to-go orders based on the frenetic activity behind the counter. Throughout our meal, there was definitely heavy foot traffic in and out, and I'd guess our food was delayed by 10 minutes or so because of that. Not a huge deal, especially since this is made-to-order goodness and you should expect a slightly longer wait time as a result. I opted for the fried catfish entree ($12.50), which came with two sides - I went with the mac and cheese and the candied yams. Vonda's has the best mac and cheese I've ever had. It's not up for debate. I LOVE it, and like basically any warm-blooded American, I've had my share. It's just scrumptious on all levels. The candied yams are amazing. I definitely haven't had nearly as much of that particular dish for comparison purposes, but I feel like it's a good way to get dessert without actually getting dessert, if that makes sense. Perfect candied taste and texture. The fried catfish was also amongst the best I've ever had. I think it was supposed to come with some type of sauce but it was so juicy I didn't bother to follow up with the waitress. My chum ordered the chicken and waffles ($13.50), as well as the kitchen mac bowl ($11.50). She liked the food but wasn't as over the moon about it as much as I was. That's probably at least partially on me since I talked this place up massively ahead of time, but what actually prompted this visit was a March meal that we had at Sweet T's in Montclair. They serve very similar food, and during that meal I told her that I thought Vonda's was better. (For the record, I really liked Sweet T's but I had concerns about their service and an oppressive reservation policy.) She still thinks Sweet T's is better, but she can write her own review if she feels that passionately about it. The price point here is excellent (WAY lower than Sweet T's), and the food is noticeably yummier. So why can't I commit to the full five stars here? It came down to the staff. Everyone we interacted with seemed super stressed and overwhelmed (though I wouldn't say anyone was unpleasant to us). Our young pup waitress was very nice but also seemed to be in charge of manning the phone, which rang constantly. There were a few little things that slipped through the cracks. For instance, she forgot to take our menus off the table after we gave our orders, which prompted one of the other employees to ask us if we had been helped yet, and my catfish entree was supposed to come with corn bread and didn't. Huge problem? Absolutely not, but some of those tiny issues can add up over the course of the meal. This is still a recommendation for sure, but my enthusiasm has diminished a bit. I think the problems can be rectified fairly easily, especially since they've mastered the food.

These turkey wings and gravy were so good that I ordered TWICE in three days!! The gravvyyyyy...wooooow!!! Lick your fingers good!!! My only complaint is that the second time I ordered, they gave me a drumstick instead of flats. Anyone who truly grew up in soul food knows that we only like the flats. Other than that, the wings were cooked perfectly....the gravy was OUT OF THIS WORLD....the mac and cheese wasn't the best that I've ever had....but it was still very good. The collard greens and potato salad were flavorful. Solid three stars. Would be five were it not for the drumstick. I recommend this establishment.

Had to place several phone calls to place an order, had to call several times to rectify same order for them to suggest I come pick up MISSING DELIVERY item myself. They also sent some hard dry cornbread with part of my order…. 2nd time patronizing, both times dissatisfied with service. The food is good but the customer service doesn’t extend pass their cash register

Visiting from Florida & found this place on Google. Excellent service,excellent down home feel good food. We enjoyed the atmosphere and Mrs Barb our watress. She was warm, friendly and made our visit. We got to meet the owner and she was wonderful. This will be our stop anytime we're in Newark NJ

This was my first time eating Vonda’s Kitchen and this will be my last time. Our order was incorrect. I had shrimp and grits with a side of home fries (I received French fries instead). My friend got the salmon cakes breakfast with eggs, home fries, grits, and Mac and cheese. The Mac and cheese was extremely oily. The shrimp was overcooked. The grits were not made to our liking. This meal was NOT satisfying.

Very nice little place. The music, atmosphere, and service were very good. The shrimp and grits are made with a tomato based sauce that is very good. And the catfish was fried to perfection. But the toast, the buttered toast, that accompanied my dish, was Amazing!!! I wanted to be sure it got credit.

We ordered spicy chicken hash with greens and yams. Shrimp and grits. Stuffed french toast. The food was delicious! Everything was seasoned well. Thank you for a great meal Ms Vonda I will be back.

They said this was one of the top 5 places to eat in Newark. Sorry to say it not in the top 100 for me. Ordered chicken and waffles and wasn't good as all. It's super easy to make chicken and waffles but not this place. The chicken was flavorous and the waffles was flat as a pancake.. This is one place I'm not returning ever. When you walk in the door you don't smell anything cooking that should have been the first clue to turn around.....

They had this Vegetarian soul roll that what so delicious the food was very good the rice a little under cook but nothing to complain about. The server he was so sweet and courteous will go again Especially for the Vegetarian roll.

I normally don’t write reviews because I love to tell my friends and suggest places in person. I never write bad reviews because I understand the power of a bad review and how they are 6 times more suggestive than a positive review. You can easily ruin someone’s business by not keeping your mouth shut because of your bias. At the end of the day who cares about the service for a carry out order, get your food and go home and eat. I am writing this review because Aunt Vonda’s is incredible all the way around! Excellent, we ordered three meals and we ate in silence with only grunts and moans heard over smacking! The fried chicken is absolutely incredible. Reminds me of when I was little boy asleep in church and I would wake up and wipe the Jheri curl juice out of my eyes because I would smell Mother Wilke’s fried chicken coming from the basement! The potato salad is excellent with the perfect consistency and the greens were the delicious with the perfect texture. The macaroni and cheese was outstanding. My wife had the shrimp and grits and it is loaded with shrimp and the grits were next level! I review a lot of places verbally because we eat everything from chitterlings to escargot, so I know food. This place right here is the Prime 225 of Soulfood. They will be around for a long time. Just weather the storm and stay focused on the food. Even with the service being excellent I could really care less if it wasn’t for a take out order because I am there to buy the fried chicken and not buy a five minute relationship with a cashier.

The chicken, ribs, cabbage, Mac and cheese, green beans was delicious. But, the rice portion of my ribs dinner was sour. I'm glad I tasted the food before sharing . I will return but rice will not make it home with me again.

Food was good. I had the fried whiting and it was seasoned to perfection.

Baby!!! When I tell you this place is IT, you better listen. All black staff which is wonderful, great food, great & fast service, calm atmosphere. First time coming here & I will definitely be back.

Amazing food, our server was Jatavia. She recommend a few things and was great with informing us with any questions we may have. We will definitely be dining in again. The restaurant is kind of hidden, but once you find it you will not regret it.

Delicious! The only reason I gave 4 stars and not 5 is because the oxtail was pricy and they soaked the rice with the oxtail sauce. I hate mushy rice. The potato salad was also too sweet. The whiting was to die for and the serving of corn bread was much more generous than many other places. Overall the food was delicious and I would definitely return