Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ Florida Kitchen Brunch – Oct. 2021

First some photos inside the restaurant…

Our reservation at Homecomin’ was at 9:55 a.m. for Sunday morning brunch. Since we were there before 11:00 a.m. we were limited to ordering only from their Brunch menu. (Note: Homecomin’ serves brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 – 12:55 but after 11:00 you can also order items from their Lunch menu.) However, we were there to try some of their brunch options anyway.

So let’s start with a photo of their Brunch cocktails menu…

We both chose the same cocktail…

White Peach Sangria – La Perlina Moscato with muddled orange and mango, fresh peach puree, and peach moonshine – $13.00

This was delicious! If they hadn’t been $13 we would have likely had a second round of these. We both gave this cocktail a rating of 5.

Note: This cocktail is still on the current Homecomin’ Brunch Cocktails menu (as of March 2024) but the price has increased to $15.00.

Now for our food, chosen from their Brunch menu…

We started by ordering the Mini House-Made Doughnuts, which we requested without the pecans (because Andrew doesn’t like them)…

Unfortunately the first plate of doughnuts we were brought had only icing, no bacon or caramel topping. I brought this to the attention of our server and we were then brought these…

House-made Doughnuts – Mini iced doughnuts piled with bacon and drizzled with house-made caramel.  Served with seasonal fruit – $10.00

The addition of the sweet caramel sauce and salty bacon brought these little doughnuts up to the next level. We gave them a rating of 4.

Note: I see that Homecomin’ is now serving Everglazed mini doughnuts (from Everglazed Donuts, also at Disney Springs) instead of their own. They are described as glazed (rather than iced) and they charge an extra $2.00 if you want the bacon and pecans topping. Also no mention is made of the caramel drizzle or the side of seasonal fruit. So unfortunately it sounds like a case of “less for more”. Boo!

For his entrée, Andrew chose the…

Hush Puppy Benedict – Chef Art’s spin on the classic with house made hush puppy cakes topped with fried chicken tenders, over easy eggs, griddled country ham and pimento hollandaise. Choice of side item. (He chose the Potato Gratin Mash) – $22.00

Andrew said the hush puppy cakes were a bit hard but the rest was very good. He gave his entrée a rating of 4.

Note: This is still on their brunch menu but now costs $24.00.

My entrée choice was the…

Hallelujah Biscuit – Open-faced biscuit topped with Chef Art’s famous fried chicken, two over easy eggs, pimento cheese, pecan-smoked bacon and smothered in sawmill gravy.  Choice of side item.  – $24.00

There was a lot going on with this.  While I liked all of the components, with the possible exception of the pimento cheese, when eaten all together they were just okay.  Also, it was supposed to be “smothered” in gravy (per the menu description) but it wasn’t and I think it could have used more gravy.  So anyway I gave this a rating of only 3.  

Note: This entrée is also still on the menu and it too has had a price increase to $26.00.  

So after having heard such great things about the brunch at Homecomin’ our expectations were quite high.  While it was good, I left feeling a little disappointed about our entrees.  I have a brunch reservation scheduled here for our upcoming trip but it is at 12:45 so we should have the option of ordering things from either the brunch or lunch menu.  I’m guessing we will get things from both, so stay tuned for Homecomin’ Brunch Round II.