Social Southern Table and Bar

LINK

Social Southern Table and Bar (Social for rest of review) opened last Monday and I was able to dine there this past Saturday. I figured I'd give a review of the place.

Party of 4: Girlfriend, Girlfriend's Parents and Myself

My girlfriend called ahead on Wednesday in hopes of getting a reservation for Saturday. Social does not take reservations for parties under 8 which is a bummer but no big deal. The hostess lets the GF know that since it is Mardi Gras season they have a few big parties coming in so the earlier we got there the better on Saturday.

Fast forward to us arriving at Social at 6:45 PM on Saturday. We walk in and it's pretty slammed. Overall, the place is gorgeous. Check out the gallery in the above link. They really did a great job on the place being aesthetically pleasing.

We are told it's a 1 hr, 45 minute wait but they have a table outside. We accept the table outside since it was getting a little late for the GF's parents (Farmers so they go to sleep early). We are walked outside and literally seated on the patio that extends into the parking lot. We sat at a table alongside the front of the restaurant with the parking lot as our backdrop. Other things to note about this table: really bad lighting (GF and her mom mentioned it was hard to read the menus), our table was like a turtle shell with things sort of rolling off the table, we sat next to a gate (table is pretty much by itself) where people throughout the night were using as a quick way to the parking lot which was pretty irritating.

At this point in the review, I think it's pertinent to point out that imo there seems to be a real lack of tables inside the restaurant. There is a lot of open space with no tables inside and the bar area dominates the interior. With a large bar, it also creates an extremely loud atmosphere. While we were waiting to get sat, it was hard to hear the 4 of us talking even in the hostess area. There is no barriers between the bar and the tables.

Moving on to the actual dinner. We sit down and are greeted by a young waiter who says that he will be helping our waitress and will get us some waters. We get our waters quickly and wait on the waitress. Ended up waiting 15 minutes until our actual waitress arrives and takes our drink order. When we get our drinks, she asks if we would like any appetizers which at this point it's 7:30 and we are ready to just order our entrees. She explains the menu.

Of note, Speakeateries = Appetizers, Social Fixins = Sides that you can share with the table, Pickins = Bar Appetizers.



We order Guiness Braised Cochon (GF), Brick Oven Chicken, Creole Reuben, and Duck "Banh Mi" Poboy with Fries (Me). We also got Mac N Cheese and Roasted Cauliflower as sides to share.

The Guiness Braised Cochon was by far the best thing we ate. The Cochon was delicious and the polenta was cooked perfectly. Well seasoned and a great all around dish.

The Brick Oven Chicken was cooked well but a little underseasoned. It was good but imo I wouldn't get it again.

The Creole Reuben was also a favorite. Classic reuben with great corned beef and bread. I would definitely get it again. I was debating this and the Banh Mi Poboy.

The Banh Mi Poboy was good but it was a typical Banh Mi sandwich to me. Nothing new or different about it. It was good but I wouldn't get it again since it's nothing special. The fries was ok and unsalted. With salt, they were a little better but nothing to shout about.

The Mac N Cheese and Roasted Cauliflower sides were really good. The Mac N Cheese serving is massive! Menu says it serves 2 but it easily can serve 4. Really cheesy and great flavor. I didn't like the Roasted Cauliflower all that much (Mac N Cheese overshined it) but the rest at the table loved it. It tasted a little too much like cinnamon to me.



While eating, the table nearest to us was seated. It was empty for 75% of our meal. They got their waters and ordered drinks. They waited a good while for their drinks but ended up catching the water guy to say they were leaving due to poor service.

Overall, great meal with a little lackluster service that I give a pass since they just opened. Waitress was really nice and was just a little inexperienced with the new menu. I would return but I am concerned about getting a table and actually eating inside with the noise.

Rating: B-

Good food and decent service. They area that we sat at really hampered my personal experience. Others I ate with were pleased and thought it was a solid place to eat at.