THE HOUND — Restaurant in Auburn

Surprised to see that this place has so many rave reviews - my wife and I just checked them out tonight, and it’s been a long time since we’ve had a meal this underwhelming. We just moved to town, and thus we’ve been exploring the local restaurant scene for the last few weeks. Wait was about 10 minutes for a two person table (we didn’t have a reservation) on a weeknight. Restaurant was quite busy. The server highly recommended the bacon flight - apparently this is one of the signature dishes at The Hound. We both totally love all kinds of bacon, so we gave it a shot…only to be quite disappointed. Somehow, the bacon we were given managed to be largely tasteless, floppy, not crisp, and quite dry - as if it was cooked with a convection oven or something? I’ve never before bitten into bacon that had so little flavor. What (subtle) flavor there was emerged very slowly, almost as an aftertaste. Keep in mind this bacon flight costs $12, and all you get is two tiny (2-3 inch) strips of four different types of dry, undercooked bacon for the price. Three of the types of bacon tasted almost exactly the same. We ended up leaving almost half the bacon flight untouched…which really says a lot given that we both again really enjoy bacon. The rest of the meal wasn’t really any better, either. I got the smoked chicken with sides of asparagus and Yukon potatoes (each side cost and additional $6!) The potatoes were dry, under seasoned, and not really anything to write home about. The asparagus was well seasoned but definitely undercooked. The chicken was relatively dry but had ok flavor. The beans were the only part of my meal that were actually decent. My wife had the veggie plate, which again was underwhelming and featured uncooked sliced tomatoes which literally appeared to be seasoned with only salt and pepper - I can do that at home. The “jalapeño” corn bread my wife had was also very dry and had no discernible jalapeño flavor to boot. At least half of the meal that we were served was either undercooked, under seasoned, excessively dry, or otherwise seriously underwhelming. This might be ok in a high school cafeteria, but certainly not in an expensive restaurant (and yes, the food here is also surprisingly expensive). When we got the check, I couldn’t believe that a mediocre two person meal with no alcohol added up to almost $80. Talk about really poor value…I’m not sure if this was just an “off night” here or what, but the meal absolutely wasn’t worth half of what we paid for it. I’ve been told that this is the “best restaurant in Auburn”, and if this is true, the rest of the food scene in Auburn is apparently really...

Great food. Great service. They do have a kid's menu, however it is not listed on their menu. The server just verbally provided it to us. My friend got their Meatloaf Burger, I got their Shrimp and Cheese Grits with a side of Rosemary Jalapeno Cornbread, my daughter got simply Hot Dog and Fries. It was all Amazing. Well I imagine to a 5 year-old any beef hotdog is just the best ever when the kid loves beef hotdogs, but this review is not about how much my 5 year-old loved her hotdog. The Meatloaf Burger was moist (think Meatloaf texture and we're here 🤜🤛) with caramelized onions and some sort of onion jam. Great concept. Great Burger. The Shrimp and Cheese Grits had me a little skeptical at first because I'm an Amazing home cook, but I love to venture out and find new Amazing substitutes when I'm not in the mood to be Emeril, Bobby Flay, Paula Deen, or Mori Moto. Now I will admit I have yet to find a Shrimp and Grits dish to top Marlow's Tavern in my adopted Metro City of Atlanta. Their Grit Cake placed under all of that Jesus made Shrimp and Sauce will have you reevaluating everything that makes sense in the world. That dish is pretty prefect, but this dish runs a very close race. It was simply delicious. The only thing that places it second is the sausage. I did have a few bites with the sausage and a few without. I just liked it better without sausage. So I removed the sausage from the dish. Overall I really enjoyed this hidden jewel. I was feeling a bit drained and really wanted some hot tea with lemon and honey which I asked the server if they provided and they don't. My friend suggested she heat up some cold tea and throw some lemon in. What I got was a small mug of hot water with honey and lemon on the side. It was Perfect. Also allow me to say the Manager Stephen/Steven I think was his name was extremely friendly, engaging, and complete eye candy. Our server was super Awesome too. I don't remember her name, but she had a really cute blueish color...

My wife and I headed down to THE HOUND after a friend had suggested it, and bruh, just like their portions, I've got more than a mouthful to say about this joint. The mood was comfortable and inviting. The attire of the customers went from casual to dressy. We were quickly seated and greeted by our server immediately. She was knowledgeable and answered any questions we had and made awesome suggestions. We ended up ordering the Bacon Flight, a collection of three different kinds of bacon, and the fried green beans, which were made fresh, unlike every other restaurant. Both apps were amazing! The mixed drinks were also spot on and had me wanting more. Then it was time for the entrees. My wife had the double cut Berkshire pork chops with bacon fried rice. The meat was cooked perfectly, and the fried rice was fantastic. I chose the fried beef cheeks with mashed potatoes, white gravy, and braised collards. My plate was a masterpiece. The beef cheeks were braised, then deep fried and so succulent. The portions were massive and instantly became a new favorite for us both. Although we were stuffed, we found room for the best bread pudding EVER! The bread pudding was moist and flavorful, topped with vanilla ice cream and a beautiful caramel sauce, garnished with fresh butter toffee. Throughout the experience, I watched the staff operate. They worked like a well-oiled machine on skates. The managers engaged the patrons and were a welcome conversation. You can tell they truly care about your experience and want to make sure you become regulars. This is our new favorite place to eat, and we can't wait to come back. We'll see y'all at THE HOUND! Thank you for...