Southern Junction — Restaurant in Buffalo

Amazing amazing amazing!! One of the most sought after coveted spots Buffalo has seen in a long time and when you arrive you will see why. It’s sort of a hidden gem but not really lol the entrance is an alleyway which you sort of don’t see when you arrive but you WILL see many many people standing in a line. Lines moves fairly average but you will be waiting almost an hour to get inside. Thankfully there are tables & chairs outside in the ally if you’d like to sit for a moment. The dining is actually fairly big enough to seat a few parties even tho it’s a smaller room like avg living room size. There’s a lot of space outside on the patio which I enjoy, nice and enclosed which also extends into a grass yard with even more seating.

Everything on the menu is well worth the price and taste amazing! The set up is a small walk up cart and a small counter where you tell them right then and there, they’ll make the plate in front of you and you walk away with it sort of cafeteria style. The bar is very crowded as well but a bar back will come to you with a menu & someone will back to take your order. Everyone is very very nice, the only lack luster service I received was from Tati their barback who seemed to be.. offended(?) when I said I know what I’d like & tried to order which I received an attitude check from her and sort of an uppity response of ‘OH I am NOT a server’ and thankfully I checked in with their amazing manager of how bar service works as it was my first time dining at bar because I usually walk in thru other entrance. The manager is amazing, definitely cares about his team & how the restaurant is going. He walks around & checks on tables, making sure people are having a good experience. The crew serving the food at the front are phenomenal, very friendly & helpful!! They actually bring just what you need to a restaurant, amazing hospitality and smiles!! Definitely a good bunch in the front, everyone is very hardworking & helpful in this establishment.

Ok now I’ll talk about the food : ) I’m from Buffalo so thankfully I get frequent this place often. Everything on the menu is amazing, delicious barbecued food with south Indian flair & flavors. I really love the ribs, I can’t stop thinking about those! The brisket & barbacurry are super good also. Cardamom Cornbread is amazingly soft, moist and buttery I always order that !!! Brisket biryani is really good, perfectly made I love adding the pickled onions to that. The sliced bread it comes with is also very tasty & soft, I actually enjoy eating the bread bc it’s fair from average. White cheddar mac n cheese is good, it’s gets cold quickly so eat fast and it’s a bit thick but I do enjoy it and it tastes even better when they dress it for you with toppings such as cornbread croutons & jalapeños. The banana pudding is good if you’re looking for a dessert, not too sweet and it’s light n fluffy. I’m waiting to try the Texas twinkie when they bring those back. I did try the smash from the bar & I couldn’t detect any alcohol in my drink, taste wise or color wise so unfortunately I didn’t enjoy my drink but my server was able to accommodate for me. It’s to be said you won’t taste alcohol in a finely made drink but I was hoping to taste some bourbon or see a bit of brown in my lemonade & it tasted like regular lemonade so I was confused if anything had been added. I see why every single person had a margarita haha

Another thing I enjoy about this place is how they have things set up like to go boxes available for you to grab, hand sanitizer wipes, and an abundance of napkins. They also have a couple sauces for you to choose to go with your meal and they’re all pretty good. All in all, this place is wonderful and you should visit when you have the opportunity and you’ll see why this place...

Great food! Though you’re definitely paying for it. I drove about 2.5 hours to come here and I don’t regret trying it.

Definitely want to be here early if you come on a Saturday. I arrived 20 minutes early and there was already a line forming. When I left about 45 minutes after they opened the line was down the block. They could probably stand to have more than 1 person cutting the meat for trays as it is quite slow. I got my food and the person I was with didn’t come outside to sit down for another 5+ minutes.

I got the trinity platter with a Texas Twinkie.

Ribs - Perfectly cooked. Easily came off the bone, but didn’t fall off so they were easy to eat. BBQ sauce and smoke flavor were good and blended perfectly.

Sausage - I got the spicy sausage that is cheese filled. It was mid and I wasn’t a big fan of it. The sweet sausage is not cheese filled and while I still wasn’t a huge fan of it, it was better. I wish I could’ve substituted this one for something else, but subs weren’t allowed.

Brisket - I went with the fatty option because I normally have liked the fattier pieces. I found myself wishing I’d gone with the leaner option to get more meat out of it. Flavor was good, but the fat was a bit much for me, and I’ll normally eat beef or pork fat without issue.

Biriyani - This was something I was really excited for, but while I did finish it I would say it’s one of the worst I’ve had. The rice was undercooked and the flavor didn’t do it for me. The person I was with also wasn’t a big fan of it either.

Cornbread - I’m torn on this one. I loved the cardamom flavor and the texture was fantastic. It didn’t really taste like cornbread though and I found I preferred it as an after meal dessert option instead of eating it during. I would’ve preferred a more traditional tasting cornbread for my meal with the cardamom cornbread as a dessert after.

Texas Twinkie - Delicious. Recently had to pay 14 dollars for 3 small Texas twinkies that didn’t compare to this one. I’d recommend it, though it was spicier than they claimed and I preferred that. It’s big enough that’s it’s not a bad app to split between two people too.

Milk Bread - I love milk bread and this is no exception, but it didn’t really pair with the food the way a nice piece of white bread would’ve. It goes great with the desserts though. I was dipping it in my banana pudding and it was a delicious combo.

Banana pudding - Nothing to write home about. Something of a bog-standard banana pudding, but banana pudding is delicious in general so it’s hard to fail. The lack of nilla wafers was my biggest complaint. I think they had some crushed and sprinkled, but I prefer the whole wafers getting softened in the pudding.

Sauces - All good, but I think I preferred the non-spicy one the most. I never fully wrapped my head around the yellow one being curry flavored and not mustard flavored. Would’ve loved to have a mustard flavored sauce to go with my meal. Especially for...

Southern Junction what can I say... Bbq with an Indie fusion that's absolutely incredible! My husband and I visited this establishment earlier today at 27 Chandler St. It's with a conglomerate of other small businesses in the same building. Signage helps to point you in the right direction, and you can smell the smokey-deliciousness throughout the first floor. Staff is welcoming and attentive, and willing to describe what they have to offer. We ordered: *Beef brisket platter with two sides. We choose brisket biryani and smoked cauliflower. *Mesquite smoked chicken with hot bbq sauce on the side *Brisket biryani rice bowl

The beef brisket is thick slices of fork tender, juicy, smokey, but not overly so yummy beef. The crust is nicely seasoned, a little spicy and delectable. The brisket biryani rice has bits of the brisket throughout a colorful spiced rice. You can taste the Indie spices such as cumin, cardamom and turmeric in a flakey basmati rice. If you like Indian food, get extra of this rice. It's that worth it! The smoked cauliflower is covered in curry-like spices with a strong smokey flavor. I can't pin point if I just simply like it, or love it. It has me a bit puzzled, but it is delicious. I would definitely order it again. The smoked chicken is spicy, smokey, and juicy boneless skinless chicken breast. By itself, it's pretty darn good. But dipped into the hot bbq sauce takes it over the top. The bbq sauce is slightly smokey, sweet, spicy and vinegary all at the same time. If Southern Junction sold their bbq sauce I'd definitely purchase it. And, to be honest, I'm not usually a fan of bbq sauce. But it's that good! The brisket biryani rice bowl has the same thick-cut brisket atop the flavorful brisket biryani rice, but it's paired with pickled red onion, cilantro, a soft boiled egg and a spicy mint-cilantro sauce. If you get nothing else TRY THIS BOWL! The red onion and the spicy sauce pair perfectly with the rice, and the egg has a soft, creamy yolk that makes it a beautiful palate cleanser to the rich brisket. I'm not sure if there's a place within the building to sit down to enjoy your food, but the grab and go option works great for us...