Southern Crescent Galley and Bar — Restaurant in Charlottesville

2.5 Stars. I'm hesitant to give a negative review, but our recent dining experience still lingers in our minds after two weeks. Despite our anticipation, fueled by positive reviews and the promise of authentic Southern cuisine, our visit left much to be desired.

Upon arriving, the bizarre set-up threw us off - no one greeted us, and it was not clear what the seating situation was. It took going to the bar and asking to find out that you seat yourself, scan a QR code for the menu, and then walk up to the bar for any drinks or food that you want. That seems reasonable enough, but when it comes down to needing anything (more water, another drink, more food, etc.) having to leave your table, wait in line at the bar, and then get someone to come to you disrupts the evening and takes away from the experience. Despite that, there were a few pros to the experience:

Pros: The atmosphere and decor are charming, and inviting which creates a great vibe. The outdoor seating for warmer weather would be a great place to hang out and have a few drinks with friends. -The staff was friendly enough, and the owner seemed welcoming when she came to clear our plates. I appreciate a limited menu and liked the available drink options.

Cons: The previously mentioned ordering system. Sadly, the food, and we had a lot of it: The gator bites and hush puppies were okay, and the red beans and rice were decent. The bread and butter - literally, that’s it for $4, was fine. Catfish sticks were battered in, what we came to realize, pretty much the same thing that everything else is battered in - unseasoned cornmeal. Fried green tomatoes were fried well, but totally unseasoned with the smallest dime-sized amount of remoulade on it, not nearly enough to accommodate for the size and lack of seasoning the tomatoes were fried in. Fried Okra - again, battered in the same unseasoned cornmeal, but also battered -whole- - I've never in my life experienced whole okra battered like this, so despite being fried it was still slimy and hard to eat, and my family and I love okra. Jambalaya - this is typically my husbands favorite dish, but like everything else was lacking seasoning. It came out in a small camp mug, which was also bizarre (we had to go to the bar and ask for a bowl to make it easier to eat) and for $44 for two orders, was not worth the cost. The coffee - this was the nail in the coffin for me. I'm a veteran and have had my fair share of bad cups of coffee in my lifetime but this took the cake. I typically drink my coffee black, but ended up using all the creamer and multiple heapings of sugar to try and cover up the acidic bitterness of what was given to me. Not even creamer and sugar could make me finish the small cup.

While the establishment may excel as a social spot or for those unaccustomed to Southern flavors, we won't be returning. We offer our best wishes and truly hope that...

It's Friday night should have known better than to come here. The place was not packed. All the other restaurants adjacent to this one were packed with customers. Aesthetically, at first the vibe is old creole French Louisiana, buts is a run down old house. We sat outside, the metal furniture is rusted; doesn't work when you wearing light colored pants. We didn't see any rats, like other customers mentioned. The service was lacking big time. No enthusiasm to ask if you want a refill. Staff member was drinking as we could smell alcohol on them and could see them drinking behind the bar. We were not given napkins, had to ask. No plates to eat appetizers on. No utensils. Had to wave them down to get the entree order and then the check. There was only 3 couples there so not crowded. Water in carafe was luke warm. The table was sticky, so sticky my phone stuck to it... Yuck! The menu is lacking items from the online menu. We ordered the gator bites, not good. It was pureed ingredients. Don't know if there was actual meat in them. Ordered the oyster and shrimp po boy. It came with 2 tiny hush puppies. See photo. Oysters tasted like gritty mud. The batter could not mask it. French bread was soft which was the only plus, but the entire sandwich fell apart. As many reviews say the taste is bland and that is very true. No spice, no taste. Definitely not Creole...

Sadly my first time here I won’t be back. Food was not good. I met my friends here and the waitress was attentive in the beginning but it went down hill from there. When it got busier she checked on us but we had to wait longer times than normal for the everything.

I ordered the raw oysters and although they were fresh, there was a lot of dirt and shells in them. I was disappointed because it was the first time my friend tried one. She couldn’t even get enjoy it because of the sand.

Our order came out all at different times even though we ordered our entrees at the same time. I waited a long time for my second drink and ended up cancelling it when the waitress told me after 10 minutes it was next in line. My friend ordered the Alligator bites which I’ve had in New Orleans and it there was no alligator meat. It was mostly dough.

I own a business and when I mentioned to the waitress that there was hardly any meat she didn’t even acknowledge what I said. This was after we paid the bill and to just let her know that we didn’t like it and why. She didn’t seem to care.

Maybe this was an off night, but I don’t think I...