The War Mouth — Restaurant in Columbia

Came to this place with my girlfriend and her family, which consisted of 5 adults and three kids, to celebrate her birthday. We called 15-20 minutes ahead to set up the reservation and they were able to accommodate us with no hitch. Their menu and what they offered was a little unfamiliar to us but our server gladly took the time to familiarize us to what their specials are and what they offer, especially since there wasn’t really a kid’s menu available for the kiddos we had with us. TL;DR, great restaurant and am happy that they were able to make room for us within a small timeframe, with only a couple tiny gripes that keeps me from giving it a 5 star. I’ll go more in depth in this next bit of text.

Our group was just getting off from a day-long visit to the Riverbank Zoo. We were having trouble deciding what to eat since we all live in Charlotte, NC and we don’t know the area in Columbia that well. We opted for The War Mouth, which fit our criteria for a good time with their selection of food and an alcoholic drink menu. We called beforehand to set up a reservation, in which they said they don’t really do reservations but the host asked how many of us were in the group and they went ahead and got everything ready within 15 minutes. We took our seats and our server came up to take our drink orders and told us about their specials for the day, which included a mushroom dumpling dish which my girlfriend ordered. Everyone ordered either the chicken salad sandwich, bbq plate with a rack of ribs, or smoked chicken wings. I haven’t tried this dish before, so I ordered the catfish and grits. As for drinks, I heard a couple of the people in our group order the Island in the Sun and my GF ordered the Carolina Queen Bee, which had a nice, flavorful kick in my opinion. After talking and waiting a good bit for our food, our plates finally arrived. Everyone loved their food and I’m glad to say the catfish and grits were an excellent choice. Fish pulled apart smoothly and the grits paired well with it. Since The War Mouth doesn’t have a kid’s menu, we created our own plates for them. We ordered two Mac and cheese plates for two kids, which were perfect for the kid and the adult since the portion size for those plates were much bigger than we thought. We also ordered a roasted veggie plate for a 1 Y/O in the group but didn’t realize that they included mushrooms, which was fault on our end because we didn’t inform them that the mother of the couple had a mushroom allergy. Nonetheless, we used the Mac and cheese and chicken wings to feed him. My GF was a little disappointed because she ordered the mushroom dumplings thinking it would be a big dish but it turned out to be a tiny dish, with a couple veggies and a handful of small dumplings that turned out to be priced higher than we expected, but had an exceptional flavor. Luckily, everyone chipped in with their share of food since we all had good portions and didn’t want the birthday girl to starve!

We spent about 2-3 hours in the restaurant, enjoying the time and food together. We decided to go for dessert before we left. We had a fruity pebble cheesecake, chocolate mousse, and a budino pudding. Both the cheesecake and mousse were really good! We were a bit befuddled by the budino, because the way The War Mouth makes it is similar to a Hispanic drink we often drink, called Atole, in which they both use cornmeal as an ingredient. The budino sets itself apart from atole by the temperature it is served in; it comes cold instead of hot. My friend beside me didn’t really like it too much, so I eagerly took it off his hands because I really enjoyed the flavor of it!

Overall, a great end to a great day as we sang happy birthday to my GF, which we were happy with as we noticed a few of The War Mouth’s patrons chiming in to our song! We were satisfied with the service and food that was provided! I wish I got the waitress’ name because she was phenomenal with our group and even took the roasted veggies off the bill due to the allergy issue! And of course, huge compliments...

Warmouth (one of my bucket list restaurants). This was definitely a fun experience. Pulled up early at 5:30 on a Thursday. Plenty of parking available. We were greeted immediately at the door and sat promptly. The vibe there was very welcoming, that "cheers " vibe. Very relaxed. It was a little smokey from the ribs, but who complains about the aroma of smoked meat. Not me! Our waiter was very quick to great us. I will say it was quite chilly in there, I am in my 40s and nearing the "change" so if I say it was chilly...take note. We ordered so many appetizers. We started out with with fried pork belly. I will start off my suggesting (just my preference) the bigger pieces were a little tough and chewy. The smaller pieces were absolute perfection. The nice crispy crust and inside the fat was rendered perfectly where it just melted away as you bit into it. I dipped the smaller bites into their house made jalepeno sauce. Which is a must, the heat doesn't build much so you can still enjoy the flavors. Next we had the fried onion petals. These you must get. They are lightly battered, not overwhelmed with that heavy grease. The onion adds just the perfect amount of sweetness. The sauce is the perfect dipping sauce, a little sweetness and savory. Next up, was the snapper pate. Let me just say this....this needs to be sold in pints. The dip was not overwhelming fishy. The fish was fresh and very flavorful. There was not too much added "sauce" that it overpowered the main star. Everything was balanced perfectly. It came with fried saltine crackers (I believe). The crispness of the crunch from the fried cracker and the fresh, savory creaminess of the snapper, can only be described as eclectic comfort food. We also ordered the cheese board. It had 3 or 4 different cheeses. From hard to soft cheeses. Accompanied with local honey comb, and this concoction Wasabi sweet addition. I throughly enjoyed the rich and sweet flavors of the cheeses with I used the bread to place the cheeses on and became a mad scientist. I would add a little bit of honey comb and Wasabi dip to my creations. The Wasabi creation is just an adventure for your palate. First that hits your taste buds is the sweetness...then hold on here comes that Wasabi punch. Amazing!! So you have the the sweetness of the honey, then the saltiness of the cheese. Or you have the sweetness of the Wasabi mixture, followed by the Wasabi kick, ending with the nice subtle cheese. I would like to suggest, based on the season, a nice fruit compote or spread. I kept imaging how amazing a nice blueberry or fig compote would be with these cheeses. The richness of the cheese , followed up with a touch of sweetness with fruit. I am going to have to stop now. We did order our main course, but I was so full from appetizers that I don't feel I could give an honest review. Maybe next time. As I sat and enjoyed my food, I took the time to observe the flow of the restaurant. If there was a hiccup, you would never know. Everyone worked diligently and with purpose. From the kitchen to the front. It was a well orchestrated flow. Food did not wait at the kitchen to be served, the chef staff hustled and flowed, consistently putting out plates. I watched the bar staff bring out fresh pomegranates for their patrons. In the background you could hear the shaking of the ice as the they made hand crafted drinks. I watched as the staff treated each table, including ours as if we were the most important patrons in the restaurant. Each table that I witnessed being served was taken care like they were family. Thank you Warmouth for the unique and flavorful...

I was almost deterred by the few meh food reviews but decided to come based on the Eater writeup and the menu. WOW am I so glad we did. We are foodies and have traveled all over for food, and honestly this is the best "southern restaurant" we've had at this price point. I really hate going to southern restaurants usually because they serve a blah version of what my family can do really well, but this was not so at The War Mouth.

I saw a few reviews talking about price negatively which I didn't understand. 3 appetizers, 2 entrees, 1 drink, and 1 take-home hot sauce came in right at $100 before tip, which is a steal compared to where I live - probably would be $150 with no hot sauce.

The vibe was perfect for us - casual but well done. We were driving through and in comfy car-ride clothes and didn't feel out of place. Others were dressed in cuter outfits than ours and they didn't look out of place, either. The music was perfect, too.

Food specifics: Fried catfish and grits // holy wow. I've genuinely never had fried catfish this good in a restaurant; you could tell it was fresh. The grits were also perfect and didn't test like boring corn meal + water grits. Pork special with peach and pepper chutney // soo good and a great balance of acid in the greens to the balance the weight of the rice and butter beans in the dish. Silly Rabbit drink // this was weird in the BEST way. SUPER refreshing and not too tart or sweet. I'm going to try to make something like it at the beach. Hot sauce // made in-house and the perfect balance of heat and spice, particularly for garlic lovers. So good I purchased a take-home bottle! Deviled eggs // the use of bright herbs was so clever and definitely leveled up your average salt + paprika flavors. Def something I want to try at home. Marinated olives // pairing with crème fraiche was something I've never seen and I order marinated olives everywhere I can. So unique and worth trying. I do prefer my marinated olives to be oven baked to release the oils and soften them a bit plus add to the depth of the herbs, but all in all they were good and I would recommend them for anyone who likes olives. Boiled peanuts // These were good but not spectacular BUT I'm very biased because I was raised on 4-hour slow-boiled peanuts. These were not consistent in texture and not nearly salty enough but were a fun thing to have that I don't have often. So many were served that I got my fill of great-texture ones.

Definitely give The War Mouth a try! I hope to have it again the next time we're...