Whiskey Alley Saloon — Restaurant in Columbia

Usually, you expect bar food to be heavy, greasy, or skimpy and tasteless. Not here! We popped in for a weekday lunch, and we're surprised at the top-level food and thoughtful service here. The Food! I ordered the "Surfs Up" featuring grilled haddock on Savarino Baguette, with lemon pepper sauce, lettuce, tomato, and red onion. My side was Tomato Basil cup of soup. The fish was cooked beautifully, lighted garnished with the sauce and vegetables, on a crunchy baguette that was so soft in the middle! So delicious. The Tomato Basil soup was the best I've ever had. It was creamy without being runny , and the tomato base was thick with enough texture to see and taste the vegetable. You will just have to try it to see how good it is! My husband had the "Saloon Smash Burger " featuring smoked guyere cheese with Wagyu Beef and lamb patties sandwiched between. A dressing of chimichurri and harissa aoili was accompanied by fresh lettuce, sliced tomato, and slivers of red onion, all on the Santorini Baguette. Tomato Basil soup was his choice also for the side dish. He couldn't have been happier! Nice wine and beer selections are also available. The atmosphere. Think Southern speakeasy with the charm of period antiques. It's definitely cozy with an upscale feel. Loved it! The Service. Impeccable. Every detail was given attention to by our server, and she was genuinely happy to do so. Being an early lunch, she handled all the patrons by herself, without being rushed or harried. You don't see that at very many places anymore. Thank you so much for what turned out to be an intimate dining experience. We can't wait to come back and enjoy the...

I wanted to love this place—we desperately need more independent restaurants in Columbia. Unfortunately, it fell short of expectations.

The good: The atmosphere is fantastic, and my husband really enjoyed his Good, Bad, and the Ugly cocktail, while I liked my mocktail.

The not-so-good: The food and service were disappointing. We started with the artichoke crostini, but the first bite was a disaster—my husband immediately noticed the artichokes were fermented from being too old. We ordered a second one, which tasted much better, but it arrived on an untoasted slice of bread, which took away from the texture. The parmesan truffle fries came out cold, which made the fake taste of the over-used truffle oil cling to the roof of my mouth.

Next, we shared the Green Goddess salad ($18) and the Birria Poboy. The salad was underwhelming—the roti that came with it was more like an undercooked, dried-out pancake, and the dressing was a bland, whipped avocado mixture with no salt, no acid, and no real flavor. The birria sandwich was better—I found the meat and au jus to be flavorful, though my husband thought it was forgettable.

Service: Friendly but painfully slow, despite the restaurant being less than half full.

Overall, a disappointing experience. I suspect the review stating the food was “exquisite” was left by the owner’s bff. I wanted this to be a new favorite, but sadly, we probably...

Some restaurants are who they claim to be: They specialize in the preparing and serving of a wide variety of delicious and well-prepared foods. Unfortunately, the Whiskey Alley Saloon is not. It’s essentially a long bar with big sports TVs trying to be what is isn’t: An eatery that people would actually want to visit for a good meal. The menu is limited, focusing more on appetizers and wannabe entrees. And those options cannot be changed (the chef and owner make that very clear) unless you want to pay $5 or much more. Given there was only one fish option (combined with beef and chicken), I decided to order a veggie appetizer with a salad. Both selections turned out to be mediocre (bland) with smaller-than-average portions. My friend ordered an entree, and his was appetizer size. Meanwhile, the prices were steep for what we got. Worse yet, the menu was inaccurate. Part of my plate was empty because the item wasn’t available (even though it was listed on the menu). I found the waitress to be charming, the server to be clueless, and the owner to be dogmatic (defending his chef over the needs of a customer). So much for “The customer is always right.” My prediction would be that this eatery won’t last more than a year. But it does serve beer and cocktails, so perhaps I’m wrong. If you’ve had a better experience there with the food, then please speak up. Maybe it was just a bad day. It certainly ended my...