Southern Social Eagan — Restaurant in Eagan

I speak with the authority of a southerner moved to Minnesota as a write this review.

Let's start with the atmosphere: it was fine. I'll say if you are sitting outside, the road is loud. The water out there is murky. I will sit inside next time.

The service .. our waitress was great. The length of time it took to get our food was insane. I could have strangled my own chicken, plucked it, buttermilk soaked it, made my own dredge, brought my oil to temp, and fried the whole thing in the time it took to get my food. That said, I didn't complain, neither did my husband. And the waitress herself actually acknowledged it and had part of our bill taken care of, which we appreciated. So, thank you! Also she was generally just pleasant. She had a whole patio to herself it looked like, so I'm thinking y'all might need to hire more folks and treat them real nice so there's plenty of people to work in a busy Sunday both in the kitchen frying up chicken, and waiting tables.

Now, the food:

Y'all needed to change your oil. I wanted to like everything, but there was a slightly rancid taste from oil that needed to be changed. Or maybe you're using crappy oil with the wrong smoke point and it's turning skunky on you too fast. You are frying food. Food that would otherwise be good. Please figure this out.

We ordered the hush puppies. I think they needed a little more flavor to the batter, and the oil needed changed. The color was not a golden brown but was actually borderline dark brown. It was too much. Someone forgot them in the fryer, didn't pull them when they were floating, give them a loving turn for evenness. Still, best hush puppies I've had in the North. So imagine if you'd pulled them and they looked good. And if your oil had not been part ruined leaving a lingering aftertaste.

My kid had the mac and cheese. He appreciated it wasn't kraft, so thank you for not cutting corners there.

My husband had the dark meat meal. Thank you for offering that because he prefers the dark. He ordered collards to go with it, as well as cheesy grits. I tasted both. We agree the collards were quite good. The cheesy grits were creamy and salted. My husband enjoyed the chicken.

So we'll move on to mine. I had the breast and wing meal with mashed potatoes and two biscuits. Positives about the chicken: you seasoned it. Best seasoned fried chicken I've had since leaving home outside my own kitchen. Negatives: you overcooked it. The white meat was dry. Not the first people to overcook white meat, won't be the last. The mashed potatoes were okay, but a bit waxy/over creamy. I appreciated that you left the skins. The gravy, no complaints. The biscuits... Not bad at all. The butter cup served with it was not really my cup of tea. Just a thing of melted butter... The jam.. Well, I make it better and I didn't end up using it. Frankly they were fine with the honey on them IMHO but that's probably just my own taste.

Your peach sweet tea was just not right. Too much tea taste. I didn't feel Wilford Brimley dancing around in my veins shouting DIABEETUS. It wasn't bad, but it was not good. I did, however, appreciate the effort. It was definitely sweer tea, not sweetened tea.

Overall, will try again. I'm interested in many things on the menu. This is way better than any other attempt at Southern dining that I've had in the Twin Cities. Handsome Hog is crap (read my review). Revival? Also crap. This... Pretty damn good overall, and a decent...

Another update: dined again last week, first time since last update. They still overcook their wings. They were so dry. The meat in the bbq platter was enjoyable. The beignets were raw in the middle, and barely had any powdered sugar on them. We sent them back. People reviewing this place really should have higher expectations. We won’t go back. They can’t cook.

Update: Finally made it in when it wasn’t overly busy. They still have some work to do. Updated my 1 star review to a 3, but we will go back again because there are enough reasons in menu items alone to go back and try more. I would be happy to update again.

Main things from our visit worth noting. $10 for 3 biscuits is extremely pretentious. They aren’t that good. You are price gouging. $6 or $7 seems a bit more fair. We stuck to the BBQ side of the menu, and weren’t disappointed. The ribs were outstanding. The only criticisms would be that they were very close to being over-seasoned, and a side of the bbq sauce as well would be welcomed. The pulled pork was tender, and juicy, and seasoned well, and perfect. The brisket was also great. Didn’t stand out, but no complaints either. Sides: we had the corn, mac and cheese, truffle fries, and sweet potato fries. Both the fries were fantastic. Great flavors. Only issue with the truffle fries was a puddle of oil in the bottom of the basket once you got about half way through them. The mac and cheese we would’ve ordered by the bucket if they would’ve allowed us to. It was incredible, and something that we will order every time we eat there. The corn was okay. I mean, it’s corn. We also ordered wings that they forgot to bring. When they finally brought them, they looked like they had been cooked about 10 minutes too long and had twice as much dry rub as needed. They were bad. Couldn’t swallow without drinking water. They were that dry. We sent them back. Which was fine because we had already finished the rest of our food by the time they had brought them out. Looking forward to some improvement our next time out.

One other thing about the restaurant layout. There is an awful lot of seating, and they have 1 urinal in the men’s restroom. Not sure who designed this place or who signed off on a single urinal, but there was a line of 3 people both before I used it, and after I finished. That wasn’t thought through well enough.

Original: Tried to place an order for pick-up, was told that they are only set up for dine-in only. Arrived to dine-in, was told 1 hour and 45 minute wait for a table. Terrible first impression. Don’t open a restaurant if you have no idea what you are doing. It’s a shame because the menu looks incredible. Would have...

It's all about the experience.

My experience: Hostess said there was a 5-10 minute wait. No problem. She asked for my phone number. I declined. She asked again, I declined and said I could give her my name. She asked for my name and my phone number. I declined. She stated she needed my phone number so she could page me when my table was ready. I pointed at a bench ten feet away and said I'd be sitting there. She asked for my phone number again. Before I could decline, her coworker said it was OK and asked for my name. Kudos to the coworker. Less than five minutes later a very nice lady took us to our table. This place is loud. Very LOUD. Concrete floors. Hard walls. Open ceiling. Crazy loud. In responses to other reviews, management stated they were working on it. Seems they haven't done anything yet. It's also pretty dark. Not just low lights, but dark walls, dark ceiling and a somewhat dark floor. Very cold and uninviting. The waitress was very nice. Everyone was very nice, even the one that kept asking me for my phone number was very nice (great staff). Unfortunately, it was so loud that even the waitress couldn't understand what we were asking and got our order wrong. When the bill came, they were very nice and took care of the misunderstanding that resulted in a financial penalty. The other two misunderstandings, I just ignored. Good choice in beverages. I selected a winter ale on tap. It tasted like some winter ales I've made myself. The food came out in a reasonable time, especially considering how busy they were. I grew up in Minnesota and even to me, the food was bland. Looked great, but flavorless. The descriptions in the menu were enticing, but the end product just didn't have any flavor. Also, not cooked as I had requested. I know the waitress heard that part right, as she repeated it back to me. 3% surcharge tacked on your bill. Just raise your prices 3%! I dislike games like this.

This place has a lot of potential, but doesn't live up to it. The food wasn't bad, but not good either. Again, all the staff were very nice and busting their behinds. Easily the most positive part of the experience.

Travis, don't tell me your working on it and ask me to email you. Reviews like mine have been around for a long time and they continue. ...