Southern Junction Nightclub & Steakhouse — Restaurant in Fate

After being a loyal customer of SoJo over the last 25 years, I won’t be going back. Recently, we decided to take our adult daughter and friends, so we referred to the website guidelines and made several calls to confirm details and make reservations for a dinner party, planing to stay for a concert. To start, the morale of the front desk ladies is obviously very down. No smiles, or enthusiasm at all. Then, no one (I asked two people, neither of whom made eye contact or smiled) could tell me a WiFi password so that I could text other guests who were attempting to arrive - there shows to be a public wifi, but one girl volunteered that they do not have WiFi for the public. The kicker: We paid $250+ dollars and were asked to leave at 8:30pm because one of our cousins who was there with us was 17. The website clearly says 17yo can stay until 11pm. The last sentence of this paragraph says “subject to change” which is very vague and does not indicate that something as specific time-to-exit age limit be the thing to change. I was livid, but it gets better. Melissa, the very unprofessional manager, would not even give us a raincheck, much less a refund and she was yelling at my husband and a friend of the family who were simply asking for explanations and clarification - make it make sense. My husband could have asked additional questions on the phone when making the reservation, sure, but when you hear that a party for an 18yo is coming in, and you’re a long-standing venue for gatherings, you should anticipate anything and everything. Give full disclosure! Say, “Oh, your daughter’s 18? Okay, please keep in mind that if any of her relatives or friends are 17, they’ll be asked to leave at 8:30pm even though our website says 11pm. We won’t care that you’ve driven an hour to come to our establishment, or that you’ve been a patron for a quarter of a century. We’ll even keep your money without even so much as a rain check.” At least then, we could have planned accordingly and avoided this entire fiasco. I’ve worked in team management for years, and have never treated a customer in this fashion. So, any money that I would have ever potentially spent in the future there is now gone as long as the establishment owner sees fit for someone so lacking in decorum, professionalism and proactiveness to continue to “manage” there. The sad thing is that the sweet server, Amber, lost a huge chunk of tip income that evening as we were a party of 12. Amber, you deserve a better leader. Melissa, do better. There are workshops out there to improve your customer approach skills. If this is how you treat customers, I can only imagine how you treat your employees. The evidence that there is a problem is clearly there as the morale of your team is super depleted. So, neighbors, if you’re looking for decent customer service when you need it, go somewhere else. So...

Southern Junction: Where You Pay to Cook Your Own Steak and Dodge Two-Steppin’ Trainwrecks

If you’ve ever thought, “Man, I’d love to go to a place where I pay top dollar just to grill my own dinner, inhale a fog of Marlboro smoke, and watch drunk cowboys attempt to two-step,” then congratulations—Southern Junction is your kind of joint.

The Food: Hope You Brought Your Own Chef

Southern Junction has a “cook your own steak” policy, which is just a fancy way of saying, “We’re too lazy to do it for you.” So if you wanted a perfectly cooked ribeye, I hope you also brought Gordon Ramsay. Otherwise, prepare for a hockey puck or a raw center that even a coyote wouldn’t eat.

The Drinks: Cold Beer, Warm Decisions

The beer is cold, but after a few rounds, your choices won’t be. If you enjoy overpriced mixed drinks that are mostly ice and the kind of tequila shots that make you text your ex, you’re in luck. They pour ‘em strong enough to make you think you can ride the mechanical bull—until you realize that thing bucks harder than child support payments.

The Dancing: Yeehaw or Oh Nah?

Ever wanted to see a grown man in Wranglers attempt to spin his partner and take out half the dance floor? This is your chance. The two-steppin’ at Southern Junction is either poetry in motion or a demolition derby, depending on how many beers have been consumed. And don’t even get me started on the line dancing—imagine a stampede of drunk cattle in cowboy boots.

The Atmosphere: One Big Cigarette Smoke Cloud with a Side of Country Chaos

Between the flashing neon beer signs, the occasional bar fight over who cut in line at the pool table, and the general smell of smoke, sweat, and regret, Southern Junction has all the charm of a gas station bathroom but with louder music. The crowd is a mix of real cowboys, wannabe cowboys, and people who just came for the chaos.

Final Verdict: 5/10, Would Return… If Someone Else Is Paying

Look, it’s an experience. If you enjoy grillin’ your own meal in a smoky honky tonk while dodging tipsy cowpokes who think they’re the next George Strait, you might love it here. If not, save your money and go somewhere that actually serves you a steak without making you do...

We went last night with my inlaws. (We were a big group) We use to be some of the regulars on every Thursday but it had been a while since we have been. We were all sooo disappointed... First all of our meat was soggy and cold... like it was cooked yesterday, then put in water in refrigerator, then served to us. 🤢We heard table next to us talking about it too... We paid 130 plus tip for our food... everything cost extra (salad,fries etc) things that use to be included in the all you can eat ribs, Everything now cost extra.. 😡Going back to the food. Horrible we will not be eating here again... we were all so disappointed as we have missed it... we were about to start coming for dance lessons again... maybe next time we will eat somewhere else if we come back? also the whole place smells like an old dirty sponge...(maybe an bad roof leak you got going on? ) Its a very pungent smell.. The whole place is so run down (bathrooms are the worst... nasty) The whole place has gotten much worse in the past 2 or 3 years.. if you guys dont fix something your going to continue to lose business (small crowd last night) ... very sad... Oh and for whatever reason there was a waitress laying on the girls bathroom floor blocking the door. Had a hard time getting up... (this was 730am) Gross.... drugs? Drunk? Idk she said she was "pulling up her pants and had to lay down to do so" Hopefully you guys will update the whole place, fix the old dirty sponge smell (the snack bar) Bring the good cook back. Before its too late and you have to close because of lack of business... Im not writing the review to be mean. I sincerely would like to give a review of what people are thinking or saying in hopes that it will be taken seriously. Yall are the closest country club around would like to come back on a regular basis but we are all willing to go elsewhere, as there are nicer places.. This makes us all sad... I grew up coming here all...