South House Garden — Restaurant in Gaithersburg

How was the food? I wouldn’t know, never ordered! How was the drinks? I wouldn’t know, never ordered! How was the service? I wouldn’t know, never got it!

I was looking forward to this place but it didn’t even half way meet my expectations. When I walked in, there was no one to greet me…but I was met with a bunch of stares as I tried to navigate myself to a table. A server noticed my confusion and said hello how may I help you…and told me I can sit anywhere.

After sitting, a server brought water to the tables, no smiles, no greetings…just placed the water on the table and left in a blink of an eye.

I decided to sit at the bar because it was extremely dark and secluded where I was sitting.

Upon moving to the bar, I waited patiently…. And no one ever acknowledged me. It looked to be two bartenders and about 8 patrons. 4 who already had drinks and food in front of them. I waited… and waited. Decided on my drink…. and waited….. decided on the food and waited… saw a bartender at the register speaking to an employee that I’m assuming was off work because they were not in uniform…. That’s when I said enough is enough and left….

I’ve been in hospitality for 15years. I’ve worked in fast pace sports bars, craft cocktail bars and fine dining establishments. I have started a hospitality training company because of my experience as well as the extreme need for servers to be adequately trained. There are 12 simple steps to service that most restaurants are unaware of but are the foundation to a great customer experience and will guarantee returning patrons. I believe this establishment has potential… but there’s more to opening a restaurant than cooking! Front of house needs to run like a machine. Every guest deserves a great experience and it begins when they walk through that door. I unfortunately did not get to have a great experience.

I understand that the establishment may be understaffed, however, from my observation and my experience…. They were not understaffed for the amount of patrons to servers ratio that I observed.

If you can socialize with an off duty employee at the bars register, you can definitely greet guests.

Other reviews have expressed my exact experience. If you need help training, reach out to me! I’ll gladly assist…. Sometimes retraining means hiring new staff as present staff can have an issue with being trained after they are used to the way they have been doing things.

I would suggest retraining the staff and hiring a host and floor manager if there is not already one in place. Train the staff to acknowledge guests within the first 1-2 min of them arriving. Introduce themselves to the guest and take the drink order all within 4 min of the guest being seated. Just some free and hopefully...

Let’s talk South House Garden.

From the pics, you can probably tell—they’re trying to give upscale vibes. And honestly? They’re not far off. It’s like the place whispered, “luxury,” and someone almost heard it. That said, the atmosphere was cute and chill.

Our waitress—let’s call her Jessica (not sure if that’s her government name)—was about two weeks into the job. She did alright! Even took some shots with us, which, if nothing else, showed commitment to the brunch vibe.

Now this is where the experience really took off: Uncle Skip. Yes, that man deserves a paragraph of his own. Engaging, wise, hilarious—he dropped gems and punchlines like a philosopher with a side hustle in comedy. Honestly, I’d go back just to talk to him again.

Okay, now for the main event: The Unlimited Mimosas. They were decent—worth it if your server stays on top of refills. Luckily, ours did. And shoutout to them for honoring our “Morgan champagne, less juice” request. That made it feel like real bottomless mimosas, not just a few sips and a sad wait.

Food-wise? I started with the surf and turf. The lamb was seasoned beautifully and tender—just a smidge more medium than I’d like. (Pro tip: “well done” isn’t a personality trait. Learn your meat temps—it’s part of the enlightenment journey.)

The mac and cheese? Surprisingly delightful. Creamy, balanced, and didn’t taste like it came from a box. Well done.

I also got a little greedy and ordered the banana foster French toast (or something in that delicious category), scrambled eggs, and shrimp & grits. The French toast? Chef’s kiss. Big portions, rich flavor, and I even added an extra slice for no good reason except “birthday calories don’t count.” The eggs were… eggs. Solid, no complaints.

Now the shrimp & grits? That’s where grace comes in. I know my way around a kitchen, and let’s just say… these didn’t rise to the occasion. A little too seasoning-salt-heavy, maybe not their best batch. We’ve all had off days.

Service was solid overall, especially given the brunch crowd. It’s a busy place, so I get it.

Would I go back? Absolutely. It wasn’t a Michelin-star experience, but it was a good time—and sometimes, that’s exactly what you need. I did read reviews that were less than glowing, so results may vary, especially depending on the day you go (weekend vs weekday definitely makes a difference).

Also yes, the 20% gratuity is real. And fair. Pay folks what they’re owed or brunch at home.

All in all? Great birthday vibes. Good food. Good people. A few surprises. I left full, happy, and a little tipsy—which is exactly how brunch should end.

Until the...

I was really excited to try this restaurant with my family and was super sad to be completely disappointed by our waitress. We arrived excited for a Friday happy hour! We were sat at a high top in the corner and immediately given waters which was great! Our waitress came over shortly after and took our orders, never introduced herself or even really said anything it was odd, but we did get some drinks and apps in. After 25 minutes of no drinks coming to the table, I asked about the drinks with another waitress who was happy to help! She brought over the wine and cocktail which had been sitting at the bar for some time. My father was still missing his beer but I figured it would be here shortly. A little bit after our food came which was great! But still no beer, so after the waitress never touching back with our table after the food was delivered, we asked another employee about the beer. About 30 minutes into the meal the waitress came over and said they didn’t have the beer anymore and we needed to choose something else (which is totally fine but we would have loved to just know that from the start). We chose another beer and it came. We finished our apps, ready to place another drink and our dinner order and then…. Nothing. Our waitress never came back to our table. She walked by our table 3 times and looked away from us at the bar, even with us saying excuse me to try to get her attention. At that point, we ended up standing up and were just going to move to the bar, but another wait staff stopped us and asked what we needed. At that point we just asked for the check. It was a really odd feeling then, like all the waiters were talking about us when I promise on my life we didn’t make a big stink about anything, just wanted what we had ordered and we were paying for. It was so awkward and such an unpleasant experience with very unprofessional staff. I rarely, if ever, leave a restaurant/bar feeling the way I left this place. Truly felt like we were being purposely ignored and like I did something wrong by coming here, super sad it ruined my Friday evening! I do want to say though, two stars because I actually liked the apps we received and it had great prices. I’m not sure what went wrong with...