Southern Roots Restaurant — Restaurant in Jamestown

Thanks to its proximity to both work and home, its local ownership and use of locally inspired ingredients, and its tantalizing menu, Southern Roots had occupied a spot on my to-try list for quite some time. I finally got my chance today, and while it was an uneven experience, I am glad that I did.

Nestled in downtown (if one can call it that) Jamestown across from the post office, Southern Roots is a fairly attractive space inside and out. It features an inviting patio, an elegant long bar, and plenty of wall art though the palette is very muted.

My wife and I arrived for lunch to celebrate our anniversary just after noon and had our pick of inside or outside seating. We opted for the former, which ended up being a mistake as we found ourselves in close proximity to two large groups. This made for a louder meal with slower service than anticipated, and one can hope that is the exception rather than the norm here.

Southern Roots offers an appealing menu full of local and regional specialties and a few surprises. Fried green tomatoes, pulled pork, and country steak mingle alongside artisanal pizzas (okra with caramelized onions, anyone?), sandwiches, salads, and more. Quinoas and quiches rotate daily, and one can cobble together a vegetarian plate from any four of the dozen-plus sides.

My wife and I split the fried green tomatoes (one of our go-to dishes) and went with the Cobb wrap (guac, house-smoked turkey, bacon, tomato, greens, and blue cheese) and seafood risotto (scallops, shrimp, crab, portabellas, and a parmesan cream sauce) respectively. The tomatoes were crispy and very nicely battered, but the dish could have used some more spiciness/smokiness (more pimento, perhaps?) to balance the potent sweetness of the accompanying applewood bacon jam. A similar theme could be found in the Cobb wrap. The turkey was great (as were the accompanying sweet potato fries), but there weren’t enough vegetables to counter the pungent strength of the blue cheese. The risotto, on the other hand, was magical. Scallops were perfectly seared yet not the least bit tough, shrimp were generously sized, portabella slivers fit in well, and the whole thing was cheesy, creamy perfection.

While a pricy dinner option, Southern Roots made for a more affordable than expected lunch. Our app was $8, the wrap was $9 (with one side included), and the seafood risotto was $16. Our server was apologetic regarding delays and acquitted himself well otherwise.

All told, while Lucky 32 remains my favorite for upscale Southern, I would still give Southern Roots another try. It would be worth it to learn if this place is ever not busy and if anything on the menu touches the quality of...

Had an awful experience last night! I love the food at this place and brought someone that had never been. I warned him it would be a lengthy wait which is typical for a Saturday night. That is very much to be expected. we got there at 7:09pm and was seated at 7:58, not bad at all. Here is where the downhill spiral starts. The waitress comes over brings water and ask if we want other drinks. My guest ordered a cider from the bar, I asked for straws and we Go Ahead and Order our Food because we had been waiting and reviewed menu during the wait. she takes our order and takes 20 minutes to return with Cider and I had to ask for straws again! she returns another 20 minutes later and says food should be coming up shortly it takes a while for a well done burger. Maam it does not take but a couple of extra minutes to do a well done burger and cook times on the items we ordered are minimum. This was an insult as I and my guest have managed restaurants in the industry for years!!! This is what my degrees are in. So when I am looking at several tables that came and ordered well after us continuously getting food and even finishing up meals it really became a problem for me because there was no way our order was put in when we ordered. After 1 hour and 2 minutes I get up ask a man in the kitchen for a manager. He asked me what the problem was and I told him about how we had been waiting. He asked what we had I told him, he says it will be right up. By that time waitress was back at table after being missing in action and tries to act as if this wait was normal which as an industry professional and someone that loves to eat waiting over and hour for food is not acceptable. watching table after table order food and finish food is not normal. So after 1 hour and 5 minutes and no food on our table I was furious and made the decision to leave! No Manager came to address the issue and I will never be back! I will stop recommending this place and stop bringing...

Wow! We found this entire town on accident all thanks to this restaurant. Beautiful atmosphere, great service and wonderful food. We started with fried oysters. Perfectly cooked with a spicy aioli and a bacon vinaigrette dressing for dipping. I personally preferred the aioli for dipping and the dressing for the greens that accompanied the dish. I then got the tossed salad with their homemade (all of their dressings are made in house) balsamic dressing. Wow wow wow. This ended up being my favorite dish of the night. All of the flavors of this salad mixed together perfectly and had the best taste. For dinner I wanted to try all the sides (and I'm a plant based Dieter) so I did a veggie plate. I had four choices and I chose: Mac and cheese - it was good. I tend to prefer creamier but I did like the taste (see collard greens) Brussel sprouts - sweet and crunchy. Perfectly cooked and delicious. Collard greens - wonderfully seasoned and great vinegar on the side. I discovered that the collards mixed with the mac and cheese with vinegar all mixed in was heavenly! Cornbread - wasn't my fav. I tend to like moist and sweet. This was dry and needed the honey butter. But with the honey butter was pretty good. I also tasted my husband's grits. They were ok. I've had better. His mahi mahi was phenomenal though and I would highly recommend it. We decided to get dessert. He picked strawberry red velvet and I went with the jack daniels bread pudding. In my opinion the red velvet was the winner. I've never had a red velvet with strawberries and now I dont plan to ever eat another without it again! So good. That being said the bread pudding was good and it was my husband's favorite so it definitely should not lose any bonus points. Service was awesome. Our server was so friendly and patient. She took great care. We want to come back again and again. We live almost an hour and a half away and it is not too far for...