Social Southern Table & Bar — Restaurant in Lafayette

Pretentious? Not great? Unhappy/bored server didn't help.

I made a reservation. Pretty sure we had one of the worst tables in the restaurant. Directly adjacent to the front door. My husband sat next to me because the view from his seat (across from me) was of the busy entrance/front door. I wanted a glass of wine. The wine menu is buried at the back of the menu, is poorly organized and when I asked for a suggestion from the bartender of a good quality dry, white wine; I got a Riesling. Is that a joke? Rieslings are sweet. The bartender RECOMMENDED it. Um. No. I sent it back and requested a different wine. Our starter - the much recommended fried green tomatoes -were excellent. Should have stopped there. I intended to order the chicken and biscuits. When I saw a neighbors portion, I realized it was too big for me. I ordered the steak frites. Hard to mess up, right? Steak was cooked well. BUT WHY IS THERE A CHIMICHURRI SAUCE ON A FRENCH STEAK DISH? and sooooo much of it. Nothing about that comination makes sense, and the french fries are the wrong size and proportion for the dish. The sauce should be buttery and juicy and the fries should be thin and crispy on top, and soaked in jus on the bottom. The dish is a total fail. My husband had the shrimp and grits. He said it was fine, but heavy. Our server - Caitlin. I don't know if she was having a bad night or was tired or annoyed or what. But from her greeting to the check drop, we were an afterthought.

I spent many years waiting tables at a fine dining restaurant and I try to err on the 'benefit of the doubt' side with servers. Unfortunately, the poor service only made the meal more of a disappointment.

We get very few opportunities to eat out without our young children. Such a shame that we picked this restaurant and these dishes.

I can't...

It's been over a month since I've been there and I'm still annoyed with my experience at Social Southern. You walk in, nice looking place. The decor is how it should be- made to look like they cleared out a warehouse and then decorated it with modern retro fineries. It's a thing in restaurants these days. The urinal didn't flush in the men's room, it happens. If that were the only flaw, this would be a 4 star review. First glance at the menu, it's pricey. They have trendy names for trendy food, so I suppose it goes with the price. The prices certainly elevated my expectations. My niece and I both ordered West Bank Benedict, or something like that. It was an eggs Benedict with West Bank ham on a biscuit with the Benedict sauce. It had been several years since I ate eggs Benedict, so I couldn't remember exactly what to expect but I had a general idea. Both of ours came out hardly at room temperature, if at all. I took 2 bites from it, couldn't do it, politely sent it back. The manager and the waitress were very apologetic, comped the meal, and added free dessert. Take 2 came to the table, the ham was hot but the sauce and biscuit were hardly room temperature again. It was noon in early June, they could have put the plate outside and it would have been significantly warmer. I was already running late on account of them getting a 2nd try, eating cool mayonnaise-roux sauce on a cool biscuit with warm ham, so I was too heated to give them a 3rd chance. I ate the food like I would have eaten field rations back in the Marine Corps- it's sustenance and your next meal isn't a guarantee. We had a large table and the general consensus was that it's too pricey for the food and level of service. Half of our group said they won't be going back. The other half didn't say anything one way...

Atmosphere 8/10. It reminded me of a nice place I went to in London. Clean establishment, bathrooms were clean, tables were clean.

Beer selection 6/10. Too many strange new age flavored beers, not enough classic rich style ales and lagers. They did have a good Don Pablo lager. Closest thing I could find that would satisfy my taste. I have great taste in beer IMHO.

Food: 5/10 My wife and I split a Ceasar salad and the steak and frites, the ceasar which comes as leaves laid out with a dressing that is Squirt bottle lined a few croutons and parm. It's a Ceasar salad. It doesn't need to be fancy, and I certainly didn't expect to pay 12 dollars to cut up/ toss my own salad. Tasted fine. THE STEAK AND FRITES HOWEVER . I would avoid at all costs. Hanger steak and a sub of half cooked Brussels was not worth the 28$ ticket price. Sous vide the Brussels so they are tender. The marinade for that kind of steak was not a good choice and made it sour. The chimichuri should be of garlic, cilantro, onion. It was pesto which was not the besto.

Service 6/10. our server was great, nice, friendly, just took forever to get something let alone anything. I understand if you are busy or short staffed, but having been a server at a point in my life, time is money and money is time, so when you are diligently solving the problems of your table in a timely manner you usually see that positive reflection in your tips.

Needless to say, I can't say we will return. Hopefully those of you that dine here will avoid what I described but find yourself enjoying whatever it is...