Southern Inn Restaurant — Restaurant in Lexington

Upon first approach, the looming neon sign provides an amusing contrast to the interior style of this restaurant. Not that I mind it at all—every additional idiosyncrasy is another memorable detail. But for those in doubt, perhaps the food can speak for itself. Various starters exhibited varying degrees of delivery speed, as the brussels sprouts seemed to be much quicker to prepare than the mussels and fried green tomatoes. All were quite pleasant, though the plating of the tomatoes made eating them feel criminal and sharing them considerably more difficult than the brussels sprouts... It is possible these appetizers were not meant to be shared, but alas, what is a large party to do when faced with such enticing morsels? I had the pleasure of being able to experience the duck breast, red snapper, fried chicken, and the calf liver, and will share my thoughts below for those interested. Such a large serving of liver prepared in this way was a new experience for us, and though we consider ourselves to be appreciative of liver it was a portion larger than any one person could handle alone, unless one really enjoys liver very much. Fried chicken is not something I feel qualified to give my verdict upon, as there are many who hold very strong opinions on the matter. It is perhaps to avoid displeasing these very people that this establishment has opted for a simpler approach. For what it's worth, I thought it was well executed (not dry, as white meat chicken is wont to be) but nothing special. Red snapper was a seasonal specialty (as were the mussels, which I still do not understand why we ordered as the snapper came with more than a handful of mussels on the side), and did not imprint heavily in my memory, though the flavors and side pairings were fitting complements. And lastly, the duck breast is my recommendation to any reader who may chance upon this overly lengthy review. Perfectly cooked and exquisitely arranged, the dish was a joy for all five senses to behold (the four relevant ones, at least). The tender slices were presented with all manner of locally and exotically inspired accessories, which each imparted a unique flavor or texture. I would probably have appreciated these more had I paid better attention to the description of the dish on the menu. There are a good range of price options offered here, even after taking portion sizes into account (which can vary significantly). Reserve in advance if you can (Google made it easy for us). I noticed an ionizing air purifier in the corner, so it seems like some pandemic safety measures are still being taken, which I appreciate (although in terms of capacity everything seems to be back to normal, and if you expect patrons to be wearing masks while eating then you may want to reconsider your priorities). After the past year, many of us may have reservations about eating out, and many restaurants may be just as unsure about the future. I am glad to have been able to do a small part to support this community in return for the excellent meal...

Made a reservation today (01-17-21) for brunch and my first visit to Southern Inn. Southern Inn is one of only two restaurants in Lexington currently serving brunch (Tonic being the other.) There's a warm atmosphere inside which made a nice first impression - we were sat at a table on the bar side of the restaurant, which I preferred to the main room. My date and I started our meal with two Bloody Marys featuring Southern Inn's in-house mix, which I feel like could have used more spice, but were balanced a bit by the seasonings used to line the glasses. Garnishes were an olive and a lime, plus dilly beans, which are not something that I'd put in Bloody Marys that I mixed myself, but I understand they're a generally accepted Bloody Mary ingredient. (I prefer spicy pickled okra.) Our server also brought complimentary muffins to the table, three different ones - two of which were cranberry as blueberry respectively. Our entrees: I had the omelette, which is vegetarian friendly (I'm not a vegetarian) containing red pepper, mushrooms, onion, spinach, and paired with bacon and home fries. Bacon could have been a bit more substantially cut and crispier - the place is called Southern Inn after all - and the home fries were adequate, but I've discovered that finding truly delicious and well seasoned home fries in a restaurant can be a challenge. My date ordered the Eggs Benedict, which I believe is traditionally served on an English muffin, but is prepared on Brioche toast here at the Southern Inn. Her dish also included country ham, which I sampled, and in my opinion could be a thicker cut and more "cured" - if that makes any sense. Country ham to me needs to be almost overly salty. Her only issue with the dish were that the eggs could have been a bit runnier, and just looking at them, I would agree. I've always been under the impression that the point was that the yoke was meant to coat/soak into the bread. The flavor though from my sample, was on point. Overall, an enjoyable first time here at the Southern Inn and look forward to giving them a try for lunch and dinner (and more brunches)...

This restaurant got wonderful reviews so we were excited to try it. It was late in the day when we arrived in town after a long day of traveling and the restaurant had only a few diners. We enjoyed our well prepared mixed drinks as we ordered from our friendly server. My husband ordered a pork selection and I ordered a dinner salad with salmon that also said came with goat cheese. When my salad arrived, I noticed there wasn't any goat cheese on it and asked my server about it. She informed me that it was on it. I moved a piece of lettuce and behold there was a piece of goat cheese hiding under the leaf that was truly 1 inch long by 1/2 wide. It barely filled a teaspoon. I asked our server if it would be possible to get just a bit more goat cheese, since the tiny teaspoons worth just didn't seem to add anything to the salad. She said she'd have to ask, but seemed apprehensive about getting the chef to give me more. A few minutes later she came back and said the chef would give me a little more, but would need to charge me $1.00. Come on, $1.00? This must be a very exclusive, artisanal cheese? Seriously, the chef thought 1 teaspoon of cheese is worthy of putting it on the selection as part of the salad? And in addition, my husbands pork was so underdone that it was raw in sections. The waitress sympathetically compensated us with a dessert, which added a sweet ending to our expensive and only...