Southern hands 1811 Kirby- Memphis — Restaurant in Memphis

One of my coworkers suggested this place he wanted to try out, Southern Hands, for lunch. It's southern-style cooking, and that's an option I don't see a ton of even here in the south. So we swung by to try it out, and the food was fantastic!

The restaurant was in a strip, so I didn't expect much ambience, but there were pictures hung on the wall that gave the place a more homey and friendly atmosphere.

Ordering was quick at the counter, checkout was a tappity tap with the old debit chip card. Dominique took our order with a friendly smile. The crew behind the counter were fast and efficient yet obviously enjoyed working there, as there was muted banter back and forth while they worked.

Food was delivered to the table promptly. It comes in a take-out box, with silverware and a napkin. When you open the top, the first thing you spy is the cornbread. I love cornbread, and the cornbread we got was not too sweet, not too salty, moist and delicious. Under the cornbread was a foil sheet to keep your cornbread separate from the meal underneath, and to keep the food warm in case you were taking the food back to the office or home.

I had the meatloaf, with a side of mashed potatoes and black-eyed peas. I started with the meatloaf, as it was the main reason I was there. Meatloaf can be awesome or awful based on how it's cooked. As you can see from the picture, the meatloaf was landed in juice, with bell peppers and fresh tomato chunks added. It was definitely wet, and did not have a ketchup tophat to disguise flavor issues belowdecks. I don't prefer my meatloaf dry, crisp or with a ketchup cap. So for me, this meatloaf was just right. The tomatoes tasted fresh. the meatloaf had just the right seasoning.

The sides I chose worked to balance the wet of the meatloaf. The mashed potatoes were a bit dry, but I'd opted not to have gravy, because I wanted to taste the potatoes themselves, and gravy can hide a lot of taste issues. When I return I'll likely go for gravy, to see how they flavor it. The mashed potatoes held their own without it, but needed more wet and gravy would supply that. I couldn't tell if the black-eyed peas were fresh or canned. They were good, and if they were canned, I didn't notice; small chunks of bacon were added.

My coworkers chose the Fried Chicken and the Porkchop lunch specials. Their feedback was attested to by the bones they left. There wasn't any meat left on the fowl or the porker. One coworker commented that GOOD chicken doesn't require batter to add flavor, but the flavor is found in the meat, and this was true of the fried chicken. So, guess what I'm going to order on my next visit?

On our way out, I noticed that they also have a van and...

It is nowhere near how I used to be. I actually miss the late owner because not only was she a sweetheart, she cooked it like my grandma used to cook it. Everything is Bland and whatever season they using for the grill and fried pork chops needs to change. The only thing is still worth fighting for is the Shania wings. I will try that dressing because it used to be good, but if it's any indication on how everything else is, that's a no. The Black Eyed Peas taste like somebody put perfume in it instead of it being slightly mushy, it look like mashed potatoes. If this was just one time only this happened then I would have least giving it a 3-star rating, but know this has happened more than once. Now the one on Austin Peay or the one in Raleigh still taste pretty good although it's been almost a year since I ate there, but not this. It breaks my heart because I never thought that I will leave this type of review for this restaurant seeing this go I loved the late and miss seeing her whenever I...

I ordered over $70 worth of food for my family and me and everything was too salty to eat. The baked chicken was too pink and so salty we couldn't get past the first bite. The green beans had absolutely no seasonings. The spaghetti had an unusual taste and dark appearance and tasted as awful as it looked. The meatloaf was disgusting and was overly seasoned with an unusual seasoning that did not complement the meatloaf. The gravy was too salty. The cabbage was dried out and looked old. The cornbread was doughy in the middle. The mashed potatoes with no gravy were extremely salty. This was the biggest waste of money as we had to throw all of our food away. The cooks are heavy-handed and dont taste their food before serving it. Will never order from this place again. The best part of this service was the uber delivery guy. He was on time and made sure he had...