1861 Southern Kitchen Bourbon Bar — Restaurant in Middletown

Unfortunately after 3 tries we won’t be coming back here. We had a reservation for 7:15 on a Wednesday night, during the week because we hoped the service would be better than the less than stellar service we last had on a Friday. For context, that last time we waited 45 min for our second round of drinks, with our boxes and check coming and being paid before the drinks arrived.

This time we waited a half hour to even get our first round or a bottle of water. Empty glasses sat unnoticed while our server walked by multiple times making eye contact. We ordered the bayou fries to be told after ordering that they were out of them. Which is strange to me because the bayou fries are the same ingredients as half the entrees. Shrimp, crab, bechamel. Do you mean to tell me you’re out of your entrees as well? No matter, we settled on firecracker shrimp. No less than 10 min after the shrimp arrive, someone else brings our fries. Instead of apologizing for the mixup, the server tried to pin it on us; telling the food runner oh I told the kitchen they changed their minds and asked for shrimp. Excuse me how dare you blame us. At this point we still don’t have water or drinks so I was upset and said we would just keep the fries. Of course this waitress charged us for BOTH instead of admitting her mistake. Like we somehow intended to spend $32 on appetizers.

As someone who grew up in the restaurant business, a pile of shrimp with no garnish is not worth $16. Nor are steak fries with melted cheese. Total rip-off. Last time we had the fries they had a nice sauce on them and fresh crab, and these were bone dry. No melted cheese, it looked like they had been forgotten about in the window.

We got our entrees and waited THIRTY FIVE MINUTES of sitting with with our silver ware and plates pushed aside for boxes and our check. We had to ask another server because ours seemingly disappeared. Again coming from the restaurant business it’s hard to approve of this behavior on a Wednesday night. The place wasn’t swamped. I watched our server in her section for 35 min and she had 2 other tables. She did however disappear multiple times to the kitchen for minutes on end. I watched the table next to us in a different section get waited on hand over foot, from extra napkins, to timely cocktail delivery, etc. so disappointing.

My husband ordered the Sweet Baby Zoey, it had no rim like it was supposed to and just tasted like a glass of pineapple juice. No tequila, no jalapeño. You CANNOT pride yourself on ‘alchemy’ craft cocktails if your cocktails cannot be made with consistency. Period, end of story. There is absolutely no excuse for charging SIXTEEN DOLLARS for a cocktail for it to be made a wrong. I grew up in NYC and this place has no reason to be charging NY prices.

All in all, super let down. Our third time visiting and we won’t be back. We brought out of state friends last time and after the almost hour wait for a round of drinks we swore we wouldn’t come back, however the food was really good and drew us back in. Unfortunately everything seems to have gone downhill since that November visit.

I’m really sorry guys, but you need to...

Finally made it to this establishment though I have been recommending it for some time based on personal reviews I have receieved and I will say overall I was pleased. I made reservation for myself because I didn't want to sit at the bar, and while I was greeted politely it did seem as if the hostess was surprised that I was dining alone. I think all establishments need to understand that every patron is important and assumptions should never come across in interactions.

My server was personable and prompt throughout my meal. I appreciated how she immediately informed me what they were out of. I ordered the Purple People Eater cocktail which was very balanced; enjoyed it so much I got a second. That one cocktail informed me that they certainly know their libations and sure the positive things I've heard about their Bourbon selection must be true.

The fried green tomatoes were delicately fried, seasoned just right and had just enough goat cheese to add some texture as well as balance the tomatoes.

My main concern was with the loaded seafood grits, the description did not live up to what I receieved. It states that there is a lobster claw but I barely had 2 chunks of lobster in the dish. Also, either the lump crab was not lump crab to begin with (as a true crab eater that's my assumption) or when folding into the dish it was separated to the point that it appears to not be lump. The flavor of the dish was delectable and it was not as heavy considering grits were the base and sauce was creamy. The grits were perfectly cooked. I enjoyed it overall, but considering the price point I do not believe I receieved the value loaded seafood implies.

One final thought, I personally always tip, however if you're going to have an automatic gratuity you need to have it more prominent on your menu/website and also make sure that the service is on par because there are many consumers who are exhausted with forced tipping. I did not have any concerns with this and my server provided service akin to the gratuity therefore I would have provided that without being "forced" (that word is used due to how some may take the message regarding gratuity on the menu) .

Overall, I am looking to patronize again. I will stated that knowing what I do about the owners of this establishment that was a reason I often recommend and wanted to support. I'm leaving this review because I know that this is a high quality restaurant and want nothing more than for...

This was comically bad. I’m astounded by these positive reviews. We came in and were seated directly next to the door. I asked for a new table and the hostess proceeded to seat and serve drinks to other tables for 5 minutes before reseating us. Okay, maybe my bad for being picky. We’re seated and wait another 20 minutes for a server to arrive. She comes over, give a a spiel about the restaurant, asks if our dinner is time sensitive (red flag), and then leaves for 10 more minutes before taking our drink order. Drinks were fine, but for $15 each? No way. They do a smoke thing with the old fashioned at the table, which our server knocked over. I normally chalk this up to a genuine mistake, but with everything else that was bad I felt it was significant. Then someone drops off our appetizer, firecracker shrimp ($16 for 7 shrimp). Someone immediately comes over and takes it away, telling us it’s for another table. A few minutes later they bring it back to us and give some explanation for the mix up. So how many tables has this shrimp been to? Gross. After our appetizer is done the server comes to say she’s going to put in our entrees now and they would be out in 5-10 minutes. Weird, but okay. 10 minutes later she comes again to tell us she’s going to put them in. I thought you were already doing that, and now I’m starved because the 3.5 shrimp I ate wasn’t cutting it, but okay. 20 minutes later, my husbands food arrives. 10 minutes after that, mine arrives, and his is now sitting at the table cold. My biggest regret about the meatloaf was that it had onions in it, so I can’t even feed it to my dogs. My sides, which I had to pay $3 extra each for and the server assured me was worth the upcharge, were completely bland and disappointing. Not a manager in sight the whole meal. I wonder if anyone is running this place. Overall, I’m out $100 and will absolutely never return. I was so disappointed with my meal I had to go to Sully’s and drink more to try to forget it. Their...