7 South Bottle + Kitchen — Restaurant in Natick

TLDR; the atmosphere is great, the staff is nice, but the service is mediocre, and the food is a bit underwhelming.

I really want to like this place, but after two visits, I don't think I need to go back.

The first time I dined here, I ordered the potato kegs and the short rib grilled cheese. The potato kegs were great, but the grilled cheese was disappointing. It wasn't grilled, but toasted, and there was hardly any cheese or short rib, so it was really dry (I usually expect a buttery, crunchy sandwich, loaded with cheese when I order a grilled cheese at a restaurant, but not here). Also, after being served our entrees, we weren't visited by the waitstaff anymore. Our waters and cocktails were empty, but no one looked in our direction (there was a large, rowdy party seated near us, so this could have contributed). We would have ordered additional cocktails, but by the time we got someone's attention, we just wanted the bill.

The second time I came in, it was a quieter night. I shared the pretzel and whipped ricotta appetizers with a friend, which were both tasty, so I had high hopes going into the entrée portion of our meal, but I ended up disappointed again. I ordered the burger, which was cooked perfectly, but it had no flavor and desperately needed salt. It also had spinach/mixed greens instead of lettuce which was wilted by the time it was served to me, and added a strange texture to each bite. The same thing happened with service this time around also. Once we got our entrees, our drinks emptied, and we weren't visited by the waitstaff for over an hour, even after multiple polite attempts to get someone's attention. By the time someone finally came over, we were frustrated, and ready to go.

They've got a really nice spot here, and like I said before, the staff is nice, but I don't think I'll...

A very mediocre dinner at 7 South tonight. The restaurant was quite empty on arrival (only two tables occupied)- surprising for a Saturday night at around 6:30. The general atmosphere is 'cold' - the space is very open with hard floors and utilitarian tables/chairs which some patrons love, but I sort of got a 'cafeteria' feeling. Our server for the eveing was very nice but needs coaching on timing. She stopped at our table as soon as we sat down and asked to take drink orders. There was only one drink menu provided and only one of our party of four had been able to look at just one side of the list, so we had to request the server to return. We eventually were all able to look over this menu and ordered drinks and an appetizer but even before the drinks and appetizer arrived, the server was back to take our meal order. Very rushed considering how empty it was. Appetizer order was the "enormous" pretzel ($14) The presentation was interesting (the pretzel is served hanging from a hook) but it wasn't really dramatically bigger than a regular soft pretzel, just a different shape and hanging. The pretzel was quite good but not sure worth the price... Dinner seemed 'sparse'...meaning there just wasn't much on the plate for the entrees. Fried chicken sandwich was a bust...really, really greasy (grease oozing onto the serving plate and soaking into the bottom roll) and the chicken was cold (tepid) and not really palatable. On a positive note, the fries were tremendous - hot an crispy! Total bill for four with one alcoholic drink each, the one appetizer and four entrees - $163.71 which I initially thought must be incorrect as no one ordered a high-end cocktail and the entrees included a tuna dish, two salads (one with additional chicken) and a chicken sandwich. Probably not going back to 7 South...

We reserved a regular table, not a hightop, but when we arrived we were told there were no regular tables available because other people had reserved them. When I said that we'd reserved a regular table, the hostess told us that the reservation system doesn't allow them to see when a regular table is reserved. So I'm not sure how those other parties were able to reserve a regular table. We gave up and sat at a hightop, which limited the amount of time we were going to be there because it's so uncomfortable to sit at them, especially for shorter people.

Being forced into outdated uncomfortable seating was reason enough to never come back, but then the food arrived. The hot chicken sandwich was not good, and since you can get a great hot chicken sandwich at any fast food place, it felt like a real unforced error. I was excited to order the mushrooms over wild rice, because wild rice, but it came and it was plated as if the chef was angry. A pile of unseasoned wild rice dumped on the plate, with some unseasoned rubbery mushrooms dumped on top, with a handful of microwaved squash cubes (unseasoned) and a few unseasoned sautéed Brussels sprouts dumped on the side. It was shocking, and showed a serious lack of respect for and knowledge of the food, as well as a lack of respect for the customer and the chef themself.

We ordered draft beer that we have all the time, including at home, and it tasted watered-down and not like the beer we love.

My friend did say that her salad was good, so there's that.

The service was great and very cheerful.

The room is so loud we had problems hearing each other.

We won't be back. Even in the food desert of Natick, this place is...