Southern Roots Smokehouse — Restaurant in North Charleston

Disappointing Experience

We just left this restaurant on a Monday night, and unfortunately, it was one of the worst dining experiences we’ve had. When we arrived, there was only one other table seated, and no one else came in during our visit. Despite the emptiness, service was extremely slow.

After sitting down, it took several minutes for the waitress to come over. We ordered two diet sodas and two regular sodas. When she returned, one of the sodas was only half full, so we had to call her back for a refill.

We then placed our food order and waited over 30 minutes without a single check-in. When we finally flagged her down to ask about our food, she dismissively told us that the kitchen was “backed up with online orders.” However, we didn’t see any food being prepared or sent out for delivery.

By this point, we were debating whether to leave, but we decided to wait five more minutes. Our food finally arrived, but it was cold. The brisket was thick and fatty, and the chicken was mostly dark meat—not what we expected.

When we asked for soda refills, the waitress brought back one diet and one regular. I told her I also had a diet soda, to which she insisted, “No, you didn’t, that was regular.” As a diabetic, this was extremely concerning—I had just unknowingly consumed a regular soda. Her response? “I told you the blue cups were diet.” However, she had placed the wrong cups in the wrong spots. Instead of apologizing, she simply brought back another diet soda in a clear cup, which made no sense.

When we asked for the check, she asked if we wanted it split. We said yes—split into two. Instead, she asked if we meant four ways. We clarified again—just two. She brought back one check and said she’d split it by card instead.

As she picked up the check, she casually said, “Have a safe trip back north,” and walked away. This was unsettling because we had never mentioned where we were from. Looking back, the way we were treated throughout the entire meal felt prejudiced. Not once did she apologize for the soda mistake or offer even basic courtesy.

To make things worse, despite all the mistakes—the long wait, the cold food, and the incorrect drink order—nothing was taken off our check. There was no acknowledgment of the poor service, and we were still expected to pay full price.

For context, we were visiting family in Charleston and had traveled from Georgia, returning to Georgia. This experience left a very bad impression, and unfortunately, we won’t be...

Was debating on reviewing this place. We went there a year ago from a recommendation of one of our animal rescue people who worked there at the time, who I will leave their name out of. It was amazing when we went before. The bartender Stephan and manager were wonderful. We met the “pitmaster” who was friendly, funny and smoked amazing meat! Our server Natalie was AWESOME. So we went back, to bring some animal rescue peeps from out of town, as it was our favorite southern bbq. While we knew our girl didn’t manage there anymore, we found out our favorite bartender was gone. The vibe was totally different. The “bartenders”, if you can call them that, the girl Ivy, and the older man, Martin I think, were not what we expected. Martin was standoffish, didn’t introduce himself. Kind of ignored us and seemed like he didn’t want to be there. Not personable for a bartender at all. And while the girl was more engaging, she seemed stressed out with the busy night. She didn’t know how to make my drink. Which she did look up on her phone however she clearly needs more training and is better suited for serving in my opinion where she can handle her section, over seeming to be overwhelmed with the many people at the bar. Or she needs a more experienced bartender with her as her other coworker was no help.

The food was still amazing, clearly Paul was still taking care of the bbq, but it wasn’t just the food we came for, but the good time, atmosphere, and vibes of the place in general, and feeling like vips vs just another tip in someone’s pocket. Sad to see the place throw away good employees for whatever reason. Hopefully it was worth it. We unfortunately won’t be back, and hopefully can find where Steph works or go to another local spot where we are treated how we were before, excited and elated to go out and be treated like we are wanted there for more than our money. ...

We had dinner there on May 25, 2018. A total of 23 people went, and we called two weeks in advance to insure that they were able to seat such a large party. We asked for a 6:00 PM reservation, and they asked if we could come at 5:30 PM which we agreed to. We called again on the day of our event just to confirm, and all was a go.

When we arrived, we were promptly seated, (the dining area was pretty empty). Our wait service was very good, thus the reason for the 3 stars. As we began to order we were told that there was no local shrimp, as the menu offered, also they were out of baked beans and potato salad. How can you be out of anything at the start of a dinner service? How can you be out of baked beans at any time? Send someone out to the grocery store for a #10 can, and continue serving?

When our food arrived, it was some of the worst bar-b-que that I have ever eaten in my life. The sausage was dried out to the point that it looked like it had been left on the grill for 3 days. The ribs, brisket and pulled pork were no better. I felt like we were being offered food that was left over from some food truck and then reheated.

Our waitress while very nice and capable, was obviously over-taken by the amount of negative feed back she received from us. I saw that she went behind the bar, and shared our displeasure with someone whom I assumed to be the manager, but he never came out to ask us about our experience, or issues.

As the person who made all the plans for us to eat at Southern Roots, I was embarrassed by the dining choice that I had made. I normally give any restaurant a second chance, as anyone can have a bad night, but I will not be affording Southern Roots this...