Southern Soul Barbeque — Restaurant in Saint Simons

Being the bearer of “bad” news is never a duty one takes pleasure in, but this was my experience and whatever it’s chalked up, so be it. I drove up to Southern Soul from Miami, because I’m a dedicated authentic smoked BBQ enthusiast, maybe even connoisseur. On this particular outing, apparently, reality did not align with the critical acclaim SSB has received. First things first, front desk “attitude” was a bit lacking. An overall air of indifference, if not, a hint of displeasure at serving the customer(myself) was detected by my girlfriend and I. Not the worst service ever, but far from the best. I ordered a salad de-luxe which arrived without dressing and a measly amount of EXTREMELY dry and unusually cold brisket. My girlfriend ordered a full slab of ribs and coleslaw. The coleslaw was a bit too salty according to my gal. Perhaps it’s a Georgia or SSB take on smoking or ribs, but they arrived in what appeared to be an undercooked format. The amount of smoke flavor was off the charts, yet the meat itself seemed to be a bit wanting of more “cooking” time. It wasn’t fall off the bone well done and I could spot specks of red globules which one typically discovers in undercooked meat. My girlfriend loves rare to medium rare meat, therefore she didn’t mind much, but was surprised that it was presented in such a manner. Now, I have visited innumerable BBQ joints and have only recently started to actually review most of my smoked adventures.... sadly, I was expecting much more after driving 6+ hours to a highly awarded BBQ joint. I also visited 2 other spots, one on my way up, and another on my way down, which I will review later. My apologies to Southern Soul if my initial review seems a bit harsh upon first visit, I’m hopeful a second visit would remedy this matter. In the Air Force, our motto was Aim High, I’m sure Southern Soul typically adheres to the same credo, but on July 28, 2019, that was not on display for this individual. Thank you Southern Soul for your hospitality, I was happy to see business booming for you folks. Let’s see when we cross...

We were excited to try this local legend of a bbq establishment. We were greeted by the the cashier saying her head hurt which was apparently from waiting on customers. I played it off and told her I would be easy but she still messed up my order. Not sure how you miss an order of fries vs potatoe chips but apparently her head hurt. All I can say is if the life blood of your establishment makes your head hurt then find a job outside the service industry please.

As for the food.... My wife was served a big black hair with a salad. The waitress took back the black hair and returned 10 minutes later with a hairless chicken salad. Might I add that the smoked chicken salad ordered on the salad was best thing I tasted during this visit. My oldest son and I ordered deluxe smoked turkey sandwiches on white. I've never paid $18 for a turkey sandwich on wonder bread that had zero smoke flavor and no sides but I guess we were eating at the St. Simons legend. Maybe we should have visited Larry's subs next door instead for the big footlong turkey with a drink and sides for the same price. So disappointed by the wonder bread smokeless turkey sandwich. The youngest son devoured his pulled pork sandwich which was delicious from the bite I had. The side of fries that were not included with the $18 sandwich were tasty but would have been much better if they were hot and fresh.

Parking is limited and you get a good taste of jet fuel from the island run way across the street with private jets taking off depending on your hour of visit. Unfortunately in my opinion, as they have become more popular the quality has dropped and the commitment to customer service has waivered. Pricing has also escalated the value in my opinion but they might not care due to the demand. I will say that the Beachcomber bbq I had the day before was much more favorable and reasonably priced.

I love St Simons for all of the local establishment s but they need to keep up the quality with the rapid demand and higher pricing. Hopefully I just visited on...

I really wanted to love this place. It’s the first restaurant that we went to because it was featured on popular tv show. I am only giving it 1 star because I am unable to give it less than 1. The place seemed busy, lots of locals picking up food which is a good sign. Didn’t mind the wait to order because it helps build up anticipation, also a sign the food should be fresh. The food even looks halfway decent but the biggest issue is the flies....not like 5 or 6 flies like at a typical picnic, but literally 20 or 30 at every table outside. All over the sauce bottles, drinks, food literally everything. Maybe if you eat inside it’s a different experience, however after seeing the hundreds of flies swarming the smoker room, it’s still quite stomach turning. I grew up in the south so flies and gnats at picnic are common place, I’m also not easily grossed out, however eating in a dumpster would have been a step up from the accommodations at this establishment. Seems like a screened enclosure, or some fly traps or literally any attempt (even minimal) could drastically improve the patio dining experience. Maybe the health department has never checked the place out, but if they have it’s a miracle they’re still open for business. The major surprise is the Brunswick stew is hands down the best I’ve ever had in my life, the flavor on ribs was good however texture was more like a jerky than rib. Almost as if they came out of smoker 2 days ago, sat in cooler then heated up under salamander for 10 mins too long. The only reason I would ever consider going back is to secretly swab the sauce bottles to find out what sort of bacteria and germs are in them, because flies were literally crawling in and out of the tops of most of the bbq sauce bottles on most of the...