Southern Prospect — Restaurant in Watkinsville

I tried Southern Prospect for the first time today, and, for the most part, it was a great experience, with just a few areas of potential improvement for the quality of the food. First of all, the decor is absolutely beautiful, and the service was incredible. I feel really bad that I forget our server's name, but if anyone from management at the restaurant happens to read this review, we were the group of five that came in right at 5:00 and were asking how to pronounce "bulleit bacon chicken," haha, one of the items on the menu. She was definitely one of the friendliest servers we've ever had at a restaurant and just made our overall experience that much more pleasant!

We tried to order a variety of dishes, and many of them were great. The crab fritters appetizer was absolutely delicious, and the presentation was especially impressive - they looked like a little mini art project on the plate! We also loved the street corn fries appetizer, the creamy dijon clucker entree, and the dirty south burger. A definite highlight were the mashed potatoes that came with the cream dijon clucker.

However, a couple of other choices we thought could use some slight tweaking. The bulleit bacon chicken entree, unlike the creamy dijon clucker entree, consisted of a pretty dry piece of chicken breast meat. It was topped with bacon and cheese, and naturally anything topped with bacon and cheese is going to taste pretty darn good, but the two people who ordered it thought it could have used a sauce to make it even more flavorful and less dry. Our server brought out two sauces for us to try that we ended up really liking, so I feel like it would be a simple improvement to add one of those sauces to that dish. Also, the smoked gouda mac and cheese that came with the bulleit bacon chicken entree was, unfortunately, not great at all. It wasn't especially creamy, and it was pretty severely lacking in salt. And finally, that same entree, in addition to being served with the mac and cheese, was served with a side of fries. Two starches was a little much, in my opinion, with a better pairing maybe being the asparagus or succotash with the mac and cheese. Another food that was a little disappointing was the fried green tomatoes appetizer. The presentation was really nice, but the flavor was just, well, kind of boring. Like the mac and cheese, the friend green tomatoes were undersalted and not nearly as crispy as others I've had.

Overall, even though I thought some of the food was slightly lacking in flavor, we still had a wonderful experience and will be happy to go back and try their other menu choices. The menu is fairly small, which is great because it's simple and not overwhelming. And again, the atmosphere and service...

Meh, The good, the bad, and the ugly. 1st time here but have been coming to Wire Park since the opening. Awesome decor! Super cozy and cool vibe. Service started out great. Got an app and some cocktails. OMG the tots with the pork belly was fire!!!! The cocktails were expertly crafted, my marg was perfect!!!! Dishes: I got the bulleit grilled chicken with bacon. Presentation was very basic. She got the salmon, cooked well and very well presented with the asparagus. Oh, my Gouda Mac? OMG awesome creamygoudaishiousness. Maybe a touch of salt, but I can live with it and would order it again. Then things started to grind down. We ordered pecan pie with a scoop of ice cream, coulda gone out back to harvest them nuts. Why did it take soooo long? Server could have got us rung up while the kitchen was on the pecan harvest. Server was a little ghostly at the end. We sat down at 5:30 and it was a Wednesday, I’d pray for the staff on a busy weekend night. Know what I’m sayin’? Manager can out for his mandatory table check, he should be monitoring ticket times and using a slack weekday evening to tune the team up for prime time!

The ugly- No toilet paper in the ladies room!?!?!? Obvious management and staff’s lack of attention to detail. Inexcusable.

Glad we tried it. Overall the decor, food, and drinks were good. Definitely wouldn’t chance it on a busy night. Hopefully they’re seeking continuous improvement and striving...

Was on a job tonight and had the privilege of dining in at the bar.

First, I want to point out that this place is new and the staff are still working through some growing pains. That said, they were on point with service and attitude and hospitality!

The atmosphere is stellar. Homey vibes with an upscale touch. Comfortable seating (which isn't always the case with bar high chairs). Plenty of room to move around and not feel cramped.

The service was courteous and fast. One of the growing pains I mentioned was they did check in on me a bit too much. That is my only fault I have...and if them being too eager to please is a fault I suppose it's the best one to have.

The food was outstanding and very reasonably priced. I enjoyed the mussels (which had a roasted corn and cherry tomato accompaniment) first. $15 for about 20 with bread is about as good of a price to portion size as I've seen recently. Flavor was incredible. Maybe could have used a better bread...but, again, minor details. I'll 100% order them again. Next I had the fried green tomatoes. These were better than my grandmother's. Not even joking. Pickled red onion and queso fresco set these next tier.

Spoke with one of the managers and she was polite and gave me some background on the place and the owners. The waitstaff I interacted also were keen on sharing stories and jokes. Really felt like home.

Go here. Eat here. You...