South Valley BBQ and Lounge — Restaurant in West Orange

So was in the area to go to Vonda's Kitchen which I had been wanting try for quite some time now but unfortunately they close on Monday's which I didn't realize. So my friend recommended this place as a plan B which I heard about but always heard mixed things and the reviews overall didn't persuade me to give them a shot in the near future.

So upon entry the ambiance was pretty cool and customer service great. We were seated right away because it was not that crowded. We had Groupon that was purchased last minute per my research as a precaution just in case we were not happy with the food lol. Our waiter Andrew was cooler than the other side of the pillow. Very professional and made some great recommendations. Their was a woman sitting by the bar and over heard me ask where the bathroom was and told me where it was. I come back from the bathroom and sat down to look at the menu and that same woman that was sitting at the bar comes to our table. She says hello My name is Suzy oh snap Son lol she is the owner. She checked in on us and all the guests the whole very sweet woman.

I wanted to play it safe and ordered the Salmon with sides of Mac N cheese with Broccoli casserole. This dish was surprisingly AMAZING. First off this Mac N Cheese WAS PERFECT. Must order here folks. The cheese was thick and flavorful and with some zest. Cheese in almost every bite. Easily one of the best Mac n cheeses ever had. This Broccoli casserole was pretty good also. Nice ratio of cheese to broccoli mix. The Salmon was good but I have had better. My friend had the catfish and creamed spinach both were Amazing. The fried catfish and tartar sauce that was given was Flawless. Whoever seasoned this catfish has skills because it was bursting with flavor and all types of goodness. They hand you this tray also with 4 types of sauces, Habenero BBQ sauce, Honey Mustard, Memphis BBQ and Sweet Chili BBQ sauce. They all tasted PHENOMENAL !!!!!

We ordered this Chocolate cheesecake as a dessert which was Freaking EDIBLE CRACK !! It tasted like a combination of cheesecake and regular cake. The texture was perfect with a nice solid tasty Chocolate outer shell.

I see a lot of the negative reviews but my experience definitely exceeded my expectations and now I look at it as a blessing in disguise because who knows if ever would have made it to this place. They have a band playing on Monday nights which was cool and decent music. Thursday's they have karaoke and R&B night so I have come back and get my American Idol on LOL. The customer service i cant say it enough how good it was From Andrew to the owner Suzy and entire staff making you feel welcomed. I will definitely be back to try other things on the menu. The Mac N Cheese alone with worth coming back for. Until next time Suzy you earned my trust in BBQ grub tonight lol

Tips: Wifi Code is...

Let me preface this review by saying that if I was only rating the food, it would be five stars, hands down! However, I'm rating the overall experience, therefore four stars is appropriate.

We arrived at Suzy Q's around 10:30pm (they were open til 12am on the night we went, Wednesday). The waiter, who I must say was very strange, giving off an almost serial killer like vibe, seated us, in a very cold unwelcoming manner. He gave us the menus, and told us they were only serving items from the late night menu as it was after a certain time. No big deal. I was a actually pretty satisfied with the options on the late night menu.

Here's where most of my frustration comes in: I explained to him that I was using a Groupon to pay for the meal, and wanted to know could I still use it with the late night menu. Reason being, the Groupon was for 2 full meals, and the late night menu only had separate items listed.

His first reply was "No, I cannot do it that way. I should use the Groupon for another time. He was very dismissive of me, almost rude. I then explained to him that I'm visiting from another state, and will not be back anytime soon, I need to use my Groupon before it expires. So, he goes off to ask someone else about the situation, and comes back about five minutes later. This was probably the weirdest part of the experience. He says "Alright, what did y'all decide, are y'all ready to order"? I'm sure at this point, I had a look of extreme confusion on my face, because I was under the impression, that he was supposed to be inquiring about my concern regarding the use of the Groupon!!!!! I then explain that I was waiting on answer. So, off he goes again.....get this, to ask the owner, Ms Suzy Q, herself, who literally is sitting like fifty feet away from us!!!!! For Pete's sake, why didn't he just do that to begin with?!!!!!!

Long story short, she comes over to our table, and apologizes for the confusion. We place our order, with the Groupon. Food took about 15 minutes to arrive, but was totally worth the wait!!! I was a little skeptical about eating bbq from a restaurant up north, with me being a southern girl. But everything was super on point! Very fresh, and well seasoned. The Mac and cheese was baked, and not that Kraft kind very flavorful. BBQ sandwich was very tender, served with cheese and coleslaw (different twist, but very tasty). Delicious hushpuppies. Everything was absolutely fantastic, as it relates to the food.

I will definitely return here, namely because the food is amazing, and the portions are generous. Also, Ms Suzy Q, did see to it that we were taken care of. Hopefully, my next review will just be raving about the food, and not the theatrics that...

I wish i could give it - stars. Let's put it that way ... and the right people will get it... if you are into bad, arrogant and down right nasty vibes this place is for you. I was hopeful that the Nachos and Wings we've ordered for take out gave me justification to rank them higher, but no. While they tasted decent, they gave me a stomach ache the next two days.

I also have to say that we did not sit down. We went in to order for take out. A down right rude women told us to wait at a designated spot by the wall, which I is fine. We waited about 5 min. But her disdain for us was so freaking palpable once she took our order that we should have actually just left.

When she brought out our order, she literally just reached behind her pushing the food into our arms without even looking at us. She literally just wanted for us to go away and that's what we wanted at that point too.

I also have to say one thing: as of around 2021 this is not Suzy's BBQ anymore, but under new ownership ... I forgot the name. They just didn't bother to update the name outside on the building or anywhere else on the internet.

I am a white woman and was there with a mixed black guy. I don't actually think it was a race thing (just mentioning that, since I was pretty much the only white woman in this building), just a rude and nasty thing.

There was some special club night going on and pretty much every patron visiting there had an attitude and nastiness about them. Maybe it's the vortex of insecurity and arrogance that landed upon the building, but we were glad once we were back in our car.

I've never ever gave such a scathing review and I hope I will never have to do so again, because it would mean that I will have to go through such an experience again at some point.

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