Southern Hospitality
- Nearest Transit:
77th St (6)
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
18 reviews
Neighborhood: Manhattan/Harlem
"This place rocks. Modern southern cuisine and a beautiful space. Service is top notch. The spring rolls are fantastic, as are the (pork…" read more »
37 Reviews for Southern Hospitality
I really love good BBQ but Southern Hospitality was lacking. I'm guessing by all the pictures of Elvis that it was supposed to be Memphis style? I'm not planning on going back to find out. I will be checking out other BBQ places in the city instead...I've heard that Blue Smoke is good.
I heart JT and fried chicken!
While the food is a little overpriced and nothing SPECTACULAR, Southern Hospitality is still a fun place to hang out. There are very few "cool" bars on the Upper East Side, so when Southern Hospitality opened, I was one of the first in the door. The bar area is nice and spacious, the bartenders (both male and female) are hot, and the crowd is young and they all just want to have some fun!
If you go for dinner, the buttermilk biscuits are great, and the mac 'n cheese is pretty darn good, too. Be sure to have a reservation for any Thursday, Friday or weekend nights. And go with friends who won't mind the loud music...it's hard to hear anyone speaking from across the table when the restaurant and bar are in full swing.
JT could probably do better, but this place is decent. There was no wait when I came at around 7:45p on a Monday night. We ordered the appetizer combo platter and "Dr BBQ's Big Time Combo." We should have known that was more than enough food for the two of us considering that the appetizer was supposed to "serve 4."
The appetizer platter came with nachos, fried ribs, fried pickles, smoked bologna, and chilled shrimp. Everything was good and greasy - exactly the way it should be. The bologna has a very strong smoked smell - I've now washed my hands 5x with soap and water and they still smell like the bologna (guess I shouldn't have picked it up with my hands). The pickles could've been seasoned better as the breading was pretty tasteless. All the other items were decently tasty - especially the nachos which were smothered in cheese, sour cream, peppers, and guacamole yet remained hot and crispy.
The bbq combo (dry Memphis ribs, chicken, and beef brisket) was more quantity than quality. The ribs were a little too dry and not very well-seasoned. However, the chicken was good, and even the white meat was very juicy. There's a large bottle of delicious barbecue sauce at each table, and we squirted it generously over all our meat.
I wish we could have had some choices for sides with our meal like they do at other bbq restaurants. I would have liked something else besides honey baked beans and cole slaw but the restaurant doesn't allow substitutes. As a result, we ended up consuming only meat and we just got too tired of animal after awhile.
We ended the meal with a slice of pecan pie which I wanted to try because JT told E! that it was the best thing on the menu. I liked it - the pie was warm, pecans were caramelized and crunchy, and the crust was melt-in-your-mouth buttery. It WAS the best thing we ate that night, but only because the other items were mediocre.
This is going to sound corny, but JT should focus on bringing sexy back, not baby back (ribs).
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It's been a while since I've actually said a restaurant is terrible, i think its b/c i usually have either read or heard good things about somewhere before I try it or sometimes u see something and u just know its going to be good. However, this was truly terrible. My gf and I were walking to go get some turkish food and we saw it as its close to her apt and decided to try it. I know its a celeb owned restaurant, which 90% of the time suck, but we tried it anyhow.
The restaurant itself is kind of just like a typical bar, its pretty loud and packed (surprising given how bad the food was). Given its a bbq place, I can deal with a loud crowded bar, kind of goes okay with bbq. The service was fine, wasn't great, but the waitress was nice.
We got the following:
- bbq nachos: terrible, I mean I couldve made these at home with local super mkt supplies and I bet mine would be better. The bbq sauce was this terribly sweet sauce that tasted like something off the super mkt shelf.
- bbq platter: this consisted of dry rub spare ribs, beef brisket and bbq chicken. Now, given this is billed as some sort of bbq joint, you'd expect the bbq to be at least passable and this was not the case. The dry rub spare ribs were so dry and pretty flavorless as well. The beef brisket again was very dry and flavorless. Of this atrocity, the bbq chicken was the best, but it tasted no different than me taking some chicken basting it with kc masterpiece and putting it on my bbq.
Anyhow, I can't believe people go to this place...seriously it was just plain bad.
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I can't believe this place is still open. Had it not been for JT's star power, the fine palates of NYC would have closed Southern Hospitality down LONG AGO.
Supposedly, "Dr. BBQ" runs the meatmaking in this joint. Dr. BBQ's meat sucks. He needs to get outta Dodge.
My smoked BBQ chicken was terrible. I grew up on KC BBQ, so I do know a thing or two about pit-smoked meat. This chicken did NOT taste smoked: meat not pink by the bone, soft and slightly watery. The BBQ'ing was fine, but I could've produced similar results on a charcoal grill in a public park, with a bottle of KC Masterpiece and a can of Budweiser.
(in fact, it was so bad that I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I could've done it with BUD LIGHT. yeah, that's right.)
My friend's brisket looked like a Banquet TV dinner. The only thing missing was the foil tray and the brownie on the side. Speaking of sides, I actually liked the baked beans a lot, and the mac'n'cheese was tasty (though maybe a bit too creamy and gooey, with overcooked noodles). Finally, having two types of bread on one plate offended every civilized bone in my body.
What could possibly be worse than all this? Well, dear reader, let me tell you. This is a Pepsi restaurant. That's right, Pepsi: born in NC, headquartered in upstate NY. Shouldn't "Southern Hospitality" include Atlanta's own?
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I have a severe hate for this place. I went on a Saturday night with a girlfriend, hoping to have a sumptuous southern meal and a few drinks, but damn was it hard work! First off, the "bouncer" told my friend she couldn't come in because she wasn't over 21 which she IS, and when she told him this, he looked at her license and half-heartedly apologized. Mistake 1- let's get someone who can handle simple addition to work the door. Once inside, the hostess was a snot and told us we'd have a 45 minute wait if we wanted to sit inside. It was too cold to brave the outdoors so we agreed, thinking we'd get a couple beers at the bar. Easier said than done as the bar area was clearly packed well over capacity. 2 AND A HALF hours later we were finally shown a table after watching 3 tables sit empty for a good half an hour. I wish I could say the wait was worth it but it was so not. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with a side of macaroni and cheese and blech! I've spent a great deal of time in the south and my idea of a pulled pork sandwich is shredded roasted pork soaked in bbq sauce on a warm bun, but instead I was served a tough and dry ginormous piece of pork on a stale roll. Ew. And the mac and cheese? One step below Kraft. Congealed and weirdly spicey. I've never openly dry heaved with distaste from a meal out before. Justin, divorce yourself from this place immediately!
**On a side note the wait staff is very b&t down to the crunchy hair and lip liner. It took me a couple minutes to remember where I was.
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I had lunch here today with my girlfriends who are big JT fans - I was weary since its a celeb restaurant. But when we got there, I was pleasantly surprised. They did a good job at making it feel like it is a neighborhood bar/restaurant although country for the Upper East Side. If I didn't know that it was JT's restaurant, I would have only assumed that it was a semi-local place that really liked Elvis. (The Elvis decor was a bit over kill.)
We ordered the pulled pork sandwich, the Angus beef burger, the smokin' chicken wings platter and the Southern Fried Catfish dish. The first two were off of the "Sandwiches" part of the menu - the pulled pork sandwich ("I'm from the country - that's pulled pork!) went over well. The burger was also well recepted. Each sandwich came with "crispy" fries that were slightly seasoned and a little ramikin of supposedly creamy cole slaw. The cole slaw was watery and bland - not at all creamy. Way to pre-salt your cole slaw! The smokin hot wings also got a good commentary by my girlfriend, but just not spicy enough. Thank goodness for the easy access to Frank's Red Hot Sauce already on the table.
I had the catfish which was quite good - really tender, moist and flaky. It came with the fries, cole slaw (yawn) and a piece of the cornbread. The cornbread was fairly good - it was a slice from a loaf of cornbread. I personally would have liked a muffin. It came with cocktail sauce and a thousand island/tartar sauce kind of dip.
The service was fairly decent considering NYC standards and it wasn't horribly overpriced either. In the end, not quite memorable but decent place to come for some JT stalking (although you will most likely fail in seeing him there).
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So it's Justin's restaurant it has to be good is what I thought to myself when Southern Hospitality opened. Obviously I'm a little naive. Just because someone is good looking and a great singer does not mean he can pull off a great restaurant in NY.
I'm not a southern girl and I don't exactly like southern food so I was excited to try some down home cooking. Well, if this is southern cooking, then I don't want anymore.
After waiting for a ridiculous amount of time in a place that was basically "bar bar", we sat down. The service was bad, the food was iffy and the decor was just not my thing.
I guess Justin can't be amazing at everything...
Well, I went here yesterday for St. Patty's Day and I wasn't exactly trying to get drunk, but I did. I didn't eat any food so I can't comment on that. The atmosphere is ok and the bartenders weren't the best, although one of them was kinda cute which is always nice. I'm pretty sure they were drunk, but I will let that slide considering it was St. Patty's Day.
There were a bunch of girls that were wasted and dancing like nobody was watching which I just can't get down with. Some dudes got in on it and it looked like a standing orgy. Once again, not sure if this is a common occurance, or if it's just the festivities of yesterday. I would however like to try the food someday so I think I'll go back. And the possible chance encouter with Justin Timberlake is enough to bring me back there at some point. Don't judge me please! I will report back if I ever get around to eating there....I hear the mac n cheese is yummy.
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Too crowded not much room to move (wow where in the city ISN'T it like that?). The AVERAGE age of girls in there was probably about 20- I suppose they're real easy on ID. Definitely wouldn't go back there.
The only reason it gets 2 stars is because there are worse places to go.
I'm writing this strictly as a review for the bar since I did not eat there.
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I really wanted to love Southern Hospitality (being JT's restaurant and all), but it fell short. I went when it first opened, on a Sunday. The wait was roughly 45 minutes which was fine cause we just grabbed drinks at the bar. My companions and I decided on Blue Moons, and they were served in tall glasses. Once the food arrived, we were super excited, taking photos and such. We ordered two large orders, which included: fried chicken with mac n' cheese and green beans and a full rack of baby back ribs with mac n' cheese and beans. All orders come atop of french fries and comes with a biscuit or corn bread (we got one of each). Suffice it to say, we had massive amounts of food. The thing I enjoyed the most was the fried chicken (tasty and juicy). Everything else was only mediocre, nothing special. I'm still very glad I went, just to say I went.
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I really wanted to like this place, being I am a southern girl, but I don't.
I have to preface this by saying I haven't stayed for a meal - the one time I tried to get in a few months back they told me it'd be a 45 minute wait on a Monday night. (MONDAY!!!!!!)
However, I did recently try them for delivery, which they FINALLY started. BBQ pork sandwich - bland, and just yuck. There are so many more different BBQ places in town that are better.
The baked beans: so spicy I couldn't eat them. Southern baked beans are supposed to be sweet, not flaming hot spicy.
The only saving grace: the mac and cheese.
I would go there for the mac and cheese, but that's about it.
I came to the bar looking for some pretty ass hoes with pretty ass toes wearing pretty ass clothes; Thought maybe I'd find them here dancing and throwing some pretty ass 'bows.
Sadly, I found the same scene you'll find at pretty much any other bar on the UES except possibly worse because the Timberlake association is like a glowing fly light trap drawing even more douche-y people (present Yelp company excluded).
Its only saving grace is the Buck Hunter game tucked away in a back corner that's more of a storage room than anything. (UPDATE: Oh no, they got rid of Buck Hunter! One star!)
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I may be a Justin Timberlake fan, but there are other reasons to love Southern Hospitality. Of course, there are reasons to hate it too. The thing is, please don't go to a southern-style restaurant and order the grilled portobello sandwich. This isn't Cosi's. Order the pulled pork instead...or a nice rack of ribs.
The atmosphere is pretty cool: Elvis posters all around and hardwood floors and tables. Not to mention the wall of Jack Daniel's as soon as you walk in. It may get really busy at times, but if you make reservations you shouldn't have a problem. Hey, if it's busy that means it's good, right? That's what Rachael Ray tells me anyway.
And no, you probably won't see Justin Timberlake eating at the next table, but the peach cobbler is superb. Trust me.
I've only been to SH twice, and I was not very pleased with the food and service. During our first visit, my boyfriend and i order the fried chicken (which was okay), ribs (which were really good), the fried onion (tasty but greasy), buffalo wings (nothing special and very small), and the mac and cheese (delicious!). During our second visit, we wanted a bottle of wine but were told that we could not order any wine because there was a party going on that night and they didn't have enough. When our food came out, we noticed that the waitress had forgotten one of our appetizers, which she never added to the bill anyway. Not to sure if we'll be visiting again.
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Not a bad place if you're just grabbing a beer, but if you're getting food, steer clear.
Wait staff is great, super friendly. Food is atrocious. The fish tasted like an old Volkswagen, chicken was slimy and tasted like a basement, and the collard greens... well, didn't taste like collard greens at all. If you want someplace close, hit up Bro Jay's a few blocks up.
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New York's Upper East Side boasts what appears to be, at least on paper, the perfect date restaurant. Imagine a venue where the gentlemen can watch TV and eat a plate of fried chicken, while the ladies sip on ice tea and catch a glimpse of their favorite rock star. This is the sort of place where the beer flows like wine and the only thing hotter than the wait staff is the homemade pecan pie. For a few brief hours, the frenetic pulse of New York City slows to a gentle heartbeat, and Manhattan learns the true meaning of . . . Southern Hospitality (SH).
It's a nice idea-- so nice, in fact, that it lured every fat person in the Big Apple to a restaurant that turned out to be a glorified Kentucky Fried Chicken. In the place of Colonel Sanders we have Justin Timberlake, who owns SH and, like Col. Sanders, also owns slaves. Instead of a half-dozen minimum wage workers frantically deep-frying genetically modified poultry, we have a half-dozen aspiring model/actresses who make more than an elementary school teacher but not enough to cover rent on their studio apartments. Our server--I'm going to call her "Christy"--stared at us long after she had placed the plates on our table, and I can only assume it was because she was hoping we would feed her table scraps to keep her from starving.
I ordered the fried chicken while my fianc ordered the pulled pork platter; both were okay, but again, not better than what you could get down the street for nearly a quarter of the price. Here you are paying for the chance to eat Justin's food, and honestly, if this is what the boy eats on a daily basis, he must have a gastrointestinal system of steel. The lard from my fried chicken lubricated my esophagus to the extent that it was unnecessary to chew my food. I tried to create some traction on my internal Slip-N-Slide by following every bite of meat with a piece of my biscuit, but it was overwhelmed by grease much as a kitchen sponge might sink in a barrel of oil.
This is not to say that the entire dining experience was unsavory; the outdoor seating was serene, the indoor bar seen was hopping, and that pecan pie was delightful. But I expect better from the man who sings genius lyrics like "You could be my baby/ Let me make you my lady/ Girl you amaze me." I expect menu items with names like "SexyBabyBack Ribs" and "Pie Me a River." I expect a vibe that screams "Atlanta," not "Little Rock." And damn it, Christy, when I tell you that we're doing fine, I expect you to leave the table without swiping my biscuit.
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To say i was unhappy with my meal is an understatement. Thank god the waitress pushed us to get the pulled chicken (an extra 5 bucks!) on our nachos (already 9 bucks). Otherwise, they would have been inedible. I can't help but feel that a professional establishment should have real cheese versus cheese sauce. I mean this is JT's fantastic BBQ joint right? not the 711 on the highway you stopped at or a minor league baseball game snack stand. And i know - nachos at a BBQ place - what I am i expecting. but please - it's not that hard.
After the poor showing and viewing the over priced menu, we all opted for apps as meals. Two of us got chicken wings. I must say the wing itself was large and juicy with lots of meat and they give you a lot of them for your buck - HOWEVER the batter. Come on - a southern joint can't do fried chicken? they appear crispy, but are in fact soggy and gross and leave the worst after taste ever. I threw up in my mouth a little bit, i found out my fellow wing survivor went home and vomited later. That should convey the grossness of it all.
I am going to leaving the service alone. I think the food was offensive enough i will let it slide.
All i can say is that if a joint opens with such fanfare only a short while later is dead - it speaks volumes. i would like to write JT directly
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Dum. Dum. Dum. Both the anticipated 200th review as well as the anticipated new Justin Timberlake restaurant. For those that haven't read my profile. I'm a huge Justin Timberlake fan. Huge? Huge. I'm also a HUGE macaroni and cheese fan. Huge? Huge. So naturally when you combine the two together....I just don't know what to do with myself!!!
Mmmm. Mmm. Southern Barbeque. Let's do it! I finally went with some girlfriends of mine (the reeeeeeeally picky ones from the Pink Teacup era) after hearing some not so great tales. I wanted to check it out for myself. I walked in a little late. Surprise. Surprise. The girls were already seated at a booth in the back. The waitress came over right away. She was pretty amazing to be honest. Nice, accomodating, helpful, but not that "annoying ditsy sugary sweet, talk about you in the kitchen" kinda waitress. Cheers to that. ALSO! She was reeeeeally patient with all of our questions, demands, changes, and ordering of classy mojitos at a southern bbq joint.
That's right, forget the beer! I got a mojito! It took a little bit to get it right, but it was fine. We went with the pulled pork nachos which apparently got a stellar review. They were a'ight. Came with squeezy cheese. Hmmm. The girls enjoyed them though. Then came the entrees. I thought everything was quite nice. Not the best, but quite nice. The mashed potatoes however were bland, bland, bland, past the help of any salt. I'd also skip out on the collard greens. But I got the mac-n-cheese and it was a big hit at the table! So much so we even got a second order. Holla! The fried chicken was also quite yummy. Ahhh yes, the tastiness is coming back to me now. One of my girlfriends went with the bbq salmon and just kept remarking "mmm! this salmon is on point! mmmm!" over and over. That deserves a lot of points! Overall it was a pleasant experience.
The decor was not exactly what I had expected as it was a little more chill and casual than your usual upper east side dining locale. Southern Hospitality did however adorn their walls with fabulous pictures of fabulous musicians. A lot of Elvis (naturally) and some amazing black-and-white Diva singer pictures. There's a lot going on in the visual department. Although we skipped dessert (too stuffed!) we were never rushed to leave and it was just fun to sit back, laugh hysterically and chill. Perhaps a fun late-night spot to even just hang out at the bar.
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As a Texan at heart, I liked the fairly decent attempt at a southern atmosphere at this place. As a vegetarian, I didn't try the barbeque, but the fried pickles were a little lackluster. At that time though, in my fairly inebriated state, it seemed really funny that Justin Timberlake would choose to open up a barbeque joint. I mean, there is nothing sexy about eating barbeque.
Anyways, it was really only fun because I was there with fun people.
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Hate to rip my boy JT, but man oh man, dissociate yourself with this restaurant.
We went for a friend's birthday and knew we'd have to wait a bit so we headed to the bar. Got a beer and then our table opened up. When we were seated, the table was still dirty (got that taken care of). After ordering, parts of our meals started showing up but never the complete thing. For example, nachos with chicken on them. Nachos showed without plates or silverware. Once plates showed, no napkins. Once napkins, no chicken on the nachos. They later brought a small bowl of chicken that we could "add" to the nachos, most of which had been eaten. Wait, I'm supposed to assemble my own meal? Really?
The rest of the meal followed suit. I was charged for extra beers that were ordered but never delivered. Had them removed but still an odd experience.
There is much better BBQ in the area. Check out some other stuff first.
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The food was the worst bbq i've had. The cornbread was a joke (go to Mustangs on 2nd at 84th and you get better cornbread muffins - and that's a Mexican joint!) - and the beef brisket was about 3/4 fat. Once you cut the fat off, you're left with about an inch of meat, and still very hungry.
Take the money you would have spent on Southern Hospitality and save up for the cab ride to Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem. So much better.
Atmosphere of Southern Hospitality is cool, I'd go back for a beer, but never ever when I'm hungry.
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This place is all that is wrong with the NY BBQ scene. The cornbread was about as dry as a saltine. Now I love cornbread, so this was a mortal sin to me. If you cannot make good cornbread, don't bother opening a BBQ joint.
The starter was fried green tomatoes. OK, so an operative word in the title of the dish is GREEN! These were red. I am not sure how that happened, but it did.
The BBQ sauce tasted just like Justin TImberlake's music sounds; uninteresting and like someone just slopped it out of a can. The ribs were barely warm, and the black beans were so dry that they looked as if they were taken straight from a Goya package. The Fiancee got Mac n Cheese, which was delivered Hungryman Microwave Style, as in cold inside and a bit burned on the outside. The Pecan Pie was ok. I cannot say that it was spectacular, but it was the best thing at our meal.
I cannot say that I am from the South, or that I have had ribs in each one of the different types of sauce made in the U.S. I can say that I know what makes good BBQ and what makes a bad BBQ. The BBQ here, bad... Go to Dinosaur if you want good food and don't really care if you catch a glimpse of a man whose entire career is based on over produced, uninteresting music.
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I had one of my birthday dinners this year at SH -- it was pretty awesome. They crammed 12 of us onto a platform table -- and even though it was crowded, we were able to chat across the table. The food was actually really good (i wasn't sure what to expect, and well I had decided to go here because of the JT hype...) i ordered the fried chicken (had to ask for honey on the side!) and it was delicious. Moist and crispy - the way fried chicken should be. It came with mashed potatoes that were cheesy? not sure but they were tasty. The collard greens were ok -- i've had better. The biscuit was nice, but it needed butter and honey. OH! for an appetizer we ordered fried pickles -- yes really - and they were actually really tasty. Other's ordered pulled-pork / bbq sandwiches with fries and everyone was happy. The beer selections on tap were also good.
We had an earlier dinner (7ish!) and the place was just warming up, by 10 when we left it was packed. For those wondering, there's no reference to JT in the place that we saw...but there's lots of elvis stuff.
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This place got craaaaazy buzz because JT was involved, but I went to sample the bbq. Haha, nah - that's a boldface lie! I went cause Justin Timberlake was opening up the joint, and because Jessica Biel is the new hot Jessica (btw. when did that happen?)
Us Weekly ballyhoo aside, the place itself is pretty chill. It's opening week so things were expectantly chaotic, but the food on point, with pulled pork def the way to go. The ribs were kinda dry, we asked for sauce, and in two shakes of a lambs tail, st louis style bbq was in the house, and we all had a good time.
Here's the thing though- Brother Jimmy's is just one block up, and they're seriously the best bbq north of the mason-dixon line, newark, or whatever constitutes the deep south these days... Southern Hospitality has some serious competition, but if my first experience is anything to go by, they're ready to rumble...
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Of course I knew what I was getting into when I went to Southern Hospitality. I had no expectations of cool ambiance (almost no upper east side bars have that), or great food. However, I did want a bar where I could eat on the later side on a Tuesday night with a buddy and watch the Knicks. This place worked perfectly.
Basically, it looks like a vaguely southern themed sports bar a la brother Jimmy's up the street. I have walked by it when it was very crowded but midweek at 9:00 it's pretty manageable.
I had looked a menu previously and somehow gotten the impression that it was expensive with $27 entree plates. However, upon closer inspection it isn't that bad, The only things that pricey were the multi meat "pig out" combo platter. The sandwichs with fries and slaw are about $10 and that is where I headed. I have read all the negative reviews so far on yelp, and though most of them are not really food related (nachos don't count), it was clear that the fried chicken is nothing special and some of the stuff on the menu is sub par... However I have to say the pulled pork sandwich was a revelation. Too often pulled pork is either dry and somewhat stringy or moist because of some external liquid. This was neither. The meat was pulled in large smokey caramelized threads that were perfectly dry on the outside, but totally juicy and flavorful underneath. The bun was toasted just right and the fries had a nice seasoning on them. I had one bite and seriously considered whether or not I wanted any bbq sauce (served on the side) to adulterate the flavor. I eventually went for a light sprinkle. Clearly they are doing at least one thing right, and the lone star beef ribs which I saw looked pretty epic. As a crappy UES frat bar it gets one star, but that was a really good sandwich. Give it a try and avoid the fried chicken (apparently).
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JT's place isn't that bad actually. I got a pulled pork sandwich and it didn't take too long for me to get my food. Service was ok at best. They have Blue Moon and Purple Haze on tap, which to me was amazing!
I enjoyed the sandwich was about 9 bucks which really isn't that bad when you think of the area and the restaurant being opened by Justin Timberlake.
I enjoyed my meal and I liked the scene with the music, bar, and bbq restaurant feel.
For all the bad reviews I've seen, I was a little nervous to try this place. But with such low expectations, I was pleasantly surprised. There were 7 of us, so we shared the onion rings (nice and thin, lightly battered), fried pickles (my 2nd time trying these in my life, not so much of a fan), and fried green tomatoes (ours were green, unlike some of the other reviewers). Aside from the fact that this was too much fried food, it was all fine.
We also shared an order of the full-sized mac and cheese, which was nice and hot, and though not creamy as I expected (southerners do like their butter and cream), it was tasty. I couldn't eat a whole serving of it, but the portion I had was perfect.
For my entree, I got the pulled pork platter, which is served with cole slaw, baked beans and a biscuit. The biscuit was hot and delicious, the baked beans and slaw ok, and the pulled pork was good, once I added BBQ sauce that was on the table. One of my friends, who is from the South, had the pulled pork sandwich, and she thought it was good.
The others at the table ordered the fried chicken (she said it was yummy, and the mashed yukon gold/sweet potatoes were a hit), the catfish (also got a thumbs up), the pulled chicken platter, grilled shrimp platter, and the salad with BBQ chicken, which looked like a 1/2 chicken on a salad, which was a little unexpected.
Overall, everyone was satisified with their food. The rib platters were pretty pricey, in the $21 and up range, but we all went with the slightly less expensive entrees, and ended up with more than enough food. And since most of us had seen bad reviews and expected it to be horrible, we were happy that we had a good experience. So if you're in the area and craving BBQ, check it out.
6 JT crazed girls-- at this place for dinner? Of course it'll get 5 stars.
It was suggested with all the buzz this place has been receiving that to guarantee a table, you'd have to be there at 5PM sharp. But to be honest, it wasn't even SUPER busy until after we left which was around 7PM (but then again, it was Wednesday).
I'm assuming the menu changes every now and then, cause why would they lay out paper menus that can easily be ripped, spilled on, destroyed, etc. soo-- that's special. Unless they printed off a million-bagillion of them.
Anyway, I ordered the Pulled Pork Platter which comes with 2 sides (choose from tater tots, collard greens, potato salad, string beans, mac and cheese, and cole slaw)-- and a Woodchuck Draft Cider beer (which tasted like "apple juice that makes you a lil crazy" as our waitress put it)
Oh and our waitress! Her name was Christena, and she is sucha lil hottie! Straight out of Memphis, her accent is sorta thick and if you catch her saying "really, really" I guarantee you'll love her.
Food was great, beer was delcious with the bbq sauce. If only Justin was there.. SIGHHHHHHHHHHHH.
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Not impressed.
Curious about all the hype, I made reservations for my roommate and I to have dinner at Southern Hospitality on a Friday night. My roommate by the way, is insanely in love with JT.
After arriving on time for our 9:00pm reservation, we were met with not so friendly hostesses who told us to wait while they cleared a table for us. We waited at the bar for around 15 minutes or so and had ourselves a couple of $5 beers. After which, a hostess sat us outside without really giving us an option to sit elsewhere.
Not sure why we bothered making reservations and with no Justin in sight, we were a bit disheartened.
Our spirits lifted again as we looked through the simple but enticing little black menus... pulled pork, wings, or brisket? or maybe ribs! so many yummy choices!
I ordered the pulled pork and my roomie ordered the fried chicken platter, along with a few sides.
When my pulled pork platter arrived, it was all dry and cold. along with really runny mashed potatoes that were also cold and oddly sweet.
I barely touched my food that night.
I did however eat all of my cole slaw, which was really good compared to everything else.
The fried chicken, collard greens and macaroni and cheese cheese cheese were good though. The mac n cheese was double baked and jalapeno flavored.
But our waitress didn't seem to know what she was doing and often left us unattended for long periods of time.
The bar itself was like any other bar with wood paneling. Southern Hospitality has a similar feel to that of steakhouses in Dallas and drinks were reasonably priced.
I would go to Southern Hospitality as a casual neighborhood hang out for drinks, but not to eat at.
I much rather go to Blue Smoke for good barbeque!
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I LOVE good BBQ and tried this place out NOT because of JT but bc I like trying new places. Bottom line? Not impressed. Pulled Pork was ok, ribs are so much better at Blue Smoke and the crowd seemed like they should be at a club. The service is a bit slow but that is expected when a new trendy restaurant opens and people are flocking to the joint since JT is involved. Anyway, if you want damn good BBQ then head on over to Blue Smoke! Tastier selection and better service!
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I thought the mac and cheese was good, other people I went with liked the BBQ sauce and chicken. The place was busy but we went on a Saturday so that is to be expected. The wait was 45 min (we had someone else grabbing our table so didn't actually have to wait at all). Con: They won't do substitutions on the meals.
Overall it was okay, worth trying...but really I was trying to spot JT...=)
We went for drinks, so I cannot comment on the food yet. The crowd was pretty young, at least it felt that way. Drinks were not out of the ball park, so that was good.
The restrooms are rather cramped, but still offer private room stalls. Other than being small they were acceptable, pretty clean, and were stocked when I was there. 3.5 Flushes.
Well to jump to the executive summary, it was terrible. In interest of full disclosure I am from Kansas originally and consider myself a BBQ bigot, aficionado and lover. We dined on a Wednesday night and as expected the place was pretty busy. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to be seated. The scene was pretty funny, this is a BBQ place with BBQ place prices yet the girls were in dresses like they were going out to a dance club, as if they might meet JT himself, this was good for humor.
Sadly, that was about the only positive thing of the experience. To start things off my Guinness was served in a menagerie of different glasses. First in a frosted mug, as if the Stout was a Budweiser, then in a Pilsner glass (am I drinking Miller Lite?). While these facts did not earn Southern Hospitality the single star, it didn't help JTs new spot either. With a new restaurant you have to get the little things right, they didn't. Serving beer in the proper glass should be the easiest function in the entire restaurant.
The service was 'fine' and the food was delivered in a timely fashion given how busy it was.
What we had for appetizer:
Fried Green Tomatoes with Remoulade - This was the highlight of the experience. Light breading, done just right and the remoulade was quite tasty.
And for dinner:
Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich with Home-style Baked Mac-n-cheese - The better half had this for her main course. The Mac-n-Cheese was simply 'ok' without a lot of flavor (Velveeta out of the box with the liquid cheese packet tastes better) . Here is where things turn for the worse. The chicken had zero flavor and was served room temperature or better put, cold.
Baby Back Ribs half rack (dry) with Tater Tots - Again, everything on my plate was cold. The ribs had a lot of meat on them and came off the bone easily (they probably boil) but I couldn't get over the fact that they were cold. The ribs also had little taste; I had to drench them in their sauce (which isn't too bad). And as everyone knows, nothing is worse than cold tater tots, they get soggy.
And for desert:
Peach Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream on the Side - Yet again! Cold cobbler! Cobbler should be served piping hot, this was room temperature.
Summary:
Why didn't I send everything back? We were starving after waiting over an hour and just dealt with it. Plus I was in pure shock that they served that number of dishes cold. I will not be going back to this place and once the buzz is over I give it 6 months until the doors are closed.
i hate the environment -- too sports bar-y for me. the cornbread, yes, is dry, don't get it. i do believe that's a sin. but the pulled pork sandwich with french fries? order that for take out, it's hella good. basics, that's what it's all about people.
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I gathered a few girlfriend to make the trek from the West Side all the way over to 2nd Ave. to try out Jutin Timberlake's new sports bar/restaurant. I know all you pop music haters out there are licking your chops to hear about how greasy and bad it was but, sorry, the food the fantastic!
The only thing that made me cringe was the inauthentic southern accent on the recorded phone greeting, which was reminiscent of Jessica Simpson in Dukes of Hazzard. But when we arrived there, the friendly staff was unpretentious and accomodating of our large group. The mac' and cheese, of which I'm a connaisseur, was crusty and sharp. And the chapaigne vinagrette dressing received rave reviews. I can't say any of us had the ribs, but my pulled pork was tender. I do plan to go back and try the ribs. Hopefully I will get a glimpse of JT; maybe he will even 'rock my body' on the dance floor. I have to say, although my group was the oldest there, we were the most fun on the small dance floor. The place was filled with 12-year-olds, but the DJ was fun, and there is a great sound system there.
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