Southern Social

Thursday, September 5, 2024

A new restaurant opened in town in the spring and we had not yet been there, so we decided to give it a try tonight with Nancy. It used to be Bonfire, a place we went quite a few times. They had really good deals on really good appetizers. Anyway…

The place looks the same, because they didn’t move any walls or fireplaces, but also completely different. Quite a few people were eating outside on this gorgeous day, but we opted for inside. We started with the cheese curds. They were advertised as cajun Ellsworth cheese curds. Nancy could taste some seasoning, but Keith and I did not. The batter was extremely light, which I initially mistakenly thought was not a good thing. A couple curds in, I realized it was a very good thing. It came with blackberry jalapeno ketchup. It was thin, did not taste at all like ketchup or jalapeno, but was delicious. It was very strong and you only needed a tiny bit to enhance rather than overpower the cheese curd.

Keith had shrimp and grits. The age-old question was true here, as well as almost every place that has served Keith shrimp and grits. Why do they leave the tails on the shrimp when it is mixed into the dish? My question is always what is the appropriate way to eat it – to get the tail off? Not that it matters to me, since I would not ever be ordering shrimp and grits. It came with corn and other stuff on top of it, which Keith reported to be very different and very welcome. He thought the portion looked a little small, but when he was finished, he was more than full.

I had the pimento macaroni and cheese. It was cavatappi with pimento Gouda sauce, covered with onion strings, shredded cheddar, and a touch of bbq sauce. Surprisingly, because I didn’t think it was possible, there were a few too many onion strings. It could have used a bit more cheese sauce, because it was a little dry for my taste. Gouda is a mild cheese and so it was a very mild mac. It was a hearty portion.

Nancy was the winner. She ordered a half Farmer’s salad and a side of mac and cheese. The portions were pretty perfect. The salad was simpler than she may have wanted, but tasted delicious. She chose the salad to have the lemon vinaigrette dressing and it did not disappoint. The corn bread croutons were strange in that they were not crunch, but when you think about, they wouldn’t be, would they? Next time I go, I am having the iceberg wedge and mac and cheese. I think it will be perfect.

Thursday’s special is half-price desserts, so we had dessert. We are so full, even now, 5+ hours later. Keith had the bourbon peach bread pudding, and I had the Lane Cake, with pecans and coconut. Both were really good and nicely sized portions. I couldn’t come close to finishing, so it will treat everyone again tomorrow.

The bill came with a 3% service charge. We didn’t get a chance to ask our server about it, so I stopped and asked the hostesses what it was. They had no idea. I said maybe it was for staff support or maybe was a credit card surcharge (but it did not give us a cash option). The hostess said she thought it was for credit cards. She went to ask and the manager came up to talk to me. I asked and he said it was for a fund for staff for emergencies and um,….something else problem-esque. I seemed ready to defend, but I wasn’t mad, I was just curious (and we needed to get Keith to a rehearsal) so I smiled and said thank you and dashed away. I am still curious about it, since the hostesses didn’t know what it was. Maybe they are not that part of staff.