Today I want to tell you about Southern Flair Pub House in Chesapeake, VA. They’ve only been open for about 5 months so they are still working things out a bit. They are located at the end of a row of shops at the intersection of Kempsville Rd. and Volvo Parkway. I’ll have to say up front that I think maybe they have focused more on the pub side of the business than on the restaurant side. You’ll see why I say this as you read further.
The Restaurant and Staff:
I want to start by saying that our waitress, Stephanie, was wonderful. We had some issues at the start and she did very well handling them. And she was the only one that we really talked to. The manager actually brought our food to the table but she didn’t really stick around to talk with us.
To me, the dining area was not as clean as it should be. I don’t know when they had their last party but there was confetti still on the floor. It was also on the bathroom floor. Just so you know our visit was 2 weeks after New Year’s. And add to that, Tammy’s silverware was dirty. I know this can happen at times and the last line of defense is the people who wrap it prior to it going to someone’s table. That was just bad timing and normally I’d let that slide if it were not for other things we encountered at Southern Flair Pub House.
So, stick with me and I’ll fill you in on the rest of our visit.
My Choices at Southern Flair Pub House:
Rib and Pulled Pork Platter.
Southern Flair Pub House.
I ordered the Ribs and Pulled Pork Platter. My sides were Slaw and Smoked Beans. The beans had a strong smoke flavor to them and were pretty good. You have to like the smoke though. The slaw was good. It was a basic slaw with a mayo base. My sides came through very well.
The Ribs had a pretty good flavor to them but were over sauced for me. My first impression was that they probably are not freshly smoked and served. The extra sauce has a way of disguising that at times. But I know that some folks like their ribs sauced up. My pork had a decent smoke flavor but like the ribs had too much sauce for me. Sorry but I’m the type who wants to be able to taste the meat. More to come on this.
Tammy’s Choices at Southern Flair Pub House:
So on to Tammy’s order. Tammy wanted a Brisket and Pulled Pork Platter but they didn’t offer one. The
Pulled Pork and Pulled Brisket Platter.
Southern Flair Pub House.
manager finally told Stephanie we could have brisket and pork for the price of the ribs and pork. We agreed. Her sides were Collards and Mac & Cheese. The collards were ok. They had a fair amount of seasoning but they had too many stems in them. Her mac & cheese was actually better than it looked. First appearance looked as if it came from a box but the taste was much better than that. So the looks can be deceiving in a good way sometimes.
The brisket, although pulled, had a pretty good flavor but it also came with too much sauce. I think that Tammy and I were both expecting sliced brisket since that is what was pictured on their menu and website. None the less here is where everything comes apart for us.
The Hair That Bit Us:
About half way through Tammy’s pork she discovered a long black hair in her meat. When I saw the look on her face I knew something was seriously wrong. I looked at her plate and could see the hair from my side of the table. And just for the record you can look at my picture on the blog and know the hair was not mine. Tammy has short brown hair, not long black hair. It wasn’t ours.
We called Stephanie over and she didn’t have to look hard to see it as she was standing beside our table. She took Tammy’s plate while apologizing and returned it to the kitchen. No one ever came out to talk to us. At this point no one knew that we were there to review the restaurant.
After this I tried to pick at the remainder of my food but could not help thinking about that hair coming out of the same pot or pan that my food was in. I gave up. By this point I could not eat any more of my lunch either.
They removed Tammy’s food from our ticket but I still paid for mine even though I couldn’t finish it. We were told that the manager had just left when the plate was returned. So when Stephanie returned my bankcard with my ticket I handed her two of my business cards and told her why we were there. She just shook her head and said oh geez. We assured her that it was not her fault and she had done all she could. I asked her to be sure to give the other business card to the manager/owner and we left.
Final Thoughts:
Well I guess you can figure where I’m heading with Southern Flair Pub House. I know things can go wrong in the kitchen. I don’t look for perfection by any means. However, we have been to many restaurants and never have we run into a problem where management left it up to the waitress to resolve everything. I got the feeling that they just didn’t care. So I don’t either. I don’t care to return to this restaurant and I will not recommend any of my readers to go there. I know that this is rather harsh since they are fairly new but my feeling is that the leadership at Southern Flair Pub House is not interested in trouble shooting or fixing their issues. There are way too many good bbq restaurants in the Chesapeake / Virginia Beach area that would bust their butts to make a problem right. I just don’t think I could get all of this out of my mind to give them another chance.
Now For Your Thoughts:
If you follow my blog you know that I write very few reviews like this one. I know everyone is out there trying to make a living and I try to remember that even when I write about a place that would not make my top ten list.
So here is your chance to sound off. If you’ve been to Southern Flair Pub House, let us know how your experience went. I welcome any comments and will post them as soon as I can. Just keep everything clean.
I look forward to hearing from you.
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You can check out their website at: http://www.southernflairph.com/
You can also find them on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/SouthernFlairLLC/
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