Southport Grocery on "Check, Please!"

Is it possible the "Check, Please!" panelists are way too easy on most restaurants they visit? I caught the wrap-up on last night's episode, enough to see that all three panelists were happy as clams with their experience at Southport Grocery and Cafe.

My experience more than once at Southport has been that the understaffed staff is utterly overwhelmed by the task of taking orders and serving food, and none too apologetic about it. The fare is interesting and tasty enough, but not worth the aggravation and the attitude by a longshot.

While I've never been into Southport Grocery I did catch Check Please last night and found them to be the most easy going group of panelists that I've seen. I've seen some downright dog fights on that show before but last night it seemed like all the panelists just really liked anything that they encountered.

I agree with "riddle may's" sentiments above on Southport Grocery. I was dying to go there for a while and finally went. We waited a while for a table, which was to be expected on the weekend. We also observed that the staff seemed to have a hard time managing the diners and kitchen. The food was okay, but nothing to go out of our way for. I even bought a container of soup to take home, which ended up being okay, too. The market portion of the store didn't overwhelm me. As I didn't find my visit spectacular, and it's not in my neighborhood, I probably won't return to dine there. But I will return to buy one of their well known cupcakes to try.

I find Austin City Limits much more entertaining on WCIU during the same time slot as "Check Please" so i don't even Tivo it.

I went to Southport last weekend with some friends for brunch. We had been there once before and didn't realize that it had been on Check Please the night before. Since we were there early I didn't notice it being any busier.

I agree that the service could use some improvement. It took us 15 minutes to get coffee and the entrees for our group were staggered. The food is good, but I don't think it is any better than Bongo Room, M Henry or other similar breakfast places.

There is a new item on their menu called cupcake pancakes which are pancakes made from the cupcake batter.

Interesting topic -- my girlfriend and I went there this past Monday morning and had excellent service (as there were only 1 other table with a customer) but whatever my gf ordered had a TON of oil at the bottom. Enough for her to not eat about 25% of it.

We complained and got a 15% off coupon for our next visit, but I think it may be a while before we go back.

I had the cupcake pancakes .... mmmmm.... Highly recommended.

I'm an early weekend riser, so I often find myself at places like the Bongo Room and Southport well ahead of the 10 ish brunch crowds. One early Saturday I was out running errands and I chose Southport around 8 am. I was the only diner and the waitstaff treated me as if they were none too happy to see me.

An order of french toast took 25 minutes to prepare. My coffee cup sat empty for most of my meal. The french toast with savory ham was really good though.

I haven't gone to the trouble of going back since then.

YourPalWill wrote:One early Saturday I was out running errands and I chose Southport around 8 am. I was the only diner and the waitstaff treated me as if they were none too happy to see me.

An order of french toast took 25 minutes to prepare....

This is a key problem with them--I'm talking in particular about the "none too happy to see me" part of your post. I can forgive poor service if it comes with some sense that the server is doing her best under the circumstances, and that she feels some regret about not being able to give you the service any customer deserves. But at Southport, you get the distinct feeling that they couldn't care less. In fact--and this sounds crazy, but I haven't experienced it anywhere else--I almost get a sense that they take a sadistic, passive-aggressive delight in not meeting basic standards of service. You get the feeling that they think their jobs and lives could be very pleasant if it just weren't for the people.

And as you indicate, you don't have to come at a peak time (like weekend brunch) to experience this. My impressions are based on a couple of weekday lunchtime visits, when the place wasn't all that crowded.

Since I found myself in the neighborhood this morning, I decided to stop in. Any interest I had in catching a bite evaporated once I saw the large group of people assembled in the entryway, waiting for a table. My wife and I decided to browse the grocery and bakery section instead. After a few minutes of constantly dodging the traffic of waitstaff and customers as we attempted to shop, we decided to leave. Admittedly, this was very likely their busiest time of the week. However, it is my opinion this place has some SERIOUS traffic flow issues. The currect layout makes it impossible to either enjoy a meal or shop. They had tables set up in front of the olive oil selection for crying' out loud?! I can't say I was very impressed with any of the grocery offerings to endure the long wait or poor layout. I can't understand how this can be someone's favorite restaurant to praise on Check Please. Am I missing something?

I agree that the layout is not conducive to both the grocery and cafe business. In some ways, I'm thankful that I wasn't overwhelmed by my visit in terms of either the cafe food or grocery offerings. However, I must return at least once more for one of the famed cupcakes. However, the famed cupcakes aren't enough for me to put up with a disorganized, mob scene. I think this is a good enough idea and concept, just poorly executed.

johnny wrote:I can't understand how this can be someone's favorite restaurant to praise on Check Please. Am I missing something?

Johnny,

Layout/traffic flow problems aside, did you try the food?

No pony in the Southport Grocery race, I've never been, just curious.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

johnny wrote:I can't understand how this can be someone's favorite restaurant to praise on Check Please. Am I missing something?

Johnny,

Layout/traffic flow problems aside, did you try the food?

Enjoy,
Gary

The bacon and egg sandwich on a toasted asiago bagel is fantastic.
Oh wait...that's what I had at Einstein Bagels after leaving the chaotic mess of Southport Grocery.
Seriously, are they simply experiencing growing pains as a result of their Check Please feature? In the current situation, I fail to understand how the food could possibly be that amazing to endure the craziness.

Seriously, are they simply experiencing growing pains as a result of their Check Please feature?

No. The lax, chaotic, passive-aggressive service (all surface politeness, masking hostility) was that way before Check Please. It's got to be because management just doesn't care to make it any different.

The one thing I'll go in there for (at an offpeak hour, to be sure) is the cupcakes, from the grocery, to go. The staff who work the cash register counter are nicer than the staff who work the tables.

We spend a lot of time in that area. For us, we would only think of eating there in the summer, when the number of tables more than doubles. During the non-outside dining months, we buy food, and take it home. Not a bad place, including service in the summer months.

With our almost 3 year old, my wife and I ate at Southport this morning (Saturday). Arriving at just past 9 AM, there were still lots of empty seats. The place starts to fill-up at 9:30 and bustles by 10:30 AM. The food was very good breakfast fare. I had pancakes w/ strawberries and walnuts, my wife had French toast stuffed with a fruit compote. We chose from the very nice and nicely priced and presented children's choice for my daughter: for $5 a plate with bread pudding pancakes, mixed fruit, apple sauce, and maple syrup (and they have lots of nice highchairs at the ready). All the food was exceptional. We also had a very tasty and fresh glass of grapefruit juice, tasty bacon, and a very good cup of coffee. The latter is served by the thermos full, eliminating the need to wait for staff to refill and it was very fresh coffee of appropriate strength (read "strong": good enough to sip "like a fine liqueur" as my old coffee mentor Alfred Peet used to say). The service: I can see where people might encounter problems. We were lucky, in that all who served our table were very warm and accommodating. From what I could tell, the cafe doesn't use the traditional method of assigning wait staff by section, which means that many people serve you over the course of the meal, and nobody is fully responsible for specifically your satisfaction. Such systems can work well--theoretically, they allow for optimal deployment of resources--but they also require quite a bit of on the move coordination and overall flow awareness on the part of staff (and there seems to be no maitre d' type person to help carry that off). The staff is young and casual, and seemingly without much restaurant experience. When demands are low, this allows them to show their basically nice human personalities and everyday capabilities but when demands are high--rush periods--makes it much more likely that things will get quite frayed at the edges. The coffee by the thermos method, and a pay at the counter approach, are attempts to reduce staff demands and make it all work a bit more smoothly. My guess is that the writer who arrived at 8 AM and found a staff none too pleased to see him arrived before they were completely set-up. That, of course, is Southport's mistake, not the diner's, but is also a mistake more likely in places that emphasize freshness, where everything is made from scratch as close to service time as possible. So, the food is professional and the service/management is, well, amateur. I'd advise arriving a bit after opening but well before rush periods and, if you really like to be in a place where the staff is perky, quick, efficient, dressed like they work in a restaurant (the sartorial style as Southport is teen casual to near slobbishness), and generally professionally competent, this might not be the stop for you. But at 9:30ish this Saturday morning, the staff members were all very pleasant and accomodating, and the food was very good. Our tab was about $30.00. They have a useful website:
http://www.southportgrocery.com/