Southside 815 in Alexandria - Report
I'm kind of surprised it's taken me this long to hit a Southern food joint- 8 years this place has been open! I've never heard much, good or bad, about the food here, except that it does get mentioned on Chowhound whenever someone specificallly asks for Southern food.
That practice should stop immediately. Under no circumstances should this be considered a dining option.
Everything here looks tired and overcooked. And the taste is even worse. Too much Cuisinart pulsing does wrong in equal measure to mashed potatoes and meatloaf. Some of the greens are dried out. Mac and Cheese is grainy, and anything fried is done so until deep brown. Oyster Po Boy? I don't need my oysters THAT crunchy. No thanks.
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Just ate at Southside 815 today and was quite disappointed with the Mac & Cheese. I was surprised no one here nor on any other review site, mentioned the overwhelming ham-like taste from an added smoke flavor that ruins the whole dish - especially if you are a vegetarian. I have loved mac & cheese long before being a vegetarian and I wouldn't have wanted it ruined with a ham-like overwhelming flavor even then. It is really too bad because it probably would have been one of my faves in the area if they had left it alone. The sauce consistency was prefect as were the big shell pasta and the nice crust. Reminded me of the dish I ate as a kid growing up in NY at the Automat - which had no smoke flavor.
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Southside 815
815 S Washington St, Alexandria, VA 22314 -
As a longtime vet of Southside, I love the place. But I will say that I had a meal last week where the Oyster Po Boy wasn't as good as usual (and I usually like it a notch or even two! better than Hank's) and the usually excellent wings were smallish and not as zesty as I like. Probably just a rare bad night, but I'd hate to see the quality drop at one of my favorite restaurants.
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monavano
Jul 19, 2008 09:07 AM
Had dinner last week at 815. First, let me say that I can't believe how low they keep their prices! It was amazing to have dinner so cheap.
My DH and I split an order of wings. Good, quite good. Not as good as my favorite wings at Chadwicks, but they were crisp and came with good blue cheese and a ton of veggies for dipping.
I had the pulled pork sandwich. HUGE!. It came with slaw and fries, both good. The squirt bottle of extra bbq sauce is a nice touch. I liked it too-tomato based with vinegar. Not thick. Not sweet. Good.
DH had the deviled crab club. Again, nothing to remark but a nice sandwich.
This place is what it is-pretty much bar food, sandwiches and some entrees which I'd sure try if in the mood.
We're still fans and are very happy to have this neighborhood resto in our repetoire when the mood hits ;-)
www.houndstoothgourmet.com -
I always found Southside consistant. I like their Po boys. When I get the craving, it does the trick.
If you do want to pick at it, it hard to argue on store bought roll and or other particular aspects of the sandwich. And I am not saying that this is comprable to my favorite places in NOLA. But like I said, it does the job and is one of the better examples around DC.
I wonder how many of the belowed chinese places on this board would stack up with its counterparts in china?
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re: Soup
monkeyrotica
Jul 10, 2008 05:12 AM
When I get a po' boy craving, I head to RT's. Their oyster and shrimp po boys are some of the best around, and with a decent remoulade. I just wish they did a roast beef po boy. And it's not that far from Southside. But when I really want to splurge, I go for the oyster po boy at Hank's in Old Town. An upscale po boy to be sure, but delicious.
http://www.rtsrestaurant.net/RTS_Restaurant_menu_lunch.htm
http://www.hanksdc.com/menu.html
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R T's Restaurant
3804 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22305Hank's Oyster Bar
1026 King St Ste 1, Alexandria, VA 22314 -
re: Soup
Soup, I have travelled several months in China, and unless you spend more than $10-$15US a meal, chinese food is better in the US than in China. By a large margin. Chinese food in China is pretty poorly prepared, and the sea food is abysmal. Admittedly, I spent most of my time in Kunming, Guilin, Yangshuou, Beijing and Pingyao, so there are huge parts of China that I haven't spent time in, but the food my friends and I ate was fair to bad, and often really bad. Frequently the best chinese food under $15 for an entree was in the food court of a large shopping mall, and that is just wrong.
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re: Ziv
monkeyrotica
Jul 12, 2008 06:16 AM
That's apalling. Is this a recent development? Why the lousy food in China of all places?
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re: Ziv
James G
Jul 20, 2008 06:05 PM
I happen to live in China (as I believe Soup does, too), and am also very familiar with the Chinese food scene in the US (having lived many years in NYC and the DC suburbs) and while you are certainly entitled to your opinion, I am afraid to tell you it's just wrong... Perhaps you were taken around by a tour guide who took you to "tourist-friendly" places, or otherwise were led astray, but believe me, Chinese food in China is infinitely better--at any price--than "Chinese" food in the US.
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I am quite surprised, as this is one of my FAVORITE go to places for an inexpensive but very good meal. In the last ten years I have been here probably 50 times. I am from the South, however, so that may influence my thinking. The fried dill pickles are great. The Cajun Pasta Jambalya is also very good. The peach poundcake for dessert is awesome. The kale is good, and the bread basket with the peach/pepper jelly is wonderful. I think only one time I was disappointed -- and that was the black and blue rib eye.
Perhaps you visited on an off day?
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re: SheriS
The meat in the meatloaf here was minced too fine, made into some sort of quasi-paste. Honestly, if you told me it was a vegetarian meatloaf, I would have believed it; it didn't even taste like meat. The potatoes also were pureed into more of a pudding than mashed potatoes.
I can always allow for a day when things get over-fried, so hopefully what we were served is not the norm. All three fried items we had, the pickles, the green tomatoes, the oysters, were in the same batter, and they were all way overcooked. Still, I don't need the pickles served with a remoulade that is also made with a lot of relish.
Other places/dishes that outdo Southside 815 are Old Hickory Grill (stoneground grits, fried oysters) Oohs and Aahs (greens especially), and Del Merei Grille (frickles, deviled eggs, three bean salad).
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re: Steve
ktmoomau
Jul 8, 2008 03:57 PM
I like Old Hickory Grill, but it doesn't do like SC/VA Southern cooking. I like the biscuits and low country shortcake and other low country items at Southside, they are what taste like home to me. But I do like Old Hickory Grille now and then.
Haven't been to the others yet, mainly cuz of all the stupid bar studying, hopefully I will get a life again in August. Meatloaf I make so well at home, it isn't a big priority, it is the biscuits and other things more complicated things I don't have time to make I care about. I find Southside normally pretty consistent with many of my favorites, and they make good gravy too, not something I have found many places. Del Merei Grille that is in Alexandria right? Is it the one on Glebe towards Shirlington from Del Rei in the pretty sketchy looking building/kind of strip mall?
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re: Steve
monkeyrotica
Jul 9, 2008 08:37 AM
Never had the Southside meatloaf, but the roast beef po boy was definitely meh: bland lunchmeat, bland gravy, on a storebought sub roll. Their fried chicken was excellent though, not greasy at all.
I stopped eating at Ooohs and Aaahs when I discovered Levi's Port Cafe. Their fried chicken and smothered pork chops are outstanding, and they're doing god's work with macaroni and cheese. Their collards are better, too. And cheaper.
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re: monkeyrotica
I am familiar with Levi's Port Cafe. I am also a longtime associate of Johnnie Kersey who opened the place - and he is probably still there. It's more comfortable certainly than Oohs and Aahs, and it's got some nice things going for it. If I am in the area or need more room to hang out, I consider going there.
If I were going to supply Fried Chicken for a picnic, then my first choice would be Horace and Dickie's; yes, they are famous for the fish, but the fried chicken is better.
For those fans of Southside 815, maybe I the restaurant did have an off-day. Or maybe we can consider this part of a 'downhill alert.'
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re: Steve
ktmoomau
Jul 9, 2008 11:19 AM
We just don't have enough good Southern restaurants and I just don't work out enough to eat at them often enough :)
I would pay way more than anyone reasonably should for a great real meringue pie, biscuits and chicken and dumplings.
Levi's is another place on my list. Sometimes it is hard to get Fiance to all these holes in the wall in odd areas of town, but he is coming around. Has anyone been to Jackson 20, yet? I wish they had an online menu, that really bugs me, I would be especially happy to get a brunch menu online...
Flavors in Bailey's might happen soon... I am keeping my fingers crossed on it.
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re: ktmoomau
For the record, I don't consider any of these a close substitute for Oohs and Aahs. Go there and get the grilled shrimp, greens, and rice with gravy. For another dish, try the lemon pepper wings. Both are divine. Other good orders are the short ribs of beef and the turkey chop. I'm not fond of the blackened or broiled fish, the only disappointment I've experienced there.
PS The only time Washingtonian has ever put a non-celebrity African American woman on the cover was India Abbot-Wilson, proprietress of Oohs and Aahs.
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re: Steve
ktmoomau
Jul 10, 2008 02:54 PM
Steve, I keep thinking about it and I might have been to Oohs and Aahs I keep trying to think of the name of this place I used to eat at when I lived at 17th and T, it was only a few blocks away, maybe like 4-5 max, really, I thought it was just a carryout place, you go in and there are like two chairs downstairs, normally an old guy sitting in one and a counter where you order, stuff is packaged in styrofoam, and if I remember right, fake wood paneling? Is that it? I never knew there was an upstairs, maybe this is a different place?
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re: ktmoomau
Oohs and Aahs is at 10th and U, right across from an enrtrance to the U St/Cardozo Metro station. There are 4/5 stools, very cramped, in front of the open kitchen. They have 'renovated' since their success, so now the walls are painted ochre. I have never seen anyone camped out there. Also, I have never been to the upstairs part. Everything is served in styrofoam containers. Almost all of their business in carry-out, and I overhear quite a few folks say they travel from around the city - particularly govermnment offices- to get some of that cookin'..
Anyway, I plan on going to Breadline tomorrow at 12:30pm (exactly) for my regular bbq fix. If you or anyone else want to meet up there, that would be great.
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