Southern Rail

Definitely was not pleased with their food! It looked like a heated microwaved food and put in a to go box! Tasteless and gross! And worse of all I spent $ 20 bucks and I’m still hungry!

Overpriced nonsense. I was almost willing to take the plunge and order the fried green tomato po boy for $ 11…until I realized that was just for the lunch menu. The dinner menu is completely overpriced with a fairly uninteresting selection of food. We ordered a couple of appetizers and a few drinks. Okra was over cooked and flavorless, my friend enjoyed the dirty rice balls though. Our waiter seemed annoyed that we weren’t ordering more food or drinks. After I told him we were only getting the appetizers he said «should I take these menus off of the table then?» but not in a nice way really. However you do your job, man. If we don’t need to order anything else, guess that makes sense, right? He continues to pester us about ordering more food and drinks after we made it clear we weren’t interested from the start. Try fairer prices and better quality food and then maybe you won’t have to work so hard to get people interested in it.

Went here yesterday with my wife for dinner. First off, the ambience, décor, and staff are on-​point; the bar area looked especially inviting. We ordered the Fried Okra, Red Beans & Rice, and the Andouille Gumbo as an appetizer; all three were very delicious. Main courses included their Fried Chicken and ½ Rack Ribs. The quality of meat for both the chicken and ribs was exceptional, however the fried chicken lacked the flavor I was expecting; it was almost like the batter had no additional spices. The ribs were amazing, smoked first then finished off with a sweet-​tangy sauce. The drink menu is something to be mentioned as well. They have an unmatched selection of whiskey, scotch, and other liquors, as well as, inspiring cocktails. All-​in-​all I would highly recommend Southern Rail for a good meal accompanied with good drink.

I’ve been wanting to try this place forever! I’m a huge fan of Beckett’s Table and I couldn’t wait to finally give Southern Rail a try. We came for a late brunch on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. We were able to snag a table outdoors. It’s equipped with the typical misters to battle the AZ heat. The vibe is pretty cool and surprisingly quiet for the amount of commotion going on. It sits right now Camelback and the outdoor sitting area is adjacent to the parking lot. Our server, Casey, was extremely attentive – like fine dining attentive. He helped me make a decision on what to order because I literally wanted everything, made sure our water was never empty, checked up on us and gave us new silverware between courses.
The food was pretty amazing. I love southern food and could not wait to try the shrimp and grits! But first, we started with the deviled egg and the beignets. The deviled egg was pretty standard. Honestly, I liked that they kept it simple. Some restaurants try to get cute with the recipe when a deviled egg is really enough on its own – no fancy frill necessary. I’ve had better beignets… in New Orleans. Can you really go wrong with fried dough with powdered sugar? I suppose you can but these were just fine.
My husband and I split the Fried Shrimp Po-​Boy and the Shrimp and Grits. The Po-​Boy is served with a hot sauce mayo that is to die for! I thought the pickle on the Po-​Boy was slightly overpowering. The pickle demanded a lot of attention, taking away form the other flavors BUT the pickle on it’s own was great. My husband love it all together, so it obviously depends on your personal tastes. They have a few sides for you to choose from and we chose collard greens. I have yet to go to a restaurant that can cook collard greens the way I like them (including Lo-Lo’s). Southern Rail nailed it! They were perfect– I almost ordered more. It was the perfect amount of hot sauce and vinegar.
I’m really looking forward to visiting Southern Rail for Dinner in the near future!

I ate here with five other friends for Arizona Restaurant Week. We had some drinks at the bar — happy hour prices — and the drinks were very good.
Once we sat down, four of the five of us ordered off the restaurant week menu. My gumbo was good as was my salad — and a big portion of salad too. I had the shrimp and grits — was quite good and I couldn’t stop until I had finished all the grits.
Our biggest problem was service. The restaurant wasn’t even completely full but it took forever to get each course — even the salads — and we had to ask for more water — wait staff wasn’t very attentive and it really shouldn’t take almost three hours to eat a meal here.

We were able to visit last night without any reservation or wait. We decided to not take advantage of restaurant week because I knew I wouldn’t eat very much. Our order: Dirty rice balls, fried green tomatoes and fried chicken. Everything fried!
I wasn’t a fan of the fried green tomatoes, but I liked the dirty rice balls and the fried chicken was yummy! It was a generous portion of chicken, corn on the cob and mash potatoes. My hubby shared everything and we couldn’t even finish the fried chicken plate.
Service was meh, but I didn’t mind too much. Overall, I enjoyed our dinner and would recommend. Total of our bill before tip: $ 44

Southern Rail. how can you go wrong with a name like that? It’s southern and its near the rail line! Southern Rail is housed in The Newton Building. A building of common commercial buildings holding true to its roots from its name sake: Jay Newton. Newton was the founder of the iconic Beef Eaters that used to be here and now houses Southern Rail. BUT within The Newton building is a coffee shop and a bookstore too. Chef Justin Beckett has achieved greatness with Becketts Table and now Southern Rail. The menu takes good American classics and ‘souths’ them up! I’d like to think Chef Beckett just brought the dirty south to the valley of the sun! This place is vibrant and has a cool patio with a great décor and lively music piping through the speakers that take you back in time. Listening to southern Lynyrd Skynard while one drinks on trendy sips is pretty legit, dontchathink?! We opted for a table outside on the patio. IN the fall this will be a great place to come and hang as the fireplace is in the center and adds to the ‘look’. There is a cool sound to the light rail and that just adds to the atmosphere when it passes by. We came here during Restaurant Week and for my birthday dinner. I immediately loved the drink menu names: This Dog Won’t Hunt! or how about the Hush Puppy Hush! Ha! A little strong for this weak wine sipping Californian, so I got the Kings Rex to start with: Champagne; honey; fresh squeezed lemon and brandy. It sounds strong, but it didn’t feel it! It had the lemony taste of a French 75 that you see in New Orleans. Even if I didn’t like the dinner I was about to order, I decided I would come back to Southern Rail for the Social Hour that runs from 3−6pm and have that drink again. There are also local beers on draft from 4Peaks and Mother Rode and a smattering of good wines too.
Birthday dinner time! I opted for the Restaurant Week price fixe menu/​$ 33. I got the Chicken Skin and Hot Sauce Deviled Eggs that were the good old fashioned southern type with a little hot sauce drizzled on top; 3 eggs in a serving and they were so finger licking good! Next course I chose the BLT Salad. I expected this to be a small portion, as you sometimes find that with price fixe menus; THIS was not. Lots of thick cut smoky bacon, fresh tomato, grilled green onions, all atop ALOT of lettuce and drizzled with a combination of a cola bbq and a thousand island spicy type of dressing. I could have made this my meal! For my RW entrée, I chose the Shrimp and Grits. I do love me some old fashioned southern shrimp and grits when I am in the south and these did not disappoint. The grits were rich, creamy and topped with several bbq shrimp and sauce to round out the richness. MMMMM MMMMM good! (In my best southern voice!). This RW meal also came with a glass of either a white or red wine or a draft beer. I got the red wine, a San Reckoner ‘r’ Red Blend and it was very good! The dessert menu was as tempting as a cool brook on a hot southern day, but I didn’t have room in my full tummy! They have southern favorites like Banana Pudding made with wafers or Bread Pudding made with Pecans! Our service was very good; our water never went dry, even though there is a carafe of water you can fill on your own leisure placed at your table, our attentive waitress never let that happen. Our apps came when they should have and not before the entrée or while we were still enjoying them. Thats important! Bourbon and BBQ night is on Monday and Tuesday and we inquired about that: $ 20 for a platter of BBQ, (the selections seem to change), two bourbons OR a bottle of wine! WHERE can one find that kind of deal at a great up and coming trendy restaurant ??? I can’t wait to come back and get me some more ! I do declare Southern Rail. You have stolen my heart!

Basis for my starred ratings (which skews heavily to the food or drink):
1 star: Never again.
2 stars: Poor food, poor experience, extraordinary measures in order for me to come back.
3 stars: Average, nothing really special, nothing particularly bad.
4 stars: Very good, would definitely return.
5 stars: A favorite, one of the best.
I do not believe the Southern food here is as subtle or «elegant» as Okra. The food here is more down-​home and hearty, with some very good dishes and a couple that were not good, but I give extra props to Chef Beckett for hosting specialty dinners and making those nights quite memorable.
I will start with the one glaring negative, and it was the gumbo. Came for lunch and ordered the gumbo with smoked chicken and grilled andouille. It was not good. It lacked the depth of flavor that seafood adds to a gumbo and apart from an overwhelming smoke flavor, there was another off flavor in it that I did not enjoy. Before this, I ordered the dirty rice balls and these were tasty. Above average, not mind-​blowing, but tasty.
My wife and I also came for two special event dinners here, and like I said, much respect to Chef for hosting. We came to Fowl Out night for the 7 Chefs Series, and I know Chef Beckett didn’t prepare mos of the dishes that night, but it came from his kitchen and the food and service were all phenomenal. (Except, interestingly, Chef Campbell’s hot chicken, which was big but not spicy or flavorful enough.) Chef Beckett did prepare a smoked duck confit dish that night with dijon spaetzle, garlic chard, and cracklins — this dish was excellent.
The other specialty dinner was to celebrate Chef Sean Brock’s new cookbook Heritage. With recipes from the book, Chef Beckett did not disappoint, turning out dish after dish that were not just evocative of Chef Brock’s style and ethos, but spot-​on renditions. My wife and I would know, since we’ve dined at both Husk and McCrady’s. I would say Chef Beckett’s fried chicken skins that night surpassed the chicken skins we had at Husk.
As to the regular menu, the fried green tomatoes are very good, with the pea tendrils an extra plus tot his dish. The fried okra is serviceable. The greens were cooked enough (maybe a tad over-​cooked), and both the cider brined pork loin and catfish are quite good.
So like I said, slight preference for Okra. But don’t fail to miss a special dinner night at Southern Rail. Those nights tend towards the amazing.

The food was great big shout out to our server Sarah!!!
The food was really good the catfish the Okra and the Gumbo was all excellent. I will be back!!! Give Sarah a raise!!!

Holy rice balls! Hubs and I stopped in at the tail end of the Urban Wine Walk. We had always wanted to try this place so me figured we’d make it our last stop as we may want to linger. Oh, linger we did! I tried the Chardonnay they had for the wine walk, which was nice. But, I quickly became very distracted by the plates being shared by two ladies sitting next to me.
We were happy to find that we were there during «social hour.» Hot damn! Bring me a menu! They have small plates on special from 3pm to 6pm every day. I am an afternoon patio drinker, not a Saturday night, leave the house at 10pm drinker. So, a saturday afternoon happy hour is awesome.
They also had glasses of wine for $ 5. I had the rose. So refreshing! Exactly what I needed on our first over 100 day. Hubs had the Dos Cabezas Red Blend. Nice size pours, too. We ordered the dirty rice balls and the cup of gumbo. Total cost of the small plates was $ 9 during social hour and it fed both of us! The rice balls had a relish that went with them that was cool and crisp. Perfect to go with that warm gooey rice ball. The gumbo had a massive amount of smoked chicken in it with a huge scoop of rice on top. I’m not kidding, it was just as good, if not better, that the gumbo I had in New Orleans.
We sat at the bar and all of the bartenders were just nice as could be. One even ran our wine walk glasses through the dishwasher for us. That was just the nicest gesture. They also have a good amount of misters going on the patio so it did not seem like it was 101 degrees. They had a sangria that everyone was trying for the wine walk that I can’t wait to try out on that patio. Lots of other tasty libations as well. We will definitely be back!

Southern Fail. The menu for brunch is too weird to be taken seriously. It is basically four po’boy wraps and a host of strange items including trout, biscuits, french toast, gumbo and soup. All items require you to add protein for extra money, but that didn’t make sense regarding biscuits, soup and half the stuff on the menu. The food we did eat got below average reviews. Corn Chowder was more like Corn Water soup, the gumbo was unseasoned and tasteless and the Bread Pudding French Toast, despite being the 2^nd best dish, was underwhelming at best. It was also $ 5 for a Mimosa shot. Bloody mary was terrible as well.
I suppose we can give them an extra star for the Beignets ($ 6 for 2), so I guess if I added chicken to the beignets that would have made a meal? It’s seriously time to reinvent this menu or make better use of this place with a new concept. Southern bail.

We started off with appetizers, fried green tomatoes, dirty rice balls and the deviled eggs all were amazing. For the lunch course my husband had the Shrimp Po’Boy with fries and I had the Chicken and Biscuit Dumplings. Flavor so we’re on point.
We will definitely be returning on a regular basis, service was excellent and the atmosphere was very comfortable.

A fabulous surprise! I loved Southern Rail! Their food was great and it was served with a side of the best southern hospitality I’ve experienced this far West.
Their happy hour menu is excellent and their food is fresh and savory. I’m hooked to the kale and barley salad.
I plan on making this a regular spot for me as it is close to home and the lightrail.

I’ve been to Southern Rail twice. Once for lunch and once for dinner. Dinner is THE ONLY time you can order the fried chicken. Need to be cognizant of that if you want to tried their much talked about item.
Now I have to say three might be unfair. It’s more of a 3 ½ but I’m rounding down this time because it was sold high to me and I thought it was good but not spectacular. I’m also very big on fried chicken and the dish was a mild disappointment.
So first and foremost, the dinner special fried chicken. It was a very very generous portion, a breast, a thigh, a wing and a drum stick. It was a lot of food for a very reasonable price. But I personally disliked their frying process, it felt too corn-​mealy for me and didn’t have that spectacular crunch you crave.
My friend and I also shared a fried green tomato appetizer which was fried the same way so it was average.
The other time I went with a girlfriend for lunch and we got the following; the trout board, chicken and biscuit dumpling soup and the gumbo. They were all very very good.
Now on to the highlights. This place is great for any sort of meal. They have live music at night which, the time I went they played some southern jazz which was pretty good, went along very well with the ambience. Would definitely recommend for a nice casual date with have the option to dress up a bit nicer and not feel terribly out of place.

Southern Rail has taken a twist on the $ 20/​pizza-​wine night that you’ll find at plenty of places around the Valley. On Monday and Tuesday nights, you can opt in on their BBQ & Bourbon pairing.
It’s an amazing concept, that is subsequently equally delicious! You get 2 glasses of bourbon (or bourbon cocktail — I had the Medlock by Moonlight which is mixed with homemade honey syrup and fig bitters. super tasty), plus a large plate of BBQ food for $ 20. The BBQ plate changes daily (our plate consisted of a large smoked pork shank, local farmers sausage, cheesy potatoes, pickled vegetables, and a piece of cornbread… an incredible amount of food!) and is literally lick-​your-​fingers good :)
And beyond that, the restaurant just has a very fun, chill atmosphere about it. We sat out on the patio, and had a phenomenal time. Plus, our server was very attentive and was very excited about the food, which in turn made us enjoy the experience even more.
We are all in for Southern Rail, and cannot wait for our return visit on their next BBQ adventure!

I wanted to write this review based on my experience on Monday March 21^st at around 8PM. I was at the bookstore next door and decided to peek in. I was immediately greeted by the nicest gentleman who answered my questions about what menu items can be «veganised.» I was really impressed that he was knowledgable that I decided to try dinner there.
Our waitress was wonderful, I believe her name was Bridgette, but don’t quote me on that. She had communicated w/​the gentleman who initially answered my questions and was aware of my vegan concern. I initially wanted to try the cauliflower dish, but she informed me that the cauliflower was fried in the same oil they use to fry mean products. Oh my gosh, how amazing is it that she informed me of that. She also informed me that their salad dressing had honey, again, very impressed. She went back and forth and talked to the chef several times, which I felt awful about, BUT, she was so patient and came back w/​a suggestion of a quinoa bowl for me w/​all veggies.
I decided to try it, and it was delicious. I super appreciated that the staff was so accommodating and also the communication w/​the chef was excellent. I was so impressed how educated this staff was about dietary restrictions but even more educated how they went out of their way.
I seriously am so awed by their awesome customer service. When I asked another waitress where he ladies room was, she walked me there. It was so nice, everything was so exceptional and I am so grateful for the dietary restriction knowledge and accommodation.

Check my other reviews — I don’t give five stars very often. But everything about this place was really pretty darn perfect. I’m not from Phoenix, so i was very pleasantly surprised to walk up to the restaurant a little early, and be able to spend 20 minutes walking through the adjacent (connected?) used book store, while listening to live jazz music from the patio.
The interior décor is lovely. And I appreciated the blending between interior and patio spaces — done not only with floor to ceiling doors, but also through a tight observation of the A/​C — the inside wasn’t overly air conditioned, and they controlled air flow through the doors, so that everyone was comfortable.
But probably most importantly, the food, drink, and service was top-​notch. We had a mixture of things, and everything was memorably delicious. Not a hiccup to be found. Thanks for the great evening!

Order the fried chicken. Let this be my sole advice to you. Rich, buttery, tender, and flavorful meat encased in crispy crunchiness envelops your mouth unforgivingly. How can something so
seemingly simple be this incredible? My hubby and his friend offered bites of their dishes so they could keep stealing more bites of mine. I was getting ready to stab hands with my fork trying to protect my find. Alas, I failed.
The Dog That Won’t Hunt cocktail is the drink I tried to nurse throughout dinner. It has Templeton Rye Whiskey, Sombra Mescal, maple syrup, house made lemonade, AZBL, «Figgy Puddin,» and orange bitters. Very smooth drink. If you are not paying attention, you could annihilate this drink in 30 seconds flat, which is why I made the conscious effort to take my sweet time enjoying it. Yes, being a southern drink, the sweet part is there to hide the punch of the alcohol so no surprise there.
Being the mature adults we are, we ordered dirty rice balls for an appetizer. Three balls come per order so we got two orders to double the fun. Sausage, onion cream, and corn relish nestled in a breaded dirty rice ball. It was a twist or variation on another favorite of ours, Italian rice balls. You can’t go wrong with ordering them.

I’ve been here for lunch and dinner and both visits were very enjoyable. I think their food is quite good and I really like their menu offerings. I’ve had their jambalaya for lunch which is spicy hot and makes my mouth water just writing about it. Most recently I sampled their chicken and dumplings which is more like a hearty chicken soup with chunks of their brioche in lieu of of the doughy dumplings most of us have come to expect. Speaking of their brioche pull apart rolls, do try them along with some of their tasty apple butter.
I’ve also tried their ribs and fried chicken. The former were very good with a slightly unusual marinade that is citrusy and tangy. The fried chicken was crispy outside and very juicy inside.
Also had some excellent cocktails and a delightful glass of wine.
Very friendly and attentive service. I really like this place and will be back again and again.

For November’s Breakfast Club UYE, we headed on down to Southern Rail, I won’t lie it’s been in my bookmarks for months now so I was pretty existed to be giving them a try.
I started off with a cup of chicory coffee with cream and sugar that was a great cup of coffee, made me think back to when I was in New Orleans and tried my 1^st cup.
I also couldn’t resist ordered up some beignets too, 2 fluffy pasty pillows of goodness just surrounded by powdery sugar of heaven, oh the sweet bliss! And haven’t even gotten to my meal yet haha.
Now I did come for breakfast, but my mind was quickly changed after I learned that the chef’s daily flavors for the savory Dutch pancake was. Roasted garlic mashed potatoes, roasted corn on the Cobb, fried chicken surrounded by a warm bread bowl (The Dutch Pancake) with brown gravy, I even added an soft boiled egg to it. Oh My Gawd this was comfort food! So dang delish, I devoured it in no time, couldn’t believe it!
Glad to have finally made it to Southern Rail now I am looking forward to going back!