Southern Table in Pleasantville, NY

The Grilled Chicken Sandwich is excellent!

OK, it’s not a lot to look at from the outside, especially in the winter when the patio is covered.  Normally, you’ll see an outdoor dining hotspot that is pretty busy and you can smell the outdoor grill cooking up tasty delights from afar. 

Once you get inside you’ll find a spacious restaurant with some of the best fried chicken and other southern favorites such as grits, gumbo, chicken and waffles, with sides of cornbread, biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc.  Don’t let “spacious” fool you too much. Southern Table can get packed.  I just happened to be here for lunch one Friday afternoon.  I mean, today.  Yup, news as it happens, right here from Westchester Bars!

Just a note.  All the surfaces, tables, floors, walls, ceiling are hard.  It can be a bit loud.

The Bar:

The bar holds 15-20 patrons and there are high tops and other bar tables.  There’s a full bar with a pretty tasty drink menu.  There are some interesting draft options as well.

Here’s that drink menu I was talking about. 

Ther are some pretty interesting options there.  I’ll have to try me a “Burnt Whiskers” some time and report back.  Jalapeno Tequila, Agave, Aperiol, Lime, Pineapple.  That screams, “Yum!”

My Lunch/The Food:

I debated the Buffalo Molasses Wings vs. the Hot Chicken Sandwich for a bit and settled on the sandwich though I got it with grilled instead of fried chicken.  This was a brilliant move by me. The sandwich was good, but the chicken itself was great.  It had this perfect seasoning and char that created a taste profile of a smoked meat. It was delicous!

Even the fries were great. They were the lightly breaded variety but shoestring with a great seasoning. A bit different than you get at every other bar or diner that has those same breaded fries which are good, don’t get me wrong, but these were better.

This is a highly recommended lunch option!  I paired it with a Lexington Bourbon Barrel and an Industrial Arts Lager.  The lager made a lot more sense in the pairing, but if I were only having a couple of beers, the Lexington Bourbon Barrel was terrific. 

I’ve been here before and had their friend chicken and it is awesome. The sides are as well.  I’m not a true Southern boy, but I have to imagine that the vittles here at Southern Kitchen would get the approval rating of most southern folk.  The prices, maybe not so much.  I’m not sure how they justify some fried chicken for $25-$30.  It’s good, but oofah.  And inflation be damned, but I had the same opinion when I was there 5 years ago.  It’s good, but not THAT good.

The dinner and lunch menus for your review and sticker shock:

And my lunch?  it was an $18 chicken sandwich.  A damned good one, but I can’t do that for lunch even semi-regularly.  Take my money!  But I won’t see you again for several months, Southern Table.

Oh.. “Helen J” behind the bar was totally friendly and personable.  Kudos!

Specials/Happy Hour

On the bar stood placards for Taco Tuesday and Happy Hour.  A 3:00-7:00 HH is a good deal as most end at 6:00!

They have other rotating specials you can find on their website at https://www.southern-table.com/files/southern-table-specials-2023-pdf.pdf such as a shrimp po’ boy, chicken pot pie, oxtail stew, etc.  Plenty to choose from!

There is outdoor seating, currently enclosed so feel free to sit outside and still be warm-ish.  They need the space. As noted, they do fill up and parking isn’t awesome. 

There is a small lot in back but more than likely you will have to hunt for space on the street.

So, other than the somewhat exagerated prices and parking, I higly recommend giving Southern Table a shot.  The food is excellent and there are interesting beer and drink options.

Cons

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