As I signed into facebook on May 23rd, I contemplated the fact that this weekend was not like other weekends. It was memorial day! Nothing beats that extra day off. So, already in a great mood, I saw a reminder pop up. Oh! It was my friend's birthday that evening and I was set to go to a club. Admittedly, I am nowhere near the biggest "clubber" on the block, but when certain people your friends with invite you to things, I've learned you kind of don't have a choice. So, as I polished off the dancing shoes, I realized that there was an upside. I was part of the "pre-party", and the pre-party had the privilege--at least I thought so at the time--of dining together before hand at the restaurant of Justin Timberlake. The place is called Southern Hospitality, and it's located on the upper east side of NYC. I joked with a couple of people that maybe we'd be sitting in the back corner of some swanky, dark, stylish joint complete with hints of N'Sync playing in the background. I wouldn't have even minded actually. Couple drinks, good company, music that takes you back to, well, around junior high...good times. I couldn't have been more mistaken.

I arrived on time (which is impressive because I had the 4, 5, and 6 trains to pick from, and I think I went from the 4, which was the express, to the 6, which I thought was the express). Ok, I'm not great at subways either, but I'm better than I was the time on my birthday when I was waiting with my girlfriend at the wrong track entirely. She still makes fun of me for that one. I saw the place immediately from the across the street. Southern Hospitality in bold letters and a completely open front. I'm not a fan of the completely open front. I like a door, a wall, keep the light out, make it dark inside. Maybe really exclusive, velvet ropes and the feeling like you couldn't get a reservation if you called 30 times because the line would be busy every single one. Hey, if you've ever eat in NYC, you know it's crazy expensive. I want the whole expensive look and feel. I walked in and was greeted with TVs...as FAR as the eye could see. There was even one of the big, 10 feet across screen projection things on the wall. That, combined with the wall of noise and commotion (I guess in place of the physical wall), precluded me from finding anyone, so I did the awkward walk in, looked around, and, not finding ANYONE at all, walked back out and got on the phone, only to walk BACK in 2 minutes later all the way to the back to find my group. Seating was kind of TIGHT, even by NYC standards, and the crowd was of the more "I'm here to watch sports and get hammered" variety. I think there was a Mets game on...I know this because there was some yelling throughout the meal to that effect. So, overall, not the atmosphere that I was expecting.

Possibly, this was due to the fact that it was Ultimate Fight night. For 50 dollars, I could stay from 10-1 and have open bar AND I could watch the ultimate fighting championships. Maybe some people enjoy that...I'm not one of them. For 20 dollars I could just "be there" to watch the ultimate fighting championships. Hmmmmm, it made me wonder...were the food and drinks that I was ordering free, or would I have to buy a meal, and then ALSO pay another admission fee on top of that meal? What?

The food and drink itself was lackluster. If anyone reading this has been to a Chili's, an Applebees, a Cheesecake factory, or any version of a similar place...where you basically get reasonably priced food with REALLY GOOD and REALLY BIG specialty drinks, they would be better served heading in that direction. My margharita was not all that impressive. True, they had the mango, which was good. True, it was sizeable. True, they were LIBERAL on the tequila, which was nice. But, I don't know. I've had better. The cornbread was good, but, I can buy muffins at my grocery store. This is going to be a food and drink combined 35-50 dollar experience. Cornbread, to me, isn't part of that experience. I tried the fried tomatos, which had absolutely no seasoning at all, I actually had to pour some tabasco all over them just to give them some LIFE. And I had the fried chicken, all white meat for my meal. Chicken was very good, but, considering I was paying 20-25 dollars to have it, it wasn't any better than a wendy's spicy chicken would have been. Scratch that...Wendy's spicy chicken is AWESOME. This place...it's like the chef would fry the stuff and then just stop. Bro, where's the seasoning? And, anyone who has eaten with me knows, I am the LAST person to complain about the seasoning...so it HAD to be lacking.

Overall-if you like sports and want to get hammered, visit southern hospitality. If you want to have a nice meal on the upper east side of NYC, then, I might recommend a number of other options. I could have gone to Chilis, spent half as much and gotten two times as many drinks.