Marlene K.
Yelp
This is a really cute and modern restaurant that has a lot of potential. I was impressed with the decor and the transformation from an old church into a restaurant.
However:
***Vegans Beware***
Before heading over to 71 South, I reviewed their menu on their website and was impressed that they had Mains listed with both the vg (vegan) and ng (no gluten containing ingredients talk with server) designations.
When it came time to order, I asked about the Cauliflower Steak Main since I'm not a huge steak sauce fan. During this discussion I found out that the Mains marked as (vg) for vegan, were actually NOT vegan. Only the "main" itself was vegan (and also gluten free in this case), but the sides were not vegan and gluten free.
Turns out the mashed potatoes that come with both "vegan" mains are not vegan and the quinoa that is listed on the menu as being gluten free, is not because it now contains barley and new menus have not been printed to reflect that the "quinoa" is no longer ng.
It should be noted that the menus are 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of paper that you could edit and print on a home computer.
After many questions about the menu, we realized the only things we could eat were the Brussels without bacon and cheese and the roasted beet hummus. We had ordered two drinks as well, a beer and a mixed drink.
Once we got our food, it was unremarkable and tasteless. My mixed drink had little flavor and can best be described as being flat in its profile.
The server came to ask how our meal and drinks were. We were honest and it was clear she wasn't taking it well and seemed like she wanted to cry. We explained it was not her fault, and we were just trying to provide feedback for improvement of the menu. We told her we'd be happy to discuss further with a manager or supervisor and she told us she was one.
Shortly thereafter, Zack came over to introduce himself as a manager and we shared with him our concerns. He said servers are supposed to explain that vg and ng items don't mean "everything" on the dish is vg and ng.
I have never been to a place that advertised vegan and gluten free items on their menu, that were not. I explained that could be dangerous for someone relying on such markings. He said he understood, and we hope he does and changes are made ASAP.
After pouring our thoughts out about the food, we were worried that our whole meal and drinks would be comped, which we wouldn't have accepted since a lot of people complain at restaurants to get free stuff. That did not happen, the bill came, at full price. I drank maybe three sip of my drink and we left quite a bit of the rest of our food behind. It would have been a decent gesture to at least offer a discount since we'd been clear on our disappointment in the whole meal; and left it up to us to decline. Instead, after the bill was presented in full, our server came back later with a business card for 10% off "in case we ever wanted to come back". We found this odd. More of a "why bother".
I wish them luck and hope changes are made, there's a lot of potential there. And while I realize I'm not their target market diner, Vg and ng items should not be included on a menu when they are not. That feels like a bait and switch which leaves the patrons in an awkward position of not wanting to get up and leave when those items don't match their advertised designations.