Danielle P.
Yelp
If rude racist staff, stagnant service and complete disorganization with an ambiance that's giving failed wedding venue sounds like your vibe, you'll probably be pretty happy at Southampton Social Club.
I booked dinner here with four of my girlfriends since I'd heard this place turns into a club at night -- but wasn't aware the club was in a second location.
I valeted the car and checked in with the manager (and villain of this story for reasons that will soon be disclosed), who stamped our wrists and explained that since we were having dinner here they'd waive the $50 cover charge for their sister speakeasy that happens in a nearby, undisclosed location, which they'd be offering us a free shuttle service to.
The manager told us to check back in at 10:45 pm to catch the shuttle after dinner, and let us know our table outside was ready.
We were lead through the sad looking interior of this place to the outdoor garden which was actually adorable -- save for the fact that a single older man was sitting alone at our table of 5 playing on his phone.
The hostess apologized and led us back inside, where the manager didn't try to find out what this guy was doing there alone or move him to the bar, and stuck us in the back where we remained mostly forgotten about until the time of our shuttle.
We located the water pitcher ourselves to stave off hunger as we waited to place drink and food orders, then again as this food came out in the most random order with no cohesion at all. A few of us who had food come earlier on tried to be polite and wait it out but eventually we gave up. Drinks here are extremely watered down, but the food we did eat was fine once it made its way to us.
We then finally headed over to the hostess stand for our 10:45 pm shuttle. We were told it'd be a 12 minute wait which seemed fine, and headed out to wait outside for it. There was a long line of people trying to get into this restaurant which was weird, but they were also confused about the location of the club part of Southampton Social Club so I guess it wasn't just us.
Another 20 minutes or so went by and when the shuttle returned the hostess told us that she had a party who bought a bottle at the speakeasy that had to make this next shuttle, so they were put in front of us. We asked her if it was walkable to the speakeasy, she said it'd be an 8 minute walk.
Reader: What's considered walkable to some may not be considered walkable to others. We were given a paper with the address of this speakeasy and headed down pitch black side streets with no sidewalks, most of us in wedges, so this was comical.
To add to the plot, we came across a bachelorette party who were also trying to find this mysterious speakeasy but hadn't been as lucky as we were to get a physical address...the staff had told these poor girls to "make a left, then a right, then a left, then a right," so obviously they were lost because what kind of directions are those?
We made it to the speakeasy with our new friends in tow, and this part of the night was the only reason why this place even gets a star (and because Yelp won't let me give zero stars, which, whatever, fine). The DJ was playing throwbacks all night and we danced like we were back in our club days.
When we were ready to go, we assumed the valet (or literally any human being) would still be there to hand back the keys -- or that someone would've told us to move our car before heading to the speakeasy if this was going to be an issue.
The shuttle was parked in front of the speakeasy, but the guy inside was half asleep and confused at why we wanted to go back there since it was closed. We explained we'd valeted our car there...at which point I realized this wasn't looking great.
The place was shut down, no one was out front, and the main restaurant number was going straight to voicemail. Eventually, I got a hold of someone at the speakeasy to explain that the valet still had my keys here...the person on the other line said "Let me talk to someone who can come look for the keys...if they're still there."
A while later, someone picked up the phone and asked how they could help - I was pretty pissed off at this point and was like "Where are my car keys? You seriously lost them?" at which point this person tells me they have no idea what I'm talking about. I re-explain the situation, they say they're coming over.
When the manager gets there, he points at the only black girl our the group and says "You, with the attitude on the phone!"
So that was cool, no apology, just racism.
I corrected him and told him it was me on the phone. He told me that he was doing me a favor. Doing me a favor by giving me back my own car keys...?
TL;DR - If you're looking for a fun Saturday night out in Southampton, eat dinner literally anywhere else and just go directly to this speakeasy after 10:30 pm. It's located at Union Burger Bar on 40 Bowden Square (oops the secret spot is out, ::eye roll::).