so restaurant-bar

the bestrestaurantin little rock. every detail is made for your comfort. the service is always wonderful, and the food is incredible. highly recommend the french onion soup and any fish entree. desserts are delicious, but large! make sure to share.

i really want to like so.

i have dined at so four or five times in the last two years. i might have dined there more, but the price rather limits it to a "once in a while"/special occasion restaurant. all of my visits to so have been with the same friend, and all have been on sunday evenings, as it is one of the few upscale places open in lr on sunday night.

i will say that i generally love the ambience at so, and the laid-back but knowledgeable vibe that the staff has always given. at our previous visits, the food has always been good, and at times great. on our most recent visit though, there were definitely more lows than highs. and the things that were disappointing were such that if they were not understood by the staff even before serving them that something was amiss, then my saying something about it probably would have just been seen as griping rather than a constructive or legitimate complaint.

the first point was that we both started with a manhattan, made with makers mark, and served up. the drinks were presented beautifully and well chilled, but upon tasting them, they were seriously dry, whereas any standard manhattan is a fairly sweet although strong drink. it did not taste like just a lack of the normal amount of sweet vermouth, but almost as though these drinks were actually a perfect manhattan, with half sweet and half dry vermouth, which is another cocktail altogether.

for our appetizer, we ordered the seafood fondue, which we have ordered every time we have dined at so, and tonight was possibly actually the best dish of this fondue we have had there. i would offer one note about the fondue though; there is never enough bread to finish it when it is served, and when you request more bread from the waitstaff, it takes so long to carefully warm the delicious little loaf of bread that the rest of the fondue is cold by the time the bread to finish it arrives at the table. this has been the chain of events every time we have eaten the fondue.

then we ordered a bottle of wine. so is known for having an extensive and impressive wine list, but the same thing happened on this visit that has happened at least once or twice before, that the bottle of wine we ordered was not in stock. the waitstaff is always happy to make another suggestion for wine, even at the same price point, and of the same style of wine. the wine we ended up with was by no means a disappointment, but it seems like it might make more sense to have a smaller wine list of things to actually keep in stock.

then we both ordered the chicken pontalba, which i believe might have been a new addition to the menu since the last time we had been there. i was looking forward to enjoying their take on this traditional new orleans classic, and i always love a good béarnaise, which is getting more and more rare to find in a restaurant. we certainly did not find it on this dish. when it arrived, the chicken was actually very nicely prepared and crispy, with the garnish of mushrooms and ham and tomatoes, but the béarnaise sauce was not the rich delicate emulsion that one would expect, but rather an oil slick poured over everything on the plate. the béarnaise had obviously broken at some point along the way, and any employee in thatrestaurantwho knew what a béarnaise is supposed to be should never have brought our plates to the table.

lastly, we ordered the strawberries and cream crème brûlée. the most exciting part of any crème brûlée is the glassy sugar on top, that you should be able to hear break when you crunch through it with your spoon. this desert had obviously just been barely torched or put under the broiler at all, as the sugar on top was still granular, rather than glassy or caramelized in any way. also, my dining companion was surprised when he got to the last bite to find barely a teaspoon worth of strawberry jam in the bottom of the dish, because he had forgotten about the strawberry part of the description, and thought he was just eating a regular vanilla crème brûlée. both of us actually liked it better before we tasted the strawberry jam.

i do not mind paying a high price tag for a fine dining experience, but when i do choose to pay that price, i expect and hope that things will be as they should be. the manhattan, béarnaise, and crème brûlée that we were served on this last visit to so certainly, and sadly, did not reach that mark.

stole money!!. tried therestaurantfor the first time the other night, everything seemed great at first. we ordered a steak, rare; it came back well done. not the biggest deal, we sent it back and 20 minutes later finally got a rare steak, but this time the polenta was undercooked. we decided not to make a big deal about it, paid the bill, left a 20% tip anyway and left. couple days later, we checked our bank statement and noticed we had been charged an extra $100. after calling multiple times and being promised the money would be refunded promptly; it wasn't. a week later, part of the bill had been refunded. tried calling again, and this time they wouldn't answer our call, so we went in and confronted them about it. we got the money back finally, but never again will we go back.

advise: check your bank statement

absolutely phenomenal from start to finish.... every single aspect of my experience at so was amazing. the food was perfection in every way. the environment was comfortable yet intriguing. our server, kyle, was knowledgeable, hilarious, and personable. the food? oh, the food... i had the chicken apricot marsala and can attest to it being the best (by a long shot) chicken dish i've ever experienced. i questioned my decision to order a chicken dish multiple times up until the point i put the first bite in my mouth. my date's meal was equally delicious! while we planned to share our dishes with one another because of our lack of decisiveness, we both selfishly devoured all but one shared bite. i highly recommend thisrestaurantfor a great night.

long wait for undercooked, over priced steaks. all at the table had underdone filets and rib-eyes. but the fries were good. waiter was pleasant. hostess, not so much. sorestaurantis so over-rated.

not so!. last night six of us went to sorestaurantfor dinner. it was not a success.
the first problem was the smell of cigarette smoke as soon as we walked in. and it got so bad we complained to the waiter. the excuse was that it was coming in from the patio where smoking is allowed. truthfully, it smelled like the people at the next table were all puffing away. i swear we could see the smoke.
after the meal we rated it 2 stars out of 5 and that was being generous. with the menu prices quiet high, wine prices (200% - 300% markup) and a non-negotiable 20% gratuity we expected so much more. the tables were bare and unclean (where were the tablecloths?) and many of the dishes were just awful. the steamed mussels tasted old and overcooked and the crispy fried calamari was anything but crispy. they looked and tasted like they had been purchased battered and frozen. not at all appetizing. and the crepes cherries jubilee was disgusting. we're certain the cherries were canned. so, so disappointing.
the best thing about the meal were the other two couples with us.
for a supposedly upper classrestaurantit was a major disappointment. needless to say, we'll never go back not even for a free meal!

so is so amazing. my wife and i celebrated our 26th anniversary tonight at so. it was our first time dining there. we were greeted at the door, called by name, and whisked to a 2 top booth reserved for us complete with flowers on the table. our service staff, joe and matt, gave impeccable and personable attention to us the entire night. bill, the general manager, came and greeted us personally. the other diners chatted and interacted with us as though we were longtime friends. the appetizer, oysters bienville, was delicious and beautifully presented. we had the butternut squash soup (both sweet with nutmeg and savory with pepper and cream) and the french onion soup served in a mini tureen--these soups on a cold winter night did not disappoint. our entrees, bone in veal and the surf and turf (filet and crab legs with drawn butter), were cooked to perfection. the piece de resistance was bananas foster prepared table side by bill. we have found our new "special"restaurantfor special occasions. sonny williams, brave newrestaurantand the pantry are still some of our favorites. but the attention to detail, the wonderful food, the staff, and the ambiance at so made us feel so special on our special day. you will want to dine at so soon.

spoil me !!. looking for a quaint place to get away from screaming kids and the stress of life? want to get the girls together for a drink because it’s been to long? trying to impress a date or an out of towner? then, i would highly recommend sorestaurantand bar then. the staff is friendly and makes you feel like a priority, like you’re the only one in therestauranteven though that is never the case. the patio is a great escape with a beautiful view of a flower garden below. the owner of thisrestaurantcan be easily spotted in glitz and high fashionable outfits and her kindness is overflowing. veo is by far one of the best reasons to dine at so. he is the most consistent bar tender i’ve ever followed around. i recommend the primo louis filet (crab on top of steak) or the surf n turf. if you walk out of therestaurantwithout a chocolate sack or jeannie’s (owner) tres leche you haven’t completed such a life changing experience. we tell everyone we know, go to so!

best experience. i recently dined at sorestaurantand bar located off kavanaugh. the valet parking made it so convenient for front door service. i was immediately greeted by friendly people willing to wait on me. although it was busy which i expected it to be on a weekend i waited at the bar to have a cocktail with a few friends. our bartender was veo and he was such a delight. we laughed and didnt want to leave even when our table was ready for us. needless to say, we were seated for such a treat from our waiter. he was clean cut and had outstanding manners. we never had an empty glass our anything out of place on our table. the presentation was gorgeous. i have enjoyed my time there ever since and will recommend this place to everyone i meet. i appreciate the southern hospitality this place to offer. whoever is the owner of this establishment should feel very proud. i am thankful for this experience and hope many others get to experience it soon. i will be back!