Had dinner and drinks when it opened and went back this weekend. Unfortunately the food has gotten much worse. It's not very good at all. The drinks and bar set-up are still very good. Wait staff is ok. The music sucks. Not Texas or Southern Blues or anything playing from the artists hanging on the walls. If your supposed to be authentic, where is the Albert King, Freddie King, Johnny Winter, etc. It was like CBS FM was playing all night. All played out songs from the 60's & 70's. Hope the live music when it comes will be better. It's a big space with a comfortable layout. I think the biggest problem with the SouthHouse is the Facebook page for a year now really hyped it up with pictures of classic southern dishes and musicians, neither of which the restaurant serves or plays. As a reviewer said on Yelp, seems to be more surface than substance.

tommyc_37.

Totally agree with what you said about the music. It will help keep the DB's away. You have iconic pictures of these bands & musicians, makes total sense to represent their music too. If not, they'll be just another bar where all the music is the same and the photo's mean nothing.

Yeah, TV's do mess up that beautiful back bar. Golf...on a Sat night...Yuk. Put some videos or movies on. At least a ball game. Be different Southhouse. Jersey city is different. There is a large audience here waiting for a unique audio & visual experience.

Keeping my fingers crossed it will eventually turn out to be the place to be in JC. It certainly has the potential.

I stopped in with my GF this past Sun for some eats & cocktails. First, let me state that I have been in the rest/bar industry for almost 20 years & know a few things about the pitfalls that can occur when opening the doors. To quote Mr. Clint. here is my take on The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.
THE GOOD: The interior and layout of the space is great! It's huge, although it has a very warm & inviting feel. Gas lanterns over the bar. Only 2-TV's for a change is welcome. Cocktails are excellent & unique. $10-$15 range. Also, good selection of beers & prices were pretty reasonable. We ordered a wide selection of items from the menu and most of them were pretty tasty & the portions were just the right size. Prices were a tad higher than I expected but not a big deal. I'm sure they'll keep moving up/down the next few months.
THE BAD: Wait staff seemed disorganized due to lack of training or not enough time spent on training. After it took some time to get waited on for drinks & food, I asked right after we placed our initial order If I could make a minor change to something, I got a not really sure and blank response. Then asked if the manager was available & was told there isn't one? She said she will get the owner but he never got over to us. A place of this size with a future roof & basement needs some experienced managers. Agree with other posts that AC seemed to be not working, although I felt some cold air from time to time. Dug all the old school pictures of rock & blues musicians like Muddy Waters, Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Doors, etc. Was disappointed that they weren't playing any of their tunes the whole time we were there. Think it can only add to the overall unique & cool vibe. Finally, seems odd that there is no active web site. Know there is some info on the social site, but no menus, reservation info, brunch, etc?
THE UGLY: Definitely nothing to add in here.

Overall, more good than bad. Have some patience when you stop in. They are going through what a lot of restaurants I been involved with do; they built up to much hype & raise the bar (pun intended) to high. When restaurants & bars do this it just sets up you up for a bigger letdown & disappointed customer when things go off course which they always will.

I will definitely be back and wish them all the best and much success going forward. The SH is a welcome addition to downtown JC.