Inside: The Social House

shrimp and grits (Credit: Jana Hicks)

A good breakfast in New York might mean a bagel with coffee. Not in the South. Breakfast, they say, is the most important meal of the day and it certainly gets treated that way at The Social House. The brainchild of New York native Lorenzo Wyche, the restauranteur known for innovative nouvelle soul food spots The Harlem Bar on Edgewood and Rare in Midtown (temporarily closed by a fire but, yes, it will reopen), The Social House aims to makeover breakfast and your social life.

History: It officially opened in March and was an instant hit on the Howell Mill stretch that’s also home to Wal-Mart, Wendy’s and Chin Chin as well as a few auto shops. True to its off-the-beaten but familiar path locale, The Social House thrives on the eclectic. “What the Social House is meant to do,” says Wyche, “is to bring people together and breakfast is one of the best ways to do that. I think we’ve accomplished it. On any given day, you can find the Buckhead set, you can find the rapper, you can find the local hipster, all sitting down, next to each other.”

Atmosphere: It’s definitely cozy. If you can pack 100 or more people in a room, you’re not dining at The Social House . Intimacy reigns supreme here and so does friendliness. The décor is very quaint. It feels downhome in a sophisticated way. Think literary farmhouse and you’ve kind of got it. There’s a photocopied photo of William Shakespeare on the back wall, near the “social table” that’s reserved for large parties of about ten, or where solo diners can sit and possibly meet someone else dining alone. On another wall, there’s a picture of Langston Hughes and there are books, but they can’t compete with eating. The farmhouse-styled tables are square but there’s nothing square, about this spot. Not with cool jazz and '40s and '50s rhythm-and-blues setting the leisurely tone.

Food: Pancakes, French toast, omelettes and eggs, mostly all the breakfast goodies, come with a twist here. Choose traditional buttermilk, Georgia blueberry or apple cinnamon for pancakes. Go hearty but flavorful with an omelette, especially the andouille and cream cheese, consisting of farm fresh eggs with spicy sausage and cream cheese, chives and tomatoes. Top-seller New Orleans bread pudding, described as a “savory breakfast bread pudding topped with blackened shrimp and two farm fresh poached eggs and topped with a buttery cream sauce,” is like nothing you’ve ever tasted before but, boy, is it Cajun good.  Every attempt is made to use local farm fresh ingredients and Wyche personally detests anything from a can. The fried green tomato crepes are probably the most innovative nouvelle Southern item on the menu, but such Southern comfort food classics as baked macaroni and cheese and hoppin john rarely disappoint. There’s even chicken and waffles to keep the familiarity flowing. 

Open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday thru Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the weekends, “to provide good food” is The Social House’s mission. The place is especially packed on the weekends. Some have waited two hours or more in the blistering heat just to get their order taken. So it’s not a stretch to say, so far, The Social House has been socially satisfying.

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