I am excited to announce there is a new restaurant in town: Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery. Chef Jeff Balfour brings the city a seasonal mix of farm to table cuisine with a fusion of cultures from the  Midwest and Southeast. In addition to the yummy family style entree's, the newcomer is already the 10th largest brewpub in the nation offering a variety of in-house, brewed craft beers.


Southerleigh can be found in the Historic Pearl District in the vintage Brewer's Association and Pearl Brewery building. The structure is soon to be opened as the new Hotel Emma; Hotel Emma is named after Emma Koehler. Emma's claim to fame is keeping the Pearl Brewery going and all of her employees working during the prohibition. Talk about a female role model and revolutionary business woman of her time!


If you are a fan of good, southern cookin' then Southerleigh is the place to go. M&I shared the Ribeye that was absolutely to die for. It was served with a house red gravy. The serving was plenty big enough for M&I to share. We also partnered our steak with a side of Old Fashioned Buttered Cornbread.

Southerleigh is already known for the craft beers they make in-house. As you can see, all I had to do with look up and see the brewmasters at work! It was really neat to know that what was in my glass came from directly where I was sitting! I tried the Big Shell Coconut Porter; while flavorful and a great Porter, it didn't have as much coconut punch as I would have liked. What can I say? I like my beers sweet.