Southbound- lunch buffet

It appears the barbeque craze is dying down in Westchester. Jimmy Lee's, in the old Sweetwater building, is now The North End and the place on Central has been gone for some time. It seems the only places toughing it out are Q, in Port Chester, and Southbound. Anyway, I took a personal day today and some friends, who eat at Southbound with some frequency, asked me to join them.

I'd been to Southbound a few times before, twice for dinner and once for the first leg of a bachelor party, but haven't had Westchester barbeque in about two years.

A buffet lunch costs about $10 and consists of:

• salad and cole slaw
• baked beans, mashed potatoes, and mac & cheese
• barbequed chicken, chicken wings, and fried chicken
• pulled pork
• ribs

Haven eaten there at dinner, I must begin by saying that the quality of the sides is far superior when plated in the kitchen and that the meats could have benefited from a slightly higher holding temperature. That said, I don't think those criticisms are in order. For ten bucks you can eat your fill of traditional slow cooked meat during the day in a casual atmosphere with no rush or sense of urgency.

The bar was lively for one in the afternoon and was patroned by a handful of regulars who appeared to me to be pensioners enjoying some time out of the house. The customers at table where mostly middle aged men, although there was one couple- I can't say if they were there as a couple or as carnivorous coworkers. While we ate about half dozen tables came and went.

Highs- I went thinking I was going to simply eat ribs because I haven't had a barbequed rib in the longest time, but what I enjoyed most was the barbequed chicken. I almost felt as if I were avoiding the true barbeque by enjoying it so much, but it had a tremendous smoky flavor and was brilliantly cooked. Not being a BBQ expert, I'm not sure how difficult it is to cook chicken properly in a smoker, but they did these birds well. My dad likes to quote Julia Child who said you can tell a lot about a chef by how he cooks a chicken.

Lows- The sides were pedestrian. The meat could have been warmer. There was no dessert (Unless you treated the individually packaged apple sauce in the buffet as dessert as my friend Brian did).

Bottom line- I'm not taking my wife there for a date, but for the price, atmosphere, and change of pace, I'd definitely go back for lunch with the guys or for an informal dinner with friends.

Added bonus- Where else can you get a Pabst Blue Ribbon in central Westchester for two dollars and still enjoy a good meal?


Southbound is located at:
301 Columbus Avenue
Valhalla, NY 10595