Acme Southern Kitchen [closed]

UPDATE: This restaurant has closed.

My friend M.P. decided to visit me for lunch today and suggested we eat at Acme Southern Kitchen in downtown. She said it was a new restaurant and had some good reviews on yelp. I was pretty excited to try this out as it wasn't too far from where I work and I've been craving for something fried.

Although the restaurant is only a few blocks from where I work, M.P. generously picked me up from my office so that I didn't have to walk out in the heat. When we arrived in the area we found plenty of street parking available.

Since this was my first time here I decided to try the house specialty which was Fried Chicken on a Buttermilk Waffle with Jalapeno Honey. Wow. This thing looks quite impressive! It was fried beautifully and wasn't too oily or crunchy. The chicken itself was incredibly juicy but I found that it wasn't as flavorful as it should have been. It seemed to lack some kind of spice or seasoning to make it truly shine.

The waffle I had was a bit overdone and hard. Fortunately, pouring the jalapeno honey all over it helped to soften the waffles up enough before each bite. The jalapeno honey sauce itself was quite nice. It's not as spicy as it sounds and leans toward the sweeter syrupy flavor.

I also ordered a side of ACME Macaroni and Cheese to go with my entree. The shape of this item suggests that it was made and cut from a casserole dish. It doesn't look like that much food but it's actually packed together tightly and is quite filling. Since the shape held together pretty well, I decided to approach this like a piece of steak and ate it using knife and fork, like a classy gentleman. After finishing my main entree and eating about halfway through the mac and cheese, I was pretty much full and ready to go. But M.P. strategically did not eat all of her food so that she could have room for dessert!

For dessert we had the Chocolate Cake with Shiny Frosting. What a funny description of the frosting (which wasn't even true)! It pretty much looks and tastes like the typical chocolate cake you can order at most stores. The frosting was too sugary for me but M.P. thought it was fine. At least the cream at the top help balanced out the sweetness of the frosting.

Overall, this place is nice and has a laid back and atmosphere. The food came out relatively fast for a downtown restaurant during lunch rush and the service was phenomenal. I saw somebody else order a sandwich that looked pretty good so maybe I will try that out next time. Our waitress also mentioned that they may start up brunch sometime in the near future so that's something I'll definitely keep an eye out for.