“Siri, how do you like the steak?”

“What do you think of the waiter, Siri?”

“Siri, your microphone icon is lookin’ sexy tonight.”

A better title for your column, Mr. Reitz, would be “Five Places to Take Your Phone Out on a Date.” That means you need a fifth restaurant, though, because it’s pretty impossible to eat tacos and touch your phone at the same time.

Editor’s Note: Please come back after you pick up your sense of humor from the dry cleaner’s! Have a nice weekend.

SideDish @scottreitz I question people who eat out alone and commenters are bashing me for it. bit.ly/y6COek #nobodycantakeajoke

Scott Reitz @DSideDish Siri is a shit date anyway. She doesn’t put out.

SideDish @scottreitz Sounds like you have some experience, eh?

Scott Reitz @DSideDish try. It’s funny. She’ll tell you “she’s not that kind of assistant.”

If anyone knows how I can plant myself on that coveted RSVP list, let’s talk. I’ll pay you in almonds.

@PrivateSocial, Dallas, TX
Partners Tiffany Derry, Patrick Halbert, and Andy Austin will be opening Private Social restaurant in the fall of 2011 in the uptown area of Dallas. http://www.privatesocial.com
PSA: We are hiring for all positions at the restaurant. Send resumes to info@PrivateSocial.com

Consider us in countdown mode.

Social House's new home in Addison.

The set-up: When The Social House Supper Pub relocated from Uptown to Addison this summer, they did so with the stated mission of serving regular food to regular people. Sentences such as this fill me with apprehension. While I, too, find foodie elitism tedious, the mission to eradicate it often ends up playing to a lower common denominator with items that are easily identified and palate-friendly but not especially well-executed.

Still, I like to be surprised.

After three weeks in business, online reviews were all over the map, some commenters raved about the shrimp Florentine pizza, while others had a more mediocre experience with the drinks and entrees. Our GPS was of little help to us in actually finding the place. Located inside the same plaza as Dream Cafe and Mercy Wine Bar, The Social House is oddly invisible, even with its corner location. The wood sign blends in to the wood frontage; we only caught it on the third lap.

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Buffalo calamari fries.

On the menu: I seldom met a pickle I didn’t like, so naturally we started with the cornmeal-crusted, fried pickles with a buttermilk dip ($5.95). The pickle rounds were plentiful but salty enough to burn the tongue. On the encouragement of our server, we also ordered the Buffalo-fried calamari fries, which arrived as a pile of breaded, steak-cut calamari coated in spicy, orange Buffalo-wing sauce and garnished with batter fried jalapeno strips ($5.95). The idea (minus the wing sauce) is interesting, but in reality, the overwhelming hot sauce completely drowns out any other aspect of the experience. Even the texture of what might have been very pleasant calamari strips is overshadowed.

For our entrees, we selected from several categories: The Sink burger—a beef burger with white cheddar and Swiss cheese, pulled pork, and fried onion strings ($13.95)—from the Burgers menu; the Guinness-braised beef short ribs served with garlic mashed potatoes and Guinness pan jus ($18.95) from the Entrées menu; and the three-cheese shrimp Florentine pizza with garlic-and-herb-marinated shrimp, sautéed spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese ($9.95) from the Social Pies menu.

The Sink burger was meaty but not as flavorful as other pub burgers around town. Still it was not objectionable. The short ribs, although remarkably fatty, had solid flavor and were accompanied by an excellent side of not-at-all-overcooked asparagus. The shrimp Florentine pizza, however, was an utter fail. The pizza had exactly eight pieces of shrimp (one per slice), no visible spinach, and no flavor. When we pointed out the absence of spinach, the manager offered to make us another pie, explaining that you have to ask for whole spinach leaves if you wanted to be able to see it, otherwise the spinach was chopped up and blended into the sauce.

Fried pickles (left); pleasant interior accents (right).

Who was there: When we arrived at 6:30 pm, nine people sat at the bar. Many appeared settled-in, as if they intended to make a daily, after-work home of it. Two tables were filled. The crowd was in shorts and jeans with t-shirts and the occasional collared shirt.

Sink burger (left); dining room and auxiliary bar(right)

Where to sit: Booths against the wall farthest from the door have the best view of the room. Apart from that, no tables appear superior to the others.

Price: Dinner for three ran us $58.24 before tip. We did not have drinks from the bar, which accounts for the modest bill.

Short ribs with mashed potatoes and asparagus spears.

Nice detail: Our waiter, Adriel, was both gentlemanly and helpful. The bar boasts a 50-beer tap selection. The kitchen also claims to cook everything in-house using fresh, local produce.

The takeaway: Social House remains a solid place for a beer, but not so much a dining destination. The restaurant’s PR calls Social House, “the first supper pub to come to the United States, bringing you a unique experience in dining and drinking.” What that means is anyone’s guess.

Meanwhile, Bar Celine will be called The Gin Mill. I love gin so I won’t complain about that. However, Swig is going on my Bad Names for Restaurants List. Right beside our this place. Teresa has more important stuff here. (Asador, really chaps my sass.) Moving on.

Regardless, at least in terms of The Social House, their press release says it all:

The Social House, a new supper pub offering contemporary American cuisine, is now open at the Village on the Parkway in Addison.

Created to enhance all forms of social interaction, the Social House offers guests a comfortable, yet polished atmosphere featuring stone walls adorned with wooden framed televisions and a unique wooden ceiling. This casual setting features an indoor/outdoor patio perfect for late night dining. With 22 televisions, a fireplace and private meeting areas, the Social House can accommodate almost any social gathering like a guy’s night out, a fun date or corporate happy hours.

With three full bars, guests can easily order from the Social House’s drink menu which offers more than 50 beers on tap including craft, import and domestic beers along with a 60 bottle wine list and ten specialty cocktails. The 75 item menu offers an array of bar snacks, salads, burgers, sandwiches, tacos and entrees including a luscious Chicken Fried Steak crafted with 21 day aged  beef. Among the more adventurous dishes found on the menu include III Meat Meatloaf with ground beef, pork and buffalo, Chicken Fried Oysters with horseradish cream sauce,  The Sink Burger with white cheddar, Swiss cheese, Ancho pulled pork, and fried onion strings and the Social House Griddle Cheese with white cheddar cheese, Granny Smith apples and Wright’s apple wood smoked bacon.