Southern Cooking, Cocktails & Craft Beer

Introducing Hops & Hominy, a cocktail-happy, down-home hideaway dishing out fried alligator, chicken and cornbread in equal parts, opening Monday at the end of a little alley off of Grant. Think of this hidden lair as your sanctuary when you’re deep in Union Square and in need of multiple rounds of Old Fashioneds and plates of hearty Southern fare on the double.

Co-owner David Baeli says they're not going for the typical Southern as-much-food-as-you-can-fit-on-a-plate shtick here. He describes the menu as "new American with a southeastern bent." Appetizers (ie. alligator tail), soups (ie. shrimp and green chile bisque), pastas (ie. braised rabbit tortellini) and entrees (ie. citrus-brined pork chop with apples) will be plated in amounts you can finish, featuring local chicken, lamb, rabbit, you-name-it. Specific mention was given to the buttermilk-fried chicken with collards and mac and cheese.