A new restaurant opened today and the QCity Metro team tried it.
State of Confusion, an indoor-outdoor restaurant located in South End, serves Peruvian, Latin, and creole food “with a Southern twist.”
About State of Confusion
The latin-style restaurant is a sister concept to South End’s popular brunch spot, STIR — and offers the same menu types: lunch, brunch and dinner. There is also a full beverage menu that features draft cocktails, signature cocktails agua frescas — refreshing mocktails — and beer.
State of Confusion has four bar areas — one in the main dining area, one to the side of the restaurant, one totally outside near the rear of the restaurant, and one on its rooftop.
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Inside, there’s lots of seating with booth, hightop, lowtop and bar seating. On the roof, guests will find fewer tables, but more private seating areas, with individually sectioned tables along with a long bar and an overlook to the outdoor dining area downstairs.
The food and drinks
Our group of five opted to dine inside. We sat at a large booth that held space for six and ordered one appetizer, one dessert and five different entrees.
Among appetizer options like made-to-order guacamole, calamari, chicken eggrolls, and lettuce wraps, we chose the vegan ceviche as our starter. As a group of people with varying dietary requirements, including one vegetarian, the vegan ceviche seemed like the safest choice, and there were no complaints after.
For an entrée, I chose the fried chicken sandwich with fries. I liked my meal, but my chicken was a tiny bit salty. The sandwich itself was huge. I was only able to eat about half of it, then took the rest to go.
The rest of the group ordered the vegan po’boy, a fried shrimp po’boy, the plancha chicken — pineapple marinated chicken with cojita cheese and veggies — and the house burger.
According to the team, the house burger was “tender, juicy and well-seasoned,” the plancha chicken’s “flavors meshed well together,” and the po’boys were both good.
We ordered the Peruvian Lucuma ice cream, a house-made ice cream made with Lucuma fruit. Our server said it tasted like “butterscoth and caramel.” The butterscotch flavor was immediately present and the ice cream was really creamy and soft.
Everyone in our group enjoyed their beverages, but the strawberry basil aqua fresca, a mocktail, was “bland,” according to one person in our group.
The experience
State of Confusion is the perfect name because the menu seems…confused. It doesn’t really feel like there’s a rhyme or reason to the menu offerings, but it still works. This is one place where there’s really something for everyone.
Regarding service, the food came out a little slower than we expected it to, but the staff were all attentive and friendly. When we went, there was hardly anyone there, so it was relatively quiet and calm, but I can imagine it being a little more chaotic when the restaurant is full.
One major drawback is the parking, or lack thereof. State of Confusion is located just off Remount Road — next to Weathered Souls — and the parking situation is a bit of a nightmare. There’s very limited street parking and the restaurant’s gravel lot doesn’t hold many cars. We rode around for ten or so minutes before ultimately deciding to parking across the street, next to the QuikTrip.
Final thoughts
Overall, State of Confusion seems to be good dining option. The music wasn’t bad and the food was pretty good. The relaxed indoor-outdoor vibe, along with the cocktail menu — for me at least — is a reason to come back on nice sunny day. The bright colors and open design of the restaurant made it feel like a nice hangout.
I would return.
What we tried: 5 entrees, a dessert and an appetizer
Overall score: 3.8/5, an average of scores including three 4’s and two 3.5’s from the QCity Metro team
Price: About $30/person
What we could’ve done without: The parking situation
What we loved: The restaurant’s atmosphere and the drinks