In a part of town more renowned for Old World elegance, Swine brought a new, young feel. Gables residents immediately fell in love with the Memphis-inspired quasi-hipster, quasi-electric-blues feel of the place, one that served Southern-ish dishes in a high vaulted room of distressed wood and industrial accents.

On some nights, the wait was several hours. It was an impressive feat in the notoriously competitive Gables restaurant scene; it’s almost unheard of when your restaurant is located across from (1) Bugatti, a city favorite for 30 years, (2) Bulla, a Catalan powerhouse over the last decade that still can pack both floors on a random Tuesday night, and (3) the abominable but oddly popular Brickhouse, a kind of dressed-up T.G.I.Fridays that prepares food with all the care and imagination you’d expect of an overworked cook at a public school cafeteria.

Swine made a big entrance, and has maintained its popularity: the food is respectable, the drinks are fun, the room is sexy (so are the hostesses…), and the crowd is lively. Swine has become a brunch favorite – for the scene, for the breakfast, and (let’s be honest) for the bottomless mimosas.