Michelle B.
Yelp
My experiences at Gilley's have been varied - overall, so far very positive. Note that Gilley's has a variety of event spaces that can be rented (for pretty reasonable prices). In reading the reviews, it seems that some things that people are commenting on are likely done by the people renting the space, instead of Gilley's itself.
My first experience was a party that rented multiple spaces. Overall it was a great layout and we enjoyed ourselves. The only downside was the line to get inside; however, I'm 95% sure that it was the organizer's fault (ie: the person who rented the space), and not any of the Gilley's employees.
Next experience was lunch in Jack Daniels Saloon. They do a pretty bad job of advertising their restaurant - I literally live walking distance from them and had no idea they were open outside of M-F lunch (which is what the sign references). We decided to try them out one weekend and were pleasantly surprised with the food. It wasn't amazing, but it was better than we expected.
After that my fiance's Christmas party was held in one of their event spaces. The party was boring as hell - but that certainly wasn't Gilley's fault. The event ran well, food was decent (the party organizers chose Tex Mex and I really don't like Tex Mex, though it was good for that I guess), staff kept things moving, had some decent beers available (the company used a drink ticket system).
We recently just signed a contract to have our wedding in the Loft. I contacted them after getting rave reviews on them from an event planner that I know, who's worked with Gilley's a good bit. I also have a neighbor who went to a wedding of friends there and she said that she asked her friend if there was any drawbacks to holding her wedding there and she said there weren't any. When I saw the Loft and the HUGE balcony overlooking the skyline, I got actual chills. We researched a LOT of other venues and found the Gilley's spaces to be very fairly priced, especially for what you get. The Loft rental price includes tables, chairs, linens, security, sound system, and more. Our event coordinator, Dena, has been extremely nice and helpful and our wedding coordinator was very impressed with the professionalism of our Gilley's contract. We attended an open house, where we were able to taste a variety of menu items, and were pleased. The standouts were the ribs, nutella-stuffed chocolate covered strawberries, and cake balls. Too bad we won't be needing dessert at our wedding with the mass quantities of cake we're ordering!
I'll update my review in a year (after the wedding). But for now, I'm very pleased with Gilley's and can't wait to make some lifelong memories there.