Mark T.
Yelp
I moved to Nashville November 1992 and this was the first restaurant I visited. I've been eating there ever since, over 30 years. While they've had their ups and downs, for the most part it's been a good experience. Nothing like the early days when a woman named "Stretch" ran the place, they had an extensive menu, and on a typical night the restaurant was full with people waiting, but for the most part solid. That is until recently. Screw up one time and I'll overlook it. Screw up two in a row, add to that what I was told yesterday, and I'm done.
Last week I had lunch there with two friends. I ordered a $16 cheeseburger, cooked medium. It came out very well done with a very small amount of fries. One side of the burger was charred black. There are some great things on their menu that have been discontinued over the years, but one thing that's always been solid is their hamburger (ground) steak. I've told so many people over the years that this was the best hamburger steak in Nashville that I've lost count. Unfortunately that's no longer the case. I had lunch there yesterday and ordered the $24 hamburger steak. It's supposed to be 16 ounces, a full pound, and the dozens of times I've had it in the past that's what it's been, or close to it. When it arrived yesterday it was half the size it usually is, with even less fries than last week, and like the hamburger last week, it was very well done. I don't know if they have a new cook, or what the problem is, but once again, he or she forgot about my hamburger steak, left it on the grill until it was charred hard, black on one side, and barely cooked on the other. Unfortunately it was so overcooked on the one side that it was dried out and well done throughout. For over 30 years it has been served with a small piece of grilled bread. When the server brought it out, I asked about the bread. She said "Oh, you want bread?" I said yes, since the dozens of times I've ordered it before, last time being just a few weeks ago, it included bread. She said she would bring me some bread. Three times while eating my meal she came by and said "Did you get your bread?" Third time I told her no, I was finishing my meal, so forget it. After I finished eating and she had taken my dirty plate away, she comes out with a little saucer of bread. I told her I no longer wanted it, but she left it and walked away. When she brought my bill, they had added another $1.50 for dinner bread! I told her I wasn't going to pay for it. After a lot of conversation on the other side of the restaurant, with who I assume is the manager, he came over and told me what will keep me from ever going back. He informed me that "the owners" had dictated they were to no longer serve bread with the steaks and chops unless the customer asked for it when ordering. Same goes with lemon slices. That makes absolutely no sense, I said that to him, and he appeared to share my sentiment, but let me know that there's nothing he can do about it. And by the way, I told both my server and this manager that my steak was burnt, but I might as well have told that to a telephone pole.
So while I'll never go back, HEY OWNERS! Let me give you some advice. Your restaurant hasn't been more than half full in years. If you think you're going to make more money by being deceptive with things like a piece of bread or a slice of lemon, you're dead wrong! What you're doing instead is running off customers like me who over the past 30 years has spent thousands of dollars at your restaurant. Your prices are already exorbitant, and you think you'll add more to your bottom line by pulling stunts like this? Wake up! And hire a decent cook.
