Comment Archives: stories: Restaurants: Last 7 Days
Re: “Pie It Forward: Free Pie in Downtown Nashville Tomorrow”
Condolences. The bums lost. My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me?
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
City House
Arnold's
Woodlands
Hattie B's
El Tapatio
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
To Chris's point, $1 on a $15 tab is 7%. That is not insignificant.
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
1. Lockeland Table
2. flyte
3. Samurai
4. Kien Giang
5. Jim & Nick's
Re: “Taste of Music City Invades Downtown for 11th Year”
Come down and see us Nashville. We have a real cool summer treat for you.
Re: “Cookbook Review: The Big Book of Gluten-Free Recipes”
ooh! putting this on the "to peruse at some point" list. wonder if our library system might get their hands on it at some point.
Re: “Despite remodeling and a revamped menu, it's the same old O'Charley's”
Reminds me the collapse of Shoney's.
Re: “First Bite: Husk Nashville”
We went for brunch last Sunday; it was only their 2nd day of brunch service, but there was more than a few kinks.
We ordered: Fried Green Tomatoes with Pimento Cheese, Benton's ham & soft rolls, shrimp & octopus & grits, the monte cristo, and french toast for dessert (yes, we're pigs). I had a bloody mary & a coffee, my wife had a non-alcoholic cocktail.
Both cocktails were great. My bloody mary tasted strong, fresh, and had a bit of a spicy kick. My wife asked for something light and refreshing, but not sweet, and she was very pleased. My 2nd cup of coffee was totally bitter. I sent it back, but didn't get a replacement until I was nearly finished my meal. I know that sounds picky, but for me, great coffee is an integral part of brunch.
3 out of 5 dishes were poor to fair. The Tomatoes were drenched in vinegar, which was a shame, because the pimento cheese was excellent. The batter was fairly bland, but I think with a few tweaks it could be a great dish. The Monte Cristo was a mess - first of all, if includes an egg, its a croque madam. It was served open faced, with a about a pound of cooked ham (baked? steamed? it had nothing going for it) on top of a piece of soggy french toast. A "farm fresh" egg on top. I'm accustomed to the yoke sitting high up, as if it wants to be as far away as possible from the less delicious egg white. Sadly, not the case here. The shrimp, octopus & grits could have very good, except for one fatal flaw. If you're going to remove the head, tail, and peel the shrimp, then roughly chop it to incorporate it with the other ingredients- WHY WOULDN'T YOU ALSO DE-VEIN IT! THAT MAKES NO SENSE! Sorry for yelling.
The Benton's Ham was incredible- you could serve that with cicadas & 2 pieces of bark, and it would still be phenomenal. The French Toast was very good, it was served with macerated peaches & chantilly cream. But it was a dish that a any of Nashville's great restaurants could bang out in their sleep.
Our server was welcoming and attentive, and we loved the space. I really wanted to love our meal; I know I definitely got caught up in the hype when I heard that Husk was opening. And (Full Disclosure) we had eaten at Catbird Seat the night before, so maybe any meal was going to be disappointing. We will be back for dinner later on this month.
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
Here are my current top places, in the order in which I think of them:
1. City House
2. Lockeland Table
3. J. Alexander
4. El Sombrero
5. Burger Republic
Also, some kudos. I am looking for some insider insight into the food scene in Denver, my next travel destination, so I checked out the blog of the local alt weekly. Reading its coverage and comments, I was reinforced in my opinion on how excellent the content and commentary are on this site. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I appreciate y'all. Dissent, discussion, and dissatisfaction with the status quo create positive change. That, and our local entrepreneurs have sure been bringing their A-games the last couple of years.
Re: “Jay Luther's Family Suing Cooler Company, Metro Nashville Police Over Luther's Death in Restaurant”
>>The latch release didn’t work, according to both the lawsuit and police investigation of the incident.<<
Seems to me THIS would be the responsibility of the one running the restaurant? As well as ensuring a MSDS were accurate & in place.
Re: “Dynamic and ever-expanding, 12th Avenue South and the Gulch welcome a second generation of eateries”
European-inspired mozzarella sticks. :-)
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
Chris: Thank you for the intelligent observations above
Re: “This Week's Dining Column: The New, Revamped O'Charley's”
Well i like the food there. I dont think Ive had a bad meal there ever really. I LOVE the chicken harvest soup although im not sure its still there since the changes. I think the chicken tenders are still great. They have great prime rib and wonderful rolls. They have a pleasing choice of sides and are cheerful in substituting and suggesting. Ive had a variety of burgers and salads without anything under par. I really enjoy the french dip sandwich which is tender. The fish is also nice - served hot and crisp -tender and mild inside. The tuscan chicken is also wonderfully cooked and nicely seasoned. The fried chicken is a wonderful surprise for a chain. Their dips and sauces are always spicey and fresh. I especially honey mustard. They offer a nice variety and offer both bar and restaurant options. They offer a nice lunch and a great supper.
I was very sad they changed the happy hour as it was really good.
I find OC to be in the tops of its category.
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
From Open Table's website:
"Restaurants pay a $199 monthly subscription fee, which includes our software, unlimited upgrades, the touch-screen computer system, and customer support. In addition, there’s a one-time installation fee, which covers on-site installation and training and custom configuration of the system.
For online reservations, we charge a pay-for-performance fee of $1.00 per seated diner booked on OpenTable.com or $0.25 per seated diner booked via the restaurant’s website. And for the typical restaurant, it takes only three incremental reservations to break even on the complete monthly OpenTable cost."
I've been known to use Open Table to find a restaurant and to check to see when a table is available. Then I'll call to make the reservation in person to save them the money. I know, I know, that's a bad thing coming from someone who writes for an online food blog that has its own revenue model. But I figure if I'm going to lunch at Etch where my bill might only be $10-15 and they are valet parking my car for me for free, the least I can do is make a phone call to save them a buck.
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
1. The Catbird Seat
2. City House
3. Flyte World Dining & Wine Bar
4. Rolf N' Daughters
5. Arnold's Country Kitchen
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
By the way, my top 5, in no particular order:
City House (my fav place in town)
12South Taproom
Marche
Calypso Cafe (certainly I'm not the only one that has this in top 5, right?)
Porto Via
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
I wasn't thrilled that I had to call LT for res either, but it turned out ok. I left a message on machine, they called back that night to confirm, then called back day before (or day of?) my reservation to confirm again. Wasn't horrible.
My guess - only a guess - is that when it's super easy to make reservations you end up with more no shows. I'd be happy to hear from others with biz experience on that, though. And I'd imagine that no-shows can kill a smaller place like LT.
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
That's good intel about OT. I had no idea it was that high, though I figured there was some kind of fee. For those who don't want OT, I'd be happy with the option to email or text for a reservation instead of call. I'll not complain either way, though.
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
To be fair to LT (and others), OpenTable isn't exactly free. OT says average restaurant pays about $7500 a year to them for software and reservations. Maybe some love for LT for trying to keep costs down a bit and/or preserving some margin for the folks that actually prepare the food?
Just like Groupon is not necessarily great for your favorite restaurant, OpenTable is not a no brainer. Would LT get enough out of it to justify what could be a $10,000 annual fee, when they are already pretty heavily booked? And we don't know what the other downsides to using OT might be - maybe no shows are higher (which could be a real killer) when booked through OT.
Re: “First Bite: Husk Nashville”
Off-topic, but just have to reply to Jody's words: "you could serve that with cicadas & 2 pieces of bark, and it would still be phenomenal".
During the last big cicada emergence, a friend of mine (working in an asian restaurant) grabbed some and threw them in a wok, with just a touch of oil and nothing else. I ate one.
The flavor itself was really unexpectedly delicious -- a lot like pistachios. I could see that becoming a gourmet thing, aside from any aversion to eating from that part of the food chain....