Nashville food and beverage scene

[e-dub]

Yeah, I much prefer the Martin's in the Belmont area, but it's my favorite. Edley's has grown on me, I've NO idea how that happened. Peg Leg Porker's is the jammy jam!

[grilled_cheese]

15 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

The Logans location in Chattanooga on Gunbarrel just closed too. Maybe it's a corporate issue.

I don't recall ever going ... come to think of it, I think I went to that one on Elliston years ago... there was a outdoor patio/firepit. But other than that, not a thing.

The Logan's in Cool Springs closed as well. 

[MetroTN]

The one in Murfreesboro closed, too.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[bhibbs]

15 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

I did not major in Marketing in B school... but I'd say that would be a problem. Word of mouth is powerful. And tourists have "big" mouths. Nashvillians may know/love "the original". But as soon as the NY Times et. al. get ahold of the downtown location (because they almost never veer off the same old paths), then the reputation gets out... for good or bad. I have never had Martins, but already I'm wondering. 

Pat Martins reputation is incredibly well regarded nationally. 
He just helped cook at the James Beard awards and is quickly becoming the face of Nashville food, along with Sean Brock, Tandy Wilson, and Philip Krajeck

[CenterHill]

I agree Martins seems like a much better fit for the Elliston corridor.     Having a Logans Roadhouse and its demographic in there alongside all the local originals like Rotiers, Gold Rush, Obies, the EP soda shop, Exit Inn, Calypso Cafe (before it closed ), etc. never seemed to make sense.     

[tragenvol]

Martin's smoked turkey is quite good, and the Alabama White Sauce is the best of that ilk in my opinion.  I have steered clear of the downtown location.

[nashvillwill]

1 hour ago, CenterHill said:

I agree Martins seems like a much better fit for the Elliston corridor.     Having a Logans Roadhouse and its demographic in there alongside all the local originals like Rotiers, Gold Rush, Obies, the EP soda shop, Exit Inn, Calypso Cafe (before it closed ), etc. never seemed to make sense.     

^^^It’s just too bad that Gold Rush went the trendy hipster route. It was my favorite dive in town and I’ve been going there a long time. Don’t go at all anymore. 

[bhibbs]

after only a year, Caviar and Bananas is leaving Nashville. 
thats a decent sized space that will be vacant.

[MLBrumby]

Never really got the concept of C&B. Not to say I wanted them to go out... I guess not my thing. That spot is perfect for a restaurant. Which brings up something this suburbanite has wondered about... is it common for residents of towers like this to complain about food cooking from the ground floor at all times of the day?  What about pests? I'm still dreaming of retiring to Naples FL... to a condo on the water (probably NOT be able to afford a house like that after putting my kids through college). 

[Guest]

My experience with C&B was awful. In fact a three food concepts are lacking IMO. From feeling rushed to closing early all three lack customer service. I agree with MLBrumby that the C&B concept was confusing. The interior was very antiseptic and cold. They also located their  full-bar next to candy and sweets....is it a soda shop or pub? It will not be missed by me. ha

[smeagolsfree]

Too many fru fru overpriced restaurants in town. Time to cull the herd so to speak. That's what happened  with Lu Lu's in Germantown and Salt and Vine on Charlotte. There are a number of other places that I am not a fan of including Bakersfield at the Encore, absolutely horrible as are Chains like Chuey's.

I am surprised Silo is still around as I had a much less than good experience there. Not a huge fan of Butchertown Hall either. The one thing I hate about some of these restaurants is you spend 50 or 60 dollars and you have to go to Sonic afterwards because you are still hungry. We have a few too many burger places too, as Flip burger bit the dust along with its neighbor the Beer Pale.

Some of the issue with some of these restaurants is they are built before their time as there are not enough rooftops to support them. There will be a lot more to close when the recession hits and it is on the way.

 

These are my opinions and may have hit some of these places on a bad night, but a good restaurant does not have bad nights. You cant afford to. I have given most of the places the benefit of the doubt and tried for a second time and most of the time disappointed twice.

[Guest]

I had occasion to try some of the places you mentioned ^^ and agree on many points. Too many new places are trying too hard to be too ‘different’ and ironically it makes them very similar. Some ideas..... have a couple of vegiterian dishes and some staid full portioned meals, then fill-in the balance with variety. There is a small market for haute cuisine in Nashville and you are fighting the Catbird seat, Husk and every location in East Nashville. Ha

The obverse is if you are going to be competing with dozens of other restaurant - think burger joints - you better get it right because many of us are one and done if we have a bad experience.

[Pdt2f]

6 minutes ago, nashville_bound said:

he obverse is if you are going to be competing with dozens of other restaurant - think burger joints - you better get it right because many of us are one and done if we have a bad experience.

Damn right. Plenty of places I’ve been to where I had terrible experiences and never went back. The wife and I went to Graze in east Nashville right when they opened a few years ago and had an awful experience so we’ve never been back. And it’s one of only like 4 or 5 fully vegan restaurants in Nashville, and my wife is vegan. 

[GreenHillsBoy]

Agree on many of these comments.  My main issue is the increasing number offering small plates at prices in the $14-20 range which is too high for very small quantities.  The concept is good in that you should be able to sample a number of things and still come out around what a normal entrée would be but most of these you can't as you end up with a $40 bill for one without drinks.  A couple does it well, Americano's on West End has small plates as does Barcelona in Edgehill.  I do disagree about Silo, I have had mostly positive experiences except the extra charge for blue cheese olives for a martini.  

[smeagolsfree]

Hopefully some of the folks that like these places are reading this and take note. I have noted that many millennials go to these places and rate them high on Yelp. I have noticed that the Yelp reviews are very unreliable and have gone to many places based on a Yelp review and have been totally disappointed. 

 

A funny example of this was a nasty little Chinese's restaurant in Ashland City that had good Yelp reviews, at there, nasty , dirty, OMG. Went back and looked at the reviews and they had to be friends of the owner in Florida and California. How many people visit Ashland City and eat Chinese from California and Florida. Zero in my book. The closed about a month later.

A recent closure in Pleasant View was mentioned in the Tennessean and the owner was bitter with the community that they did not support the business and he had to close. I ate there and the servers were nasty , untrained, the manager was not available and many items on the menu could not be served because they ran out of food. The comments on the Tennessean reflected this and there were quite a few for a little place in PV. Just because a person has been cooking all their life does not mean they are any good at it.

 

FYI, these folks were from California and they really didnt know what country cooking was. Anybody can fry up frozen chicken tenders and fries. I can do a steak better on the grill at my house than many of these places. 

[grilled_cheese]

Central BBQ opening a Nashville location in 2019

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/07/09/beloved-memphis-barbecue-restaurant-coming-to.html

[glamdring269]

2 hours ago, grilled_cheese said:

Central BBQ opening a Nashville location in 2019

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/07/09/beloved-memphis-barbecue-restaurant-coming-to.html

Will be interesting to see how this works out.  I love Central BBQ but it's my main 'when in Memphis' spot.  I've got Martin's and Pegleg for my bbq fix in Nashville.

[japan]

On 6/27/2018 at 8:27 AM, Pdt2f said:

Damn right. Plenty of places I’ve been to where I had terrible experiences and never went back. The wife and I went to Graze in east Nashville right when they opened a few years ago and had an awful experience so we’ve never been back. And it’s one of only like 4 or 5 fully vegan restaurants in Nashville, and my wife is vegan. 

You should always give a restaurant at least a month or two to work out the kinks before passing judgement.  IMO.

[Pdt2f]

1 hour ago, japan said:

You should always give a restaurant at least a month or two to work out the kinks before passing judgement.  IMO.

Why? I don’t owe them anything, it’s their job to impress me. 

If it was just the food wasn’t great (it was thoroughly bad) it would be understandable, but their staff was hostile and devious and the place wasn’t sanitary. My wife found a pube in her burrito and they tried to secretly charge us for it knowing why we sent it back. Why would I ever go back to a restaurant like that?

[japan]

1 hour ago, Pdt2f said:

Why? I don’t owe them anything, it’s their job to impress me. 

If it was just the food wasn’t great (it was thoroughly bad) it would be understandable, but their staff was hostile and devious and the place wasn’t sanitary. My wife found a pube in her burrito and they tried to secretly charge us for it knowing why we sent it back. Why would I ever go back to a restaurant like that?

Ha ha.  Well, I can't argue with you for not going back to that restaurant.  But, in general, it may take a little while for a new restaurant to get geared up.  I've always waited about a month before going to a new restaurant.  You will be less disappointed.

[etimer13]

1 hour ago, Pdt2f said:

Why? I don’t owe them anything, it’s their job to impress me. 

If it was just the food wasn’t great (it was thoroughly bad) it would be understandable, but their staff was hostile and devious and the place wasn’t sanitary. My wife found a pube in her burrito and they tried to secretly charge us for it knowing why we sent it back. Why would I ever go back to a restaurant like that?

Sounds like a bad experience, for sure.  Despite your unfortunate experience, Graze turned into a truly exceptional restaurant that this vegetarian greatly appreciates. I'm glad they worked out those early kinks you experienced.

[PruneTracy]

3 hours ago, Pdt2f said:

My wife found a pube in her burrito and they tried to secretly charge us for it knowing why we sent it back.

It's kind of a double whammy, because not only was it in her food, it's not vegan either

[smeagolsfree]

Why does everyone always assume its a pubic hair. Is there a way to really tell. I was trying to use a funny emoji but it will not let me so, Smiley face laughing.

[BnaBreaker]

More likely it was probably a beard hair... still gross, but objectively less gross than pubes.  lol

[nashvillwill]

Interesting revamp of a strip center on Dickerson Rd.

Just this weekend Retrograde Coffee open at 1305 Dickerson. They had a grand opening Monday and handed out free drip. I must say, it’s one of the best cups of Joe I’ve had in a while. 

And as a surprise, at least to me, Goodwood “relocated” next door with a Facebook announcement the same day. Although it seems to be more of a storefront for them, and not so much of a storage yard. I’m not quite sure what their operational plan is, but I don’t see this as a total “move”. Maybe just their official storefront. 

 

Either way, a welcome addition to Dickerson Rd.