Olympic Steak House — Restaurant in Bells

The extremely positive reviews for Olympic Steakhouse are puzzling to me. I stopped in on a Wednesday for lunch. As I entered there was no one to seat me and no sign, so I flagged down a waitress and got a table. The restaurant looked decently clean, with somewhat outdated decor.

The salad bar looked okay, though I can't say for sure as I didn't try it. But the hot food bar leaves a lot to be desired. Fried chicken is pretty simple and universal, hard to mess up, so I started with that. Theirs has a heavy, somewhat strange breading that I didn't like at all. The mashed potatoes were very plain, and not fresh. The french fries tasted as though they had been fried in very old oil that needed to be thrown out, and they were obviously stale. Their pizza was clearly not baked long enough, as the mozzarella cheese was still in half-melted grains on top of the pizza. Weird. I could go on. They had something that looked like very thin steak on the bar. I tried it, and it had the flavor of beef jerky. Yuck. The corn tasted like freezer burn. I tried lots of different things, but mostly left them on the plate uneaten. Almost all were stale and unimpressive. Finally I moved to dessert, and tried a blueberry cobbler. Again, it was old, and had mostly dried up to the point that it tasted like jelly. The cakes and pies didn't look fresh so I passed them up. I was getting ready to leave when I decided to give it one more go with the baked chicken. It was actually delicious and seemed fresh. But for the most part, Olympic was a bust. It seems to have potential, but would benefit greatly from someone from the outside giving an honest critique of the food. I nominate this place for Restaurant Impossible. ...

FIRST TIME VISIT AND LAST!Upon entering, looking over buffet selection and the cleanliness of restaurant, I was impressed. Servers were busy taking care of guests and the owner was exchanging and filling items on buffet. Then, oh so dissatisfied. Sour tasting food: boiled cabbage, beef tips/dry old rice, mashed potatoes, mac/cheese, green beans, fried chicken, broc/chick/rice casserole, chick/dumplings, old corn, mystery meat/gravy were a few items that tasted funky. The owner was unprofessional and ruined our entire dining experience when he constantly rode a server in front of guests. We said to him that he needed to stop that behavior to her: his reply "I Know" and "She's new". "Well,you'll lose a good employee" he replied "I know, so". I have managed fast food and dining restaurants for 20 +yrs and would've never treated an employee as rude and disrespectful as he did; in front of guest or anywhere else. The server was not slacking on her job duties; she just couldn't do 3 things at same time: sit guests immediately when entering, clear tables, take orders and fill beverages. Looked like she was thrown in position with no job expectations, details or description. She asked if she should do aparticular task and owner said "it's your job just do it". I still can't believe what I observed today; unbelievable!.... wouldn't recommend this restaurant if it was the only place on Earth. Sour taste all around. :( :( :(. HAVE TO GIVE A STAR SO THAT I COULD POST A REVIEW-----DOESN'T...

Ugh. September 24, 2025 my brother and I had a terrible tasting lunch buffet. The brown Gravy was out of a jar watered down. I have "NO" idea what this hamburger steak in a separate pan with grilled like green bell peppers and onions really was, but, assuming it was hamburger steak 🤔. There was a large spoon in the pan I assumed to gather the steak like meat, but also resemble meatloaf without the paste on top. So, I tried to cut into this meat testing to see if tender. (passed at this time, meaning, I may try it later) the grilled fish was my choice, too Salty. Now I try the so called hamburger steak. Couldn't cut it with the fork, so I used both a fork and steak knife. Cut two small pieces to try. Omgosh, I chewed from left to right, right to left and simply could not chew it. I had to literally spit it out. So, I go get mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, white beans and a roll. Mac and cheese was ok, mashed potatoes ok. The roll was hard as a brick. Brother had one piece of fried fish hush puppies, mashed potatoes with Gravy and 4 hush puppies and spaghetti. He loved the hush puppies and pushed the rest of his lunch to the side. We both then go and get a slice, mind you ( a very very tiny piece of strawberry cheesecake) that was very warm that should have been chilled for the tasting. Not a bite of anything was worth the total of $37.91 for the two of us. I definitely would not recommend the BellsTn Olympic Steak House on hwy 412. We definitely...