Tailgaters Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Caledonia

Let me start by saying we have been to Tailgaters, many many times. Food never disappointed. Service was always pretty good. Here's where we go downhill... Our son was coming home from SC and when he comes home he wants a Family Friday Nite Fish Fry... as they don't have them down in SC... Having been to Tailgaters on many many occasions I suggested Tailgaters... I called 2 weeks in advance to see if they take reservations...My fault here, I did not get a name of the woman I spoke to...(she sounded older) and quite knowledgeable about Tailgaters, she said unfortunately they do not take reservations, I said even for a party of 12 (with family, grandkids) She then said they do have the back room however it's not open because they don't have the staff BUT she would put it down and they would accommodate us. She went on to say they do have rather young hostess's, but it would be handled. On Thursday, April 4th, my husband called to confirm it and was told they did have it written down. 12 people for 6:15 p.m. My son who lives here arrived around 6:00 with his family...they were told "we don't take reservations" He stepped outside to call us, as we were on the way, and I told him exactly what we had been told with our 2 phone calls. He relayed this to his daughter and told her to run back in and tell them all of this...She (18) went back in to relay the conversation and was told again, only kind of rudely this time: " We Do Not Take Reservations" Now I can understand you were busy and crowded BUT as a former business owner wouldn't the polite thing to do is maybe talk to some of your staff, which according to whoever we spoke to is rather sparse, so there couldn't' have been that many to talk to... have them check: Who wrote it down? Where was it written down? And most importantly, maybe you shouldn't have even offered to accommodate a group of 12? We left, and my son called Hideaway on 76th & Hwy 100 in Franklin, they told him, "if you give us 45 minutes we'll be more than happy to have something set up" Thank You Hideaway, we all arrived, had a drink at the backbar, and they had a table ready...Worked out great, food was great, service was phenomenal... Moving forward this will now be our go-to place for Friday Fish Fry's... AND after this screw up at Tailgaters, I choose to never step foot in that establishment again, even though it's in the neighborhood, I choose to spend our money somewhere that appreciates your business. And will definitely not recommend your establishment to anybody... My fault for not getting a name who we talked to the first time, Your fault for responding that you could/ would accommodate us...My fault again for not getting a name when we called to confirm...Your fault for responding "it's written down" By...

Great bar and grill, suitable for the whole family. Standard bar games inside in the bar area, beautiful fireplace in the dining area, and a lovely dining patio overlooking cornhole courts.

The food is delicious. Several in our group ordered the wing special along with burgers, the stuffed peppers, who's got the beef, and the chopped steak. I had the Home Turf Wrap on the tomato basil wrap, with fries. I also ordered the breaded mushrooms which, according to the menu, is suppose to come with ranch but was instead brought with marinara. Had to ask for the ranch. There is no skimping on the contents of the wraps, packed full of tasty goodness, with a pile of fries. The mushrooms are great - nice and crisp on the outside, but tender on the inside.

The service is where we falter. Don't get me wrong, the server was friendly and attentive however when it came to the checks, serious problem. When a group requests separate checks, you give each person their check. You do not put the stack at the end of the table and make everyone go through each others' bills to find their own. To make it worse, when bringing back checks paid with credit cards, you do not leave these in a pile giving access to credit cards to people to whom they do not belong.

With exception to the check issues, we had a great time and the food was...

I've been a regular at Tailgaters since they opened their doors and have had very few complaints (all of which were handled professionally and satisfactorily). Lately, I've been limiting my visits to their weekend breakfast, which I have to say, has been beyond outstanding. One of my breakfast litmus tests is a restaurant's ability to cook an over medium egg - as with all of the food I've gotten from them, they pass this test with flying colors. The staff is very friendly, very accommodating, and they will do what they can to meet a customer's expectations. Can't go wrong with this group.

Edit: Just went there yesterday with my brother, my cousin and his wife and son. One of the things ordered was the steak and eggs. Here's the review of that (which was being talked about the next day) - never had a restaurant steak cooked as perfectly as this was. The steak was ordered medium and when I saw what it looked like when it was cut into, all I could do was smile (and drool). I can not say enough about the quality of the food and the service here (we had a new server that was being shadowed, and she was incredible). God I...