Gene’s Place Pizzeria & Pub — Restaurant in Cookeville

Terrible food. Terrible service. My wife and I were really excited to try this place. We had attempted to go about 3 weeks earlier but arrived late d/t the incorrect closing time posted online. This time we arrived at 8:30. They close at 9. Upon walking into an almost empty restaurant/ bar (not really sure what this place is attempting to be), we were asked if we were ordering to-go or if we would be dining in. Consequently, the short, dark headed, balding man seemed upset we were going to be dining there. He told us we could seat ourselves, and a few minutes later a waitress arrived to take our drink orders. At this time I asked if we could get a high chair for our 3 year old son (there are no booths, only bar stools at the bar and table and chairs in the open “restaurant” part.).The waitress told us they had no high chairs. So at this point I’m asking my wife, is this like a bar? Were we not supposed to bring our toddler? It says pizzeria, not bar, so just a warning that clearly they aren’t prepared or just don’t want young children in the place. So my son sat in my lap, and fortunately he was ok with doing that. She then came to get our order. We ordered the Margaritaville pizza and the spinach artichoke bread. There was a disclaimer about the pizza bc the cheese comes in blobs rather than spread uniformly, but we order this pizza at a restaurant in Sparta all of the time so we knew what to expect. I’m just going to pause here to say I really, really wanted this place to be good. I mean if the food had been good I could’ve seen past everything that had happened thus far. The bread came out, and all I can say is it was absolutely disgusting. My wife and I both took one bite and just looked at one another. My wife describes it as slop, and to me it was cold dip slathered onto under cooked bread. A few minutes later the waitress brought the pizza. Again more disappointment. The underside was burnt yet the cheese on the top was slimy, wet, and undercooked. My wife managed to eat one piece. I somehow stomached 2 pieces. At this time the waitress came by to check on us. It was evident she gave zero F’s about us though bc when I gave her an honest review of our nearly untouched bread and barely eaten pizza all she did was say thanks and left our table as fast as possible. At that point we were done. We got up and walked towards the entrance. Another girl working who was actually friendly said bye. I said, “Well we still need to pay”. Our waitress who was absolutely aware of how terrible the food was then rang us up yet never offered to comp anything or let us speak to anyone regarding the visit. Instead she rang me up for my $31, and told me to answer the questions on the hand held device. She then made sure to look to see if I tipped which I absolutely did not. One more thing. So they had a TV on in the main “restaurant” area. There was drag racing on during our meal. That’s not really my thing; however, I was watching it from time to time, but at 8:55ish the female bartender walked out and turned it off. Just rude. Conclusion… terrible food....

Finally was able to try this pizza place Friday night for carry out. They told me they were behind on making pizza but honestly the wait was worth it. We have tried a ton of pizza joints in town. Coming from the land of the best pizza in the country, Illinois. Our expectations are a tad high.

The crust is not overdone, it has a nice crunch. The crust isn’t floppy. The amount of toppings you get on the pizza is fantastic! Love that they offer red, yellow & green peppers!! This right here sets apart most pizza places in the area. I ordered 2 personal 10” pizzas both veggie, one for me and one for my husband plus we shared with our kid. Honestly the perfect size to feel full but not stuffed. Pizza tends to be one of those things you can binge on.

Do we have ample amounts of pizza places in this town? Definitely yes. This place is a winner in my eyes and happy it’s within walking distance from my house or a quick 5 minute trip. We will be back to enjoy even more wonderful...

I had high hopes for this place, but our experience was rather disappointing.

The Spinach Artichoke Bread was a soggy, flavorless mess, lacking any real appeal. It could best be described as grainy, reheated dip smeared on two halves of lightly toasted french bread. But this is a pizza restaurant so appetizers can always be hit or miss.

Unfortunately the pizza didn’t fare much better. The crust was riddled with several large bubbles, indicating either that the dough was not fresh or perhaps was under proofed. The toppings were also cut into rather large sized quartered meat / veggie chunks, resulting in these elements being undercooked and a bit clunky.

While the restaurant’s atmosphere and service were adequate, the food fell far short of expectations. Given that there are many other local pizza options available in town, I wouldn’t recommend this...