The Beef and Barrel Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Crossville

Made reservations for my wife’s birthday a day in advance. When we arrive they seat us at a table with no lights above it so we ask for another which the promptly did. From there it was a nightmare. Our waiter aka “Lurch” came to our table and stared at us, we don’t know if he has teeth at this point. My wife asks him what the drink specials are and he contorted his face like she was crazy and stated”we don’t have drink specials”. I then stated the chalk board at the bar had a pumpkin spiced drink special on it and the drink menu which was on the table read” Ask your waiter about our drink specials”. He came back with the drinks and set them on the table and gave a sigh. At this point we still don’t know if he had teeth. Fast forward my wife ordered the filet mignon (medium)with shrimp and I ordered the chopped sirloin topped with a mushroom Cabernet brown gravy (medium rare)

My wife’s filets was cooked well so we sent it back. After all it was her birthday so I wanted her to at least enjoy her steak. 14 minutes later the waiter comes back with the steak literally cut almost in half. I guess the don’t have temperature gauges there. The waited never apologized for the steak and never asked at any time how our meals were. The second time around the steak was raw to rare. We just asked for a box and took it home for our dog. My medium rare chopped steak was rare on one side, well done on the other side and covered with a lumpy brown gravy. The seasoning was good but the broiler cook needs some training.

We ordered a bottle of wine and “Lurch” delivered the bottle unopened and set three glasses on the table and left. The wine was a twist top so I guess it was up to us to open it and pour it.

No dessert offerings(when I made the reservation I informed the person it was a birthday)

The table next to us complained about there meal not being up to par to. They must have been regulars because we heard the waiter apologize and offer them ice cream.

Our bill was delivered and not a single smile or thank you for dining with us. We still tipped 18%. The total came to $128.47

BTW we still don’t know if our waiter had teeth. He had ZERO personality and literally seemed like he hated his job. Worst dining experience...

I started attending Beef and Barrel’s trivia nights in March, and I’ve barely missed a single one since. Aidan, our trivia mastermind, clearly pours his soul (and probably several pints of caffeine) into crafting questions that are both general and deviously challenging. The man must secretly own the NygmaTech Box Jim Carrey’s Riddler used in Batman Forever.

He’s witty, fun, and makes everyone feel like part of the gang. The food? Outstanding. I’m addicted to the fries, the French Dip, but the Hot Wings are without peer. The servers? Absolute legends.

On True Crime Night, they rolled out a special called the “To-Kill-Ya Sunrise”—a Tequila Sunrise. I’d never had one before, but now I’m convinced the bartender is some kind of alchemist. Who knew tequila, orange juice, and grenadine was the Nectar of the Gods? I lubricate myself with them each week, and by halftime I’m floating into another dimension—achieving a state of pure enlightenment, true consciousness.

Brooke and Sabrina are my lifelines. They’ll harvest agave before they let me go thirsty. They never let the sun go down on me. Luckily they have never heard the Tale of Icarus. They allow me to fly as close to the sun as I want. Each time my glass is nearly empty, it’s like the Quickening in Highlander, they can just feel it. They hastily emerge from the kitchen and out onto the patio like a burning phoenix, carrying a glowing aura with them and then they bless me with refreshing, ice cold, liquid sunlight. And when that straw touches my lips, I taste the sweetest citrus and hear the beginning of The Circle of Life. NANTS INGONYAMA BAGITHI BABA!!!

That’s what the Beef and Barrel is to me. Go there....

I had high hopes for this place. Reviews seemed promising and I had heard that they are one of the best places in town to eat. I made a reservation because I knew they are always covered up. Immediately, we walked in and the hostesses at the front counter acted annoyed at our presence and kinda looked at me like “why are you here.” We got seated pretty quickly, but our waiter was not good at all. He acted so dead inside. Like he was half asleep. We got our drinks and one person in our party asked for lemon. She had to ask for lemon FOUR MORE TIMES before he finally brought it. He forgot one of our salads and did not check on the table near enough so we weren’t able to ask him about it until right before our food came out. Our drinks were not refilled like they should have been (we all had completely empty drinks at least three times during our visit). Basically the entire time we were there, we needed something that he forgot or needed to tend to, but it felt like he literally never checked on us. By the time he finally check on us, he wouldn’t really ask what we needed. He just walked away super fast after we would finally get drinks refilled.

The food was good. Salad was amazing once I finally got it. But the front hostess was rude right off the bat and the waiter was one of the worst waiters I’ve ever had at a restaurant to the point where I was very close to asking if we could have another one. I’m not sure if I’ll try to go back here. If you want good food and amazing attentive waitresses, go to Lefty’s BBQ. That’s where we went for lunch the day we visited crossville and it...