Ground Restaurant-Cool Springs — Restaurant in Franklin

PROs:

Red Robin prices ($9-$12 per burger) Much higher than Red Robin quality (great burger, amazing fries) Fantastic service (they are seriously customer-first)

CONs:

French fries are a normal side. Sweet potato is a normal side. But sweet potato fries are $2 or $3 extra. Not sure what the logic is there.

My experience:

I don't care about "farm to table" or "non-GMO" or any of that stuff. I just care about the quality (and especially quantity) of the food. Am I getting a good meal for my money?

When I first came in the restaurant I saw all the notices about "fresh" and "non-GMO" and "farm to table" and thought, "Oh no, this is one of those places that only serves meat that lived a free-range, grass-fed life with free college tuition. It probably costs $20 for a little kids meal sized burger with a handful of fries."

Boy was I wrong. My burger was huge. I ordered the sweet potato on the side, but my wife got fries. And it was a lot of fries. No portion size problems here. The beef was delicious-- better than other restaurants easily. The fries were amazing. Sure, the meal was $25 for my wife and me, but I made mine a double ($3 more) and she paid $2 extra for the "build it yourself" burger when she really only needed the $9 Pioneer burger ingredients. And we both had so much food we could have (OK should have) eaten half and taken the rest for leftovers or even split.

One more thing: the staff was excellent. I asked for a few of my burger's condiments on the side. Just in case they were going to put too much on or whatever. They forgot to put it on the side. I initially thought they had just forgotten to include the cups of condiments so I mentioned it to them. They accidentally included it in the burger itself. No big deal-- I was going to eat them anyway and it looked like the proportions were fine. But the guy at the counter (the manager, I think?) profusely apologized and went to make me another.

"Seriously," it's fine I told him, "I'm sure it's great."

"Are you sure?" he asked, "I can make another one really fast."

"No, seriously it's OK."

"I don't want you settling for a burger you don't really like."

"Seriously, it's OK," I repeated, almost laughing.

"OK, but if you don't like it for any reason, let me know right away and I'll make you another one."

In the company where I work, we talk a lot about "customer obsession." How we want to do what the customer wants always-- even if it's not necessarily a good business decision in the short term. It's refreshing to see that attitude in a restaurant. The guy was sincerely, almost unbelievable concerned that I thoroughly enjoy my $9 burger.

I will be back here again. And again and again. And next time, I'm bringing my kids. A little sign on the table advertised a free kids meal for each purchase over $10 on...

After someone recommended this restaurant, I looked up the reviews and was quite impressed and knew I had to check out Ground. However, on my visit today, I was not impressed. In fact, I was quite disappointed. The layout of the restaurant makes no sense. When you walk in the door, straight ahead of you, you see a line at the counter. I waited in this line for a few minutes before realizing this is the counter where you pick up your food. You order you food on the other side of the counter, which is a bit strange.

My real concern wasn’t with service though — it was more the food. My brother ordered a fried chicken sandwich. Upon taking a bite, he mentioned that it was extremely “rubbery”. He couldn’t eat it. Instead, he went and spent more money and purchased a burger. He already had a side of fries from his chicken sandwich, but the cashier insisted that he cannot just order a burger - he must get a side as well, so he did.

Now that all three of us had our burgers and fries, we were excited to get to eat. Let me tell you — as we were eating, I began to become a bit concerned with my taste buds. I honestly thought for some strange reason I’d lost all sense of taste. Literally. No even joking or exaggerating. The only thing I could taste was mustard. The burger had no taste, the bun had no taste, the bacon had no taste... and the fries — you guessed — tasteless. I mentioned to the people in my group that I thought something was wrong with me and my taste buds. They said — “no, we are experiencing the same thing. These burgers are tastelsss.” I know it sounds bizarre, believe me. However, there was literally nothing going on as far as taste goes.

Needless to say, I was disappointed because Ground came highly recommended by a friend and by Google reviews. Not sure why. Maybe it’s the aesthetic and vibe of the restaurant that people are going for? It’s a cool place if you like extremely bland and tasteless food.

I hate to leave such a negative review, especially for a local business. I couldn’t stomach giving them a one star, so I’m bumping them to two — only because the staff...

The Burgers were GOOD! The prices seemed to be a little higher then what was posted on the Google Page! I am the type of person who believes that, Customer SERVICE IS 🔑🗝🔐! The process of having to enter our order in a kiosk, and find drink cups, condiments, and available table, NEEDS TO BE CLEAR!! THEY CAN POST A SIGN STATING ORDER HERE, PLEASE TAKE A SEAT, PAY HERE....WOULD BE NICE WE WALKED IN NOONE GREETED US WE STOOD THERE SAW 3 GUYS COOKING, IN MIDDLE OF ROOM. THEY LOOKED UP N SAW US. AFTER A FEW I FINALLY WALKED UP N TOLD THEM WE HAD NEVER BEEN HERE...THE ONE EMPLOYEE TOLD US BY POINTING AT END OF GRILL CORNER. I THEN ASKED FOR MENUS. SO I FEEL THEY NEED TO EITHER DROP $$1.50 OFF PER BURGER OR STEP IT UP AND GIVE CUSTOMERS A SMILE, SOME DIRECTION, AND WHEN WE ARE DONE A GOODBYE THANKS 4 COMING SOMETHING WOULD MAKE ME FEEL WELCOMED, AND WILLING TO RETURN AGAIN! WE WONT BE BACK, BECAUSE THERE WAS ZERO ASSISTANCE! AND THEY RECEIVED A 8.98 TIP....IDK WHO WE WERE TIPPING I GUESS THE COOKS, BECAUSE WE HAD NO OTHER INTERACTION. THEY TEXTED MY HUSBAND WHEN R FOOD WAS READY, WOW VERY IN PERSONAL. THEY ONLY HAVE 10 TABLE'S HOW HARD IS IT TO AT THE VERY LEAST CALL A NAME TO PICK IT UP! SIMILAR TO STARBUCKS!!! I AGREE WITH SOME OF OTHER REVIEWS, REGARDING BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE...AND I AGREE!!! IF U DONT WANT ASSISTANCE THIS IS...