Caffè REL — Restaurant in Hendersonville

The presence of Caffe REL was unknown to us until a friend mentioned dining there...well, it's only been open for three months, so guess we can be excused for being tardy in trying it out. We made on-line reservations for a 7:00 meal on a Thursday night...we were promptly seated, and our waiter, Nishant, had water, wine per drink orders, and French bread with fabulous honey butter at our table. We love calamari so split that as an appetizer...we were disappointed, however, as it was not as crisp as we prefer. On the other hand, our main courses were a hit. My wife had the French pot roast and thought it was quite delicious...I opted for the Caffe Blue Dinner, consisting of two large breaded chicken breasts covered in cheese, with ham shavings, served over the richest mashed potatoes one could imagine...afraid to guess how much cream and butter was mixed in...but it was wonderful. A few sprigs of crispy broccoli were quite tasty. Both of our mains were so large, we only ate half, and took the remainders home for another night's dinner. We intentionally did not have a salad or additional appetizer as we otherwise usually run out of room for dessert...we were hoping the chocolate cake would be on the menu, but the choices were limited to creme brulee, a lemon cake, and tiramisu. Well, we have never met a tiramisu we didn't like, so we split that...was truly fabulous, light and creamy, perfection. With one glass of wine, the appetizer, two entrees, and one dessert, our tab came to $102.90 before tip (N.B. a 4% credit card fee is included). Bottom line, we will definitely look forward to returning to Caffe REL (the name? We looked it up, it's the initials of the original owner and chef at the first iteration of this restaurant in Franklin) for another meal...efficient and friendly service (thank you Nishant), delicious food, large servings...we were...

Decided to try the new Hendo location and support local business. We made a reservation for the 6 of us. The table we were seated was a high top (the only table that we saw that could accommodate 6) that left us a bit cramped shoulder to shoulder, but it was manageable. Once we received the menu we realized it did not match the menu shown online that we all had reviewed prior to coming. The service was good, the server prompt and attentive. Another server appeared with a plate of bread and butter and asked if we needed small plates, to which we replied “yes”. We never saw the plates, or the person again, but not a big deal. We ordered our food, and it arrived in a timely manner. For the price, the portions were not as large as hoped, except for the osso bucco which was plentiful. My brother in-law ordered the salad with the shrimp adder for $12, which turned out to be 6 rather small, cold shrimp on a side salad priced as a dinner salad. Not worth the $12 adder. The other dishes ordered among the group were the caprese chicken, shrimp and grits, and the mushroom steak. All were tasty, but again not huge portions for the price. When the check came we noticed that while an automatic gratuity was not added for a group of 6, the “suggested gratuity” on the tab was based on the total cost of the meal, which included sales tax, and the 4% CC service charge. IMHO the suggested tips should be based on the cost of the meal, not with the tax and service charge included. I realize it’s not a huge amount of money, but it’s the principle of the thing. Overall, the venue is very nice, it’s not loud so you can converse without having to yell, the service and food was good, but on the downside, the portions are small, and the prices a bit high. I hope they are able to succeed with all the other dining options available in...

We had to sit on this overnight before posting. My husband and I made reservations after seeing the menu online and hearing good things about the location in Franklin.

The restaurant itself is very conveniently located on main street and has a fresh, clean feel. Unfortunately, the menu is not anything similar to what is advertised online. Online, there are multiple sandwiches and entree options which were not on the menu here. In fact, what was on the menu was more expensive than what was advertised. Still, we ordered drinks and food. The food was ready almost too quickly for a place of the caliber they are trying to be. The osso bucco I ordered had no flavor itself despite being very tender. The risotto was acrid in flavor and crunchy! It wasn’t even cooked! I should’ve sent it back but I didn’t want to cause a scene so I ate what I could. I legitimately have risotto rice in my kitchen and would never serve crunchy rice to anyone.

My husband ordered a seafood stew where the broth had absolutely no flavor and honestly looked and tasted exactly like chicken broth, had overcooked potatoes, hard lobster, and very hard shrimp, and was the size of an appetizer with a large piece of bread. For the price that we paid for that, he barely had food and he couldn’t even eat mine because again, it wasn’t cooked. I have legitimately never been so disappointed in a meal and I am very upset about the amount of money we wasted on an incredibly subpar experience. Truthfully, we should have asked for the manager and honestly...