Calhoun's — Restaurant in Lenoir City

Calhoun's was our 'go to' celebration spot. That changed today. Our 20th anniversary had a wet blanket thrown on it by going to the Lenoir city Calhoun's. We drove almost two hours and brought my 84 year old mother-in-law with us. Within ten minutes we were on the wrong side of a good time and we would have walked out right then if it wasn't for what that would've put my m-i-l through. She uses a walker and that would've been too exhausting to make her get up and go somewhere else... so, we sucked it up for her.

We started giving our order....ribs and baked potato - prime rib and mashed potatoes - filet mignon and baked sweet potato with a house salad. So the following is a list of everything that was wrong with this trip to Calhoun's and they felt NO obligation to make it right at all. We ended up paying full price for inferior service and putting up with a waitress who needs to consider a different line of work. She started out sweet and it went downhill fast.

1. They didn't serve prime rib on Sunday. (Such a busy day to not serve a high dollar menu item) Just doesn't make sense to me.
2. They were out of baked sweet potatoes had to change the order to white potato.
3. White potato was undercooked and hard in the middle when it came. Only the outer part of the potato was edible.
4. House salad had rotten salad greens in it. Totally ruins your appetite for eating another bite when you see that halfway into your salad.. (I took pictures) 4b) M-I-L requested honey mustard dressing and she received some kind of white cream dressing. We asked a different server for honey mustard and they did get it for us in short order.
5. Mashed potatoes were old? or something...I'm not sure what was up with them but they were unpleasant. There was a crust on the top of them when I received my plate.
6. Complimentary bread - waitress asked us if we wanted bread - we responded yes. THIRTY minutes later I inquired about the bread and was told that I shouldn't be rude because she JUST FORGOT. I wasn't rude, I simply stated that we still didn't have our bread or were they out of that too. (But I said it in a pleasant tone ;.....) 6b) They brought two of our dinners to the table without the third dinner. We had to wait about five minutes to begin eating while waiting for the third plate.
7. I left the table to speak to the manager and explained our lack of satisfaction with our visit. He stated he would make sure everything was right from there out. I requested some type of comp for the inferior service we were getting. He felt no obligation to do so, but finally agreed to comp the $5.00 for the salad. I think he was still assuming that we were going to agree to pay for spoiled greens. It was really gross. Half of this list happened AFTER I reported our dissatisfaction. So, NO, He didn't fix anything. What he did was come up to the table while two of them were still eating and interrupted their conversation to carry on about how much he did to make sure we were taken care of. I politely said he was disrupting their dinner and he wouldn't go away. I chose to ignore him at this point. I might as well have gone to Mcdonald's to get this type of service.

We left there almost $100.00 lighter and can't believe what was once our favorite celebratory spot will be forever tarnished by...

We just had my dad’s 80th birthday party here, and my mom had rented the entire deck for the surprise party. Upon arrival, Cody brought us to the wrong room. We started setting up decorations (not hanging anything just putting things together) when the general manager, McKayla came in and told us “stop what you’re doing, this isn’t your space.” There has to be a better way to deliver the message to paying guests that another manager on her staff had put us in the wrong room.

The contract states I was supposed to have access to decorate the area at 1pm. There were people seated in the area until 2pm, when my dad was arriving. People were also seated on the deck (in the area we had reserved and paid a hefty amount for) throughout the ENTIRE party.

The manager, McKayla was completely unprofessional. She rudely stated IN FRONT OF OUR GUESTS that we didn’t have the room until 2, when the contract clearly states I would have access to decorate at 1pm, and appetizers would be ready for the 65 guests at 1:45pm. Appetizers did not arrive until after 2:30pm, after all guests were there and my dad was there. The entrees were supposed to be served at 2:20 and were not put out until 3pm.

After the confrontation in front of 20+ people, she said she was going to go review the contract. We did not see her again. For the entire day. She didn’t check in once, see how things were going, or apologize for the complete lack of organization, rude treatment of paying guests, or lateness of food. (We did, however see her profusely apologize and offer gift cards to the people who had been seated in the space we had rented on the deck).

The ONLY reason there are any stars on this review are: the waitresses Mya and Jessica were absolutely busting their butts to cover a large party and going above and beyond to help salvage the mess McKayla had created. They were serving drinks, clearing food (are there no busboys for a party of almost 70 people?? Guests had to clear their own tables), getting fresh plates and silverware, and serving cake. I didn’t catch the bartender’s name but she was also great. In addition to our servers, the other redeeming quality was the food. Although late, it was tasty.

Mya, Jessica and the bartender were absolutely hung out to dry by management. If McKayla keeps her job after this, I will be shocked and disappointed. If I had a manager like this, I would wonder about the operational aptitude of the company as a whole. We will be contacting corporate, as there needs to be accountability for the complete lack of professionalism and organization for an event of this size.

Do NOT book your event here if this disaster of a manager is...

I came here to eat with my mom and grandma since we were all in town. The wait was 30 minutes, which would have been nothing to complain about if I had actually eaten by the time we left. We were seated in a booth in the bar area, which was pretty busy, and we were being served by the bartenders themselves. I have celiac disease, meaning I can't eat wheat, rye, or barley. This means croutons, bread, anything fried, and dessert are out of the question. I first ordered a Caesar salad with no croutons and explained why I can't have them so they would be sure to leave them off. My mother ordered a salad to come out before the meal as well, and asked for modifications out of preference with extra dressing. The salads that were supposed to come out before the meal came at the same time as our meals, about 30 minutes later. Mine had croutons on it, and my mother's had everything she didn't ask for as well as it only having one dressing. Upon sending them back, I tried to explain again why I can't have croutons and that they can't just pick them off, but the waiter walked away while I was talking. My mother had the steak Calhoun cooked medium, which came out rare. My grandmother had the Oriental salad, which came without any dressing, and I had the kick back burger. The gluten free bun I have to ask for was as hard as a rock, and I didn't get the extra sauce I asked for. Our salads come back, and mine has crumbs in it from where the croutons were picked out. I have bad reactions, so I make sure to check. At this point, a very nice bartender who hadn't been serving us came and listened to our concerns. I wish I had asked for her name. She got a manager for us, and we told him everything that has happened. I explain to him why I cannot have croutons or a regular bun, and he offers me dessert right after explaining why I can't have it. My entire meal is taken off of the bill as well as my mother's entree. My mother ate her salad that came back correct, but not her main course, and my grandmother ate her salad when the dressing came out about 10 minutes later. I sat and watched them eat. Also, we were out of water half of the time being there. Everything came out extremely slow and incorrect, and when offered if they could remake it for me, I didn't want to wait however much longer it was going to take, nor did I trust them to make it correctly. I will not be returning to a Calhoun's again. If you have food allergies, intolerances, etc, please be weary...