The Pine Room — Restaurant in Louisville

Not for special occasions. Our first visit here was for our anniversary last year. The ambiance was lovely, the food was great, and we decided The Pine Room would be our spot for special occasions moving forward. Before our first visit, we called in to let the hostess know that one of us had a specific dietary need. The person who answered the phone told us to just put this information in the reservation online so we did. It was never addressed by the hostess upon arrival, but that was fine - we just let our waiter know. We came a second time a few months back and brought some friends. The food was considerably worse than the first time we came (cold upon arrival and dietary needs ignored) but just thought it was an off night, we hadn't written The Pine Room off yet. Our visit tonight was really quite poor. We again called ahead to let the staff know about the dietary need, and that we would be celebrating my husband's birthday. We were again told to put this information in the reservation online. Upon arrival, neither my husband's birthday or the dietary need were addressed. Our waiter did not spend any time with us and rushed us in to ordering as quickly as possible, never allowing me to let her know of the birthday and how exited we were to be spending it at The Pine Room. We were at the table in the corner behind the bar and it seemed like it was an inconvenience for her to wait on us because she had to walk around the bar and the patrons sitting there each time. We did the best we could ordering with the dietary need and hoped for the best. The food was really just okay. The pasta came out cold and the vegetables were not seasoned, and my husband was brought the wrong drink and the waiter who brought it was gone before we could correct them. We overheard the birthday song being played for another customer across the restaurant. I guess their waiter had more time to talk to the table. I got up to say something to the hostess about my husband's birthday, but at this point he didn't want me to make a fuss. At the end of the evening, we were rushed out quickly and my credit card was left behind. The staff did call to inform us which is very appreciated. We truly look for the best in every experience and would love to try The Pine Room again someday. But I think we will look for a different restaurant for special occasions...

Generally way too loud inside. Lovely and cute decor but just overwhelmingly noisy. There’s a pianist which is nice, but added to how loud it was. The tables are quite close together which didn’t help. The acoustics were not good for how dense the set up is. My party and I had to borderline yell at eachother to hear what we were saying, and we were only maybe a couple feet away from eachother. Even had to do this with our server. Food wise - it ranged from great to just okay. The pretzel bread, Farmer’s salad, fried chicken, and donuts for dessert were the standouts. Wow, just suuuper special and delicious. The salad especially had the most amazing, complimentary flavors. The pretzel bread was perfectly buttery, and crisp outside and soft inside. The fried chicken had great flavor and the skin was nice and crispy; the meat was a bit dry. The mashed potatoes side was strange in flavor, kind of tasted like powder/instant mix. Probably wasn’t that, but it felt like it was. The side of greens were just okay, bit too mushy and quite bitter; might just not be my thing. The bolognese was also just okay, pasta wasn’t fresh and a bit over done, plus there was just too much sauce. The dessert was AMAZING. They’re donut fritters and they tasted like heaven. Perfectly fried and sweetness level was just right. The ice cream balanced it out and added even more layers of yummy flavor. It was so delicious I forgot to take a photo before eating! Service was fantastic. Everyone was super nice and friendly, not a hint of attitude from anyone. Overall a pretty great experience with the food. The noise level was the main issue. Wish it was better and had more balance between loud and quiet. It’s not that enjoyable to have to scream through conversations, after all you go to dinner to talk with the people you’re with. We’ll definitely go again, but we’ll sit...

I never mind paying high prices for a a great dining experience. The Pine Room is a moderate-to-high priced restaurant and not a great dining experience--not even close. I ordered the chopped salad and the burger. The chopped salad never came despite appearing on the tab at the end of the evening. I requested medium rare on the burger and it came out totally rare with some sort of concoction that created a liquid mess that along with the beef blood hastened the dissolving of the bun. It's not an exaggeration to say you'll be better pleased by a burger at Wendy's--way better. The french fries that were served with the burger were obviously those skinny, tasteless fries that restaurants buy in bulk at restaurant supply shops reminiscent of those canned potato sticks your parents brought along on impromptu picnics when you were a kid.

They do offer a very good reasonably priced Bombay martini ($11) and the PBR was a decent/marginally acceptable substitute for the absent very popular Budweiser, which every good restaurant should offer.

The ambiance was sort folksy upscale, light and energetic, though atmosphere never trumps food in a dining experience.

Our waitress was a charming young lady and a dear and we tipped her pretty generously but it seemed like she was over-subscribed on tables.

Needless to say, I will not be back and would recommend you consider alternatives. Louisville has many great restaurant so there is no...