Char Restaurant — Restaurant in Memphis

..... warning this post will be a long one but not in a bad way... loved this place and the staff and will return. Being from New Orleans then living in South Florida for 10 years I've been exposed to some of the best food in the world. I can honestly say that living in Tennessee over the past few years the restaurant industry has been rather disappointing but today I was pleasantly surprised. I was traveling through Memphis heading towards Jackson, Tn on my way home from a long hot road trip. We were hungry and of course we were in travel attire. Nothing special... anyway we were looking for a restaurant that was providing dine in services and the first place I called sounded like she was annoyed that I called and asked if they were taking dine in. Then she went to say how service was by appointment only and that they were already booked for today and there were actually seats available on their website bc I was looking as we talked. So I kindly said thank you and hung up. I'll probably never consider that restaurant again since my first experience there 3 years ago was so bad. Thought I'd give them a second chance today, but I won't give them a 3rd chance.....I said all of that to say that I immediately started looking for another website that offered dine in and I came across Char!!! My husband and I had never heard of it so we decided to give them a call and see if they were taking dine in and to my surprise the young man who answered the phone was very kind. He told me that we didn't need a reservation since we were only a few minutes away that they normally have a dress code however if we felt more comfortable sitting in the bar area we would have that as an option. As I began to hang up the phone, I said to my husband he was so nice. I didn't get his name however, he turned my frown into a smile by simply being kind. That doesn't happen often so I want him to know that his kindness will always be remembered. When we arrived we were greated with smiling faces (behind the masks of course) they asked if we were the ones who had recently called and we said yes. He then proceeded to explain that we could choose our seat wherever we felt comfortable. We chose to sit in the bar area bc it felt really comfortable and we could watch TV, enjoy the ambiance and destress from our long day before getting back on the road. We were promptly greeted by our server. My husband ordered drinks while I excused myself and they were ready by the time I returned. We took a couple of minutes to review the menu then asked our waitress what she suggested of the options we were considering. We ordered the butter tasting, the spinach crisps, I had the porkchop and he had seafood carbonara.... all I can say is that it was amazing!!!!!!! The food was super fresh and very tasty. So good that I will probably take a trip once or twice a month to patronize the business. Overall the staff was very kind and knowledgeable about the menu options and I was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. It was economically priced which was also a great deal. If I could give you guys a 10, I would. Absolutely love this restaurant and will become a loyal customer. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so kind even though we are going through all that we are these days. In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger,...

I want to start my review off by saying, the food, host and environment was lovely despite the poor service we received from what I gathered on the receipt to be Katie? In addition to not greeting with her name, or ever telling us her name? I felt nothing but rushed, unwelcome and a sense of burdening upon her.. I had been in the service industry for many years before my children but never like to make a note of it to my servers/bartenders because I love authentic genuine service.. maybe I should have told Katie that just because me and my family appear to be less than “desirable” as a table that looks can and will always be deceiving.. I’m not sure if it the way my husband and I were nothing but pleasant, respectful and patient or if it was because my kids were quiet, calm and not disrupting any part of the service.. I just wanted to take the time to say how disappointed I was with the service I received and how it took a 5 star meal to a 1 star review because of the lack of care, attentiveness or willingness to service beyond expectation. We made no note of our discomfort, dissatisfaction and blatant disappointment in our first trip to Memphis. If you do not want families of color dining in your section, please do not serve. We are more than just our skin color… we are people too before any demographic is attached… kindness goes such a long way and I hate to believe that it was our demographic causing this “Situation” but it’s hard to not think that when it seemed as thought Katie was very happy to service, help and go above and beyond for the tables nearby whilst we sat and felt completely ignored except for the kind servers around the area willing to help us, I wanted to specifically add that I’m not sure the woman’s name with the longer hair but she really deserved the tip from our check. She did far more for us than Katie. This ALL set aside? the food was still amazing and gets a 5 star review.. the cowboy ribeye was phenomenal and I have yet to have a steak cooked as perfectly as this one was.. it’s a shame it couldn’t be enjoyed in all its glory. Truly a PERFECT medium rare!! I worked in quite a few chop houses, steak houses and so on and so forth! We really enjoyed everything about Char except for our service but we will not let this take away from our possibilities of returning we just absolutely will not be willing to sit in Katie’s section. Hopefully next time we will receive service that matches the environment, food and overall quality of the...

Don't assume people are broke by the color of their skin!!! White bartender waitress named Melanie already had an attitude when my son and I walked in there.. we sat at the bar for 10 min and I had to walk up to her and ask her did we need to sit at the the bar or at a table. She said I was coming over there, I'm getting the waters! So I brushed that off and said okay mam no rush just was making sure because we wasn't greeted. She come over frowned up throwing the menus when I look at her she picked it up and put it my mind..(I brushed that off mind you , I'm holding all this in because I have 16 yr old black boy my son watching me as a role model) so we order 2 steaks a 8oz and ribeye. The steaks come to the table and the rib eye is nothing but a big piece of fat, I have never in life seem a fatty ribeye as such.my son says mom it's chewy, can I just have a smaller one. So I asked the waitress can we trade the steak out for a smaller 8oz steak. She says no, I'll have to ask the manager..so I ask why do you have to ask, she say because it's policy. (Mind you, I have been to this restaurant before and traded things out before) so that's not true..the manager comes to the table and says no we can't trade it out because we are losing product. I said well sir I'm not saying I won't pay for the steak , I'm just asking for a smaller steak for my son..even tho we spent $150 for two ppl meant nothing to them as if those are not some of the cons of having unpleased customers..but they could've made things better and they chose not!.. I will never in life go back AGAIN!! the gag is my initial stop was J.Alexander but we chose to give them a try... I really feel like we were judge or they assumed we were looking for a free meal!! Chileeeeeee food ain't worth handcuffs ! If we were broke we wouldn't have walked in there.......so we end up having to pay for a steak my son didnt eat and leaving it on the table..he took two bites of it and couldn't stomach the fat!....smh and u think I'm leaving a tip!!?? Naw take the tip out the steak you couldn't trade out!! And it's...