J. Alexander's Restaurant — Restaurant in Memphis

We have been to numerous "steakhouses" across the country and we are familiar with upscale service and food.

Well, we tried J. Alexanders. Wont be going back. This was NOT a busy night by any means, but service was slow at best.

The good - the food was actually not bad. Not great, but not bad.

Prime Rib was delicious. The Steak was overcooked, but still delicious. The Not Your Ordinary Mac & Cheese was more like Not Very edible Mac & Cheese. Everything else, however, was decent.

Pricing was unacceptably higher than the food or service justifies. More on that in a second.

The bad - was just amazing to see the lack of care shown overall to customers.

The atmosphere started out just fine, darker environment lit with candles at the table. We were shown to a table with an unlit candle and no one bothered to even consider addressing that - ever. There were tables empty and set with lit candles. Maybe a little thing, but its part of your presentation guys. Could have swapped with a lit candle from another table at least. Strike 1.

We had to ask for bread to be brought to the table. I can actually say that I have never been to a "steakhouse" where the server didn't have that ready immediately upon introducing themselves or shortly after the drinks were ordered. Honestly, the bread was nothing special. Cheesecake Factory has better bread for what its worth (and they aren't special). Strike 2.

The plates were brought out for the bread and low and behold we received one that had a massive chip out of it. Very noticeable and impossible to miss - see photo. Come on guys, upscale dining with that never being noticed and being brought out? Strike 3.

We placed our order and the wait began.

Once the order was taken we didn't see our server until after another person delivered the meals.

Again, the food turned out to be decent, which was a nice surprise. However, we were never offered dessert. That's right - a "steakhouse" that didn't even bother to ask. Certainly wasn't about to toss more money at them if they couldn't even be bothered to ask us about it. Strike 4.

The real fun came with the check. The Prime Rib was clearly listed on the menu for $40. See photo for details.

The check came in with Prime Rib at $50. Surely this was in error. When we brought it up to the server, she was understanding, but tried to spin it as "you got the 16oz cut and the menu was for the older 12oz cut. They haven't updated the menus yet." Excuse me, what?

If prices are volatile, I am used to seeing "MKT price" listed. At which point I would ask for more information. The menu clearly listed $40 as the price with no specific details as to the cut size - either 12oz or 16oz. I have zero problem paying for what was ordered, provided the menu is clear.

On the plus side, our server spoke with the manager and they did indeed adjust the bill to match the menu accordingly. They also said they would be updating the menus. (Should have done that already, but lets hope they do) Buyer beware.

Overall, given 5 strikes against, but decent food with a higher price point, I rate this a 2.5 overall. Much better steakhouses exist and given their price point, there is no excuse for the issues we encountered. ...

I'll start by stating I've been coming here for over 25+ years and it has previously always been excellent with top notch service. The whole place has changed. Service is nothing like it used to be. The girl that took my reservation needed to be checked for a pulse. We arrived and the tattooed, pierced, weird hair dyed 2 gals at the reception area were like robots- no personality. The one that seated us never said a word- they used to all turn around on the way to the table to ask about your day and engage in conversation. Not tonight.

The server was just "OK" but so are the ones at Perkins, Denny's and Waffle House. Ordered a Grey Goose Dirty Martini, glass of wine, French Dip and Ahi Tuna.

Martini arrived and was not Grey Goose and not dirty. No olives or garnish. I always get the bleu cheese olives but server didn't ask. Was barely shaken-no ice crystals. Tasted it and sent it back. 2nd came and still wasn't Goose but was faintly dirty and two olives with a microscopic amount of bleu cheese (I suspect they just tossed a dash of brine in the first one, stirred once and poured it back in the glass). I drank most of the glass and left the sidecar untouched on the table when we left. I normally quaff down 2 at dinner there despite the bartenders NEVER shaking them enough despite requests to do so. The baguette was stale and I ate half the sandwich and left the other half.

Both martinis were pitiful and the food was just "okay". I'll review them and try them one more time. The restaurant scene in Memphis is really sad. The labor pool really worries me about the future. We are accepting way too low a standard today.

The Redlands management and manager at this J. Alexander/Redlands needs to seriously reevaluate their standards, processes and results. They have one more chance with me but that will be all. Worst 85 buck dinner I've ever had. 2 drinks, 1 appetizer and 1 sandwich. With great service, atmosphere and good food quality that is a great dinner and good value. I would not come back and be happy with last nights experience for 20 or 30 bucks.

This place is close to the house and we go frequently. Usually our checks are much larger, we usually have a party of 4-6, but we just ran out for a light dinner. If you go out and have poor service, a bartender that is barely competent or a food issue you can chalk it up to one bad night and forget it. These folks hit the "Trifecta". They managed all 3 and it is almost assuredly not a "one bad night" problem.

Edit Feb. 29 2024 Talking with management doesn’t solve anything so stop the stupid gestures. I talked to you in the review. 4:15 PM. The Asian Twins at the front acted all busy and told me to standby when I asked for a table for 1. Nobody in the restaurant and hardly anybody in the bar. After being told to jog in place I told them I’d grab a seat at the bar “if it’s such a big deal to get a table!!” Horrible front end service and first impression. As bad as the last visit. I’d think management would want the guest’s first interaction to be top notch-...

I had not been to J. Alexander's since I went for my a birthday many years ago. The service and food was very good then. When I went on this Saturday, 1/30/2021 with a friend of mine, the food and service was still phenomenal. We ate our dinner and had dessert after. We were about to partake in our dessert when another waitress (not our assigned one) stopped to notice that we had several plates and glasses on our table that needed to be removed. She gathered then from the table in which her hands were very full. I asked her if she was sure if she could carry all of the dishes as all of it was heavy. She insisted that she does this all of the time and that she could handle it. Well, she handled it but in the process she inadvertently dropped a small container from th dishes that contained ketchup. The ketchup hit the floor by my friend's brand new all white Nike Air max and splatter all over bothers of her shoes. The waitress immediately apologized and walked away with the dishes. Our waitress came within seconds after apologized and stated she she would get a warm and wet towel to see about getting it off. She came back with the towel and the manager within 2 minutes. The manager, Benny Cohen, immediately gave his apologies and informed us that our bill is going to be taken care of. We didn't have to pay anything and I know our bill was a little pricey. He also offered that they would have her shoes cleaned for her, that she would need to have them cleaned and being them the bill. I still gave our original waitress a good tip because everything was good up to that point and still good after.Afterall, she didn't handle the dishes. I said all of this because not one time, we had to ask for a manager, not have to ask how the issue was going to be resolved or even ask for a discount on our food. They immediately offered and took care of everything. I call this phenomenal service from thr beginning to the end. Although this unfortunate circumstance happened, i will still go to J. Alexander's restaurants in the future. More restaurants need to take pointers from J. Alexander's on service and the treatment of their customers. As the for the young lady who dropped the plates, I never seen her no more after. I believe she may have been embarrassed and thought we would be livid but I wanted to tell her that it's okay accidents do happen but...