The Lookout At The Pyramid — Restaurant in Memphis

I rarely write reviews for Yelp any more, and I only do so because of something exceptional—either really good or really bad. In this case it’s really bad. I called 2.5 months in advance to make a reservation for 12 people for a Monday night for my 50th birthday, and I requested a window table and was told that would be noted in my reservation and should be possible. I grew up in Memphis (birth to 22), go back a couple of times a year, and was returning home for my birthday to see family and college friends. I had thought this would be a nice place to celebrate (especially because several of us were planning to stay in the Cypress Lodge Hotel in the pyramid). I called back today to confirm the table, and I was told that it was impossible to do that for me, and that I’d be treated like any other customer that night, including walk-ins. I explained my situation, and although I believe in treating everyone equally, I seriously doubt that there are several other people celebrating 50th birthdays with a party of 12 and reserving a table 2.5 months in advance for a Monday night, so that it’s not really an equal/equivalent situation among customers. Plus, the crucial fact that I’d been previously told they could accommodate this. I then asked to speak to a manager, and when I did, I’ve never been spoken to so condescendingly. I’ve made reservations—for much smaller groups and without a celebration—all over the world and at places, like the top of the Freedom tower in NYC and John Hancock building in Chicago, and I’ve never had people treat me so rudely when I’m trying to bring good money to their place of business. Those other places have always worked with me to accommodate similar requests. But here, I was continually told all the reasons it was impossible and given no help to trouble shoot what was actually possible. That 1st manager who I spoke with gave me very confusing information and told me it was impossible before then handing me over to talk with a “2nd manager” there. (Do they really have 2 managers there on a Sunday morning? Why am I talking with 3 different people?) The 3rd person (2nd manager?) I talked with said that they can’t guarantee a window seat because they can’t guarantee earlier parties will get up from their table. I said that’s funny because the previous manager told me that there was a hard 2-hour time limit per table that they enforced. I also said that they told me it would already be $8 per adult and $4 per child to enter, but then the 2nd manager said that was the price for the elevator ride, and I told him we don’t actually need to pay for that because most of us are already staying in the hotel, and the 2nd manager agreed that was true. I then asked about parties at the restaurant, and he said that they have parties there all the time, and that you have to pay a location fee to secure a window table. I asked him how come the first two people didn’t mention a location fee to me and only told me it was impossible. He said that’s because they don’t recommend people pay the location fee. I still can’t wrap my head around why they have a location fee at all if they don’t recommend people use it, or why they didn’t just tell me about this from the start because I would have happily paid it. In the end, it was so clear that they didn’t want my business, and that they were as unaccommodating as possible, so I canceled the reservation entirely because I can only conclude that this is indicative of how the entire restaurant is run and would be indicative of our experience if we actually went there. When I had called today, I had even been thinking of booking a second group supper there on Saturday night, but now I don’t plan on ever...

Made reservations here to bring my wife, daughter and one of her friends. This will be our third time to eat dinner while watching the fireworks. View from my table was awesome. View of sunset was awesome and the view of the fireworks was awesome. However, that is where awesome ends and disappointment begins. First, enter bass pro and they are closed so a security guard had to call for someone to escort us to the elevator. Kinda surprised when I made the reservation no one mentioned that. Got to table and had to wait almost 20 minutes for someone to just take our drink order. Since we had already waited we were ready to order drinks and our meal. After ordering we took some time to take lots of pictures and take in the view. We were really amazed the restaurant was only at maybe 1/3 capacity. Not many folks there and not crowded which makes this next part even harder for me to understand. We waited almost a 1hr and 30 min for our meal. Note I said meal, not salads, those came later. First, my blackened red fish with shrimp. I thought blackened meant with seasoning not burnt. Fish was crunchy it was so over cooked. My daughter and her friend both ordered the salmon with mashed potatoes and broccoli. Well both their dishes came cooked about like mine. Really thin piece of fish that was burnt. The mashed potatoes consisted of about 2 tablespoons and 1 sprig of broccoli. And when I say sprig I mean a single bite. They were actually joking that they would be able to eat all of their veggies tonight. Then my wife ordered a steak that was over cooked as well. I took a bite and between being over cooked and the flavor I spit it out in my napkin. THEN we get our salads. My wedge I ask for extra ranch, see pic. I got two little cups of ranch for my wedge that the lettuce was actually warm. Then my wife got her wedge salad with blue cheese and the lettuce was swimming in dressing. She only had a few bites and said it had too much dressing and mine I did not eat as well, but as you can see despite coming to us late we still got charged even after talking to the Mgr. We opted to NOT order dessert simply because this was just a bad dining experience. Get back home just in time to “go out both ends” just sick as I could be as well as my daughter. Like I said this is our third time here, first 2 were great, but this time awful experience. Food was horrible and service was not up to par. I wish I could give a zero star or even a negative star. Would not recommend this place not even if someone dared me. In fact you could offer me free dinner with a free case of ammo and I would not go back. This is under new management and no longer owned by Bass Pro. Save your money and...

Oh boy. Where to start.

First of all, it cost us $18 to get up the elevator. The price advertised is $8 per person. Now I’m no mathematician, but I’m pretty sure we should have been charged $16, not $18. But let’s be real, if I’m about to spend $200 on food and drink at your restaurant, I shouldn’t have to pay ANYTHING to arrive. I should be able to show my reservation and be let up the elevator to get my seat.

Our server was very nice, but she and the bartender seemed a little clueless. There’s only one Mocato D’Asti on the menu, but neither the server or bartender even knew what a Moscato D’Asti was. When the server came back apologizing that they didn’t carry that wine, I pointed to it on the menu and she went back and was suddenly able to find it.

Our food wasn’t really worth the price. We got the Pimento cheese starter, and that may have been the highlight of the meal, but it only came with 6 slices of bread to split between us. My husband ordered his steak rare, but it came out nearly raw. The middle was a raw blue color. His mashed potatoes weren’t seasoned. I ordered ribs, which were very tender (good!) but the flavor was nothing to write home about. The twice baked potato was tiny, and the cole slaw tasted like it came from a grocery store.

We ordered the Limoncello mascarpone cake to go, but then our server disappeared for a half hour. When she returned she blamed the kitchen for the wait, even though I’m pretty sure the kitchen isn’t responsible for desserts. While we waited I visited the bathroom to wash my hands. The toilet was clogged, the soap dispenser was disassembled and not useable, the paper towel dispenser was broken, and there was a shopping basket on the sink with a child’s puff coat inside it. So I rinsed my hands and just let them air dry on my way back to my table.

When we got home and opened our to-go box with our dessert, they gave us a side cup of what I was assuming should have been a raspberry sauce, but it was actually barbecue sauce. Glad we noticed before drizzling on our cake!

Also, not that it matters, but there was a typo on their menu. The pork chops advertise “garilc” mashed potatoes. Obviously they meant garlic, but for a fine dining restaurant like this, I expect them to hire someone to proofread before printing.

We paid over $200 for this experience. It wasn’t worth it. Do yourself a favor, visit the viewing deck and pass on the food. We...