The Goat Mt. Juliet — Restaurant in Mount Juliet

We were visiting from out of town, out of state, and were really looking forward to trying The Goat in Mount Juliet. The vibe was great, the space was modern and lively, and the menu had a lot of potential. We started with two orders of bourbon and the Drunken Shrimp appetizer, which ended up being the highlight of the night — perfectly cooked, great flavor, and beautifully plated.

Unfortunately, the experience quickly unraveled.

We ordered two Nashvegas Burgers, which are described on the menu as having pimento cheese, bacon, onion straws, and whiskey sauce — no egg, no ham. After a long wait, our waiter came over and let us know our burgers had been delivered to the wrong table. He apologized and said they were being remade.

We waited again… and then received the wrong burgers a second time — Ranch Hand Burgers, which come with cheddar, ham, bacon, and a fried egg. When we questioned why there was an egg on the burgers, our waiter insisted the order was correct. After pushing him to double-check, he finally admitted he had entered the wrong order from the start.

He asked if we wanted the correct burgers remade. My boyfriend, tired and hungry, said he’d just take the one already in front of him. I asked for mine to be remade properly — so now I’m waiting again.

While waiting for what was now my third burger, we overheard our waiter telling coworkers that he was “ready to leave.” And to be honest, his service reflected that from the beginning — disengaged, careless, and completely lacking follow-through.

At one point, I asked our waiter for more water. He said “Sure”… and never came back. I finally got up and asked the bartender, who kindly refilled our waters without hesitation. She was far more helpful than our actual server.

Then came the check.

Our waiter said he’d remove the incorrect burgers from the bill — but we noticed he charged us for a burger we never even ordered. I had to ask again for the Ranch Hand Burger to be removed. One more frustrating detail on top of an already exhausting experience.

The Goat could have so much potential. The space is inviting, the drinks and appetizers were great, and the menu shows creativity. But the service—at least in our case—was sloppy, inattentive, and careless.

As visitors from out of state, we hoped for a better first experience… but unfortunately, this one missed the...

We went today for brunch. The Google reviews were great so we gave it a shot. I am a small business owner and come from a family of business owners and both my husband and I have plenty of restaurant experience so I don’t typically like to drag a small restaurant. But if you don’t know what’s wrong, how can you fix it?

So let’s start with the good stuff: -Pricing was decent, not overpriced. -Parking was easy and the building itself was cute and comfortable. -The menu selection for brunch was nice and creative. -The Bloody Mary I got was one of the best I’ve ever had, although I did opt for a regular one instead of the fancy ones with chicken and bacon so I can’t comment on those. -Everyone was very friendly and there was really no wait.

That’s where that stops. Now, on to the more unpleasant part of the meal: -The brioche toast served with the meals was hard as a rock. -Everything was a little cooler than it should have been. Some of the plates had definitely been sitting in the hot window. -I ordered the buffalo cauliflower and it came with the sauce on the side. Since it was billed as a hot wing situation, I would think it would be tossed. Overall it tasted good, just not sauced. -My son asked for bone-in wings and got boneless. Now, to be fair, they offered to remake them but he said it was fine and wanted to keep them. -The server never checked after our food was dropped to see if we needed anything. They didn’t bring us refills and even when they approached the table to bring a water bottle, saw our glasses of tea and soda were empty and we had to stop them as they walked away to ask for refills. -Not a huge deal, but I wasn’t asked about a second Bloody Mary. That’s how you increase your check average and your overall tip. It’s just good service.

Like I said, I’ve been a server/bartender/cook/manager pretty much everything you can imagine in a restaurant so I am very understanding but I also know how to be a good server and what that entails. I never tip below 20% even for bad service. In fact I typically tip 30%+. But I left 18% because the restaurant wasn’t that busy and I didn’t see any reason why we couldn’t get refills or hot food.

I don’t want a gift card or a comped meal. I just think, as a manager, I would want to know that a customer had a bad experience so we could avoid it happening again...

Overall I was left wanting during our first time dining at The Goat. I had high expectations & was very excited, but the experience fell short.

We recently moved to town and had heard/seen great things about dining here. We went earlier today for brunch. We were seated quickly however the table was soaking wet. The menu I received had a small food stain on it and the bottom corner ripped as well which just isn’t a great presentation out the gate. We were given a drink menu that only contained alcoholic drink options with no other drink offerings listed anywhere on either menu. The brunch menu isn’t huge with offerings but enough to choose from that sound good.

We got the biscuit board and the biscuits were just ok. Overcooked a bit and was expecting much better, flaky ones. We also had no side plates on the table. We did ask for some but by the time we received them, we had already used our napkins and the serving plate as an option.

As for entrees, they were overall fine. I got the French toast, my husband got the breakfast casserole with a side of waffles, and my daughter got the chicken & waffles. We were charged $7 for the side of waffles and an extra $1 for the ranch. No mention of an extra charge for the ranch at any point and when we inquired about the cost of the side of the waffles, the server didn’t know. Would not have ordered them for $7. No complaints on the entrees but also nothing stellar to rave about. Just average.

The service we received wasn’t great. We had a lot of questions being our first visit & after a couple, the server seemed put out with us. We had long waits when asking for items like side plates, sauces that were supposed to come with the entrees and didn’t come out with it, etc.

We are very chill people & it takes a lot for me to not give a 5-star review. Overall I’m disappointed and expected a better dining...