Church and Union Nashville — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

I selected this restaurant for my family's get together for its trendy upscale vibe and fantastic menu, both did not disappoint. Unfortunately, the staff made the entire experience for my family miserable upon our visit. Our group of ten made reservations for 7:15 PM on a Thursday night. We arrived around 7:00 PM and were seated promptly which was nice. Not long after everyone arrived and sat down we were informed by our waitress Tana, that we would need to put our orders in right away so they would come out in a timely manner because they would like to free up our table for another group and not have things take long. This naturally, confused us because at no point during the evening was the restaurant at any type of full or above half capacity, but we obliged and got our orders in. Most of us chose the three course meal option the restaurant offered as it sounded great.

As a party of ten with perhaps a single cocktail for 7 of us, desserts and a few apps we spent about $65-70 a person. Definitely not something I would consider an insubstantial amount to not enjoy a normal unrushed dinner service. After our drinks and apps came out we were served our entrees and two people were given the wrong item. Naturally we understand that this happens and just alerted Tana to the error, she got frazzled and proceeded to grab them and stormed off. When she came back and told us they had a new ordering system and it was a glitch we attempted to make a joke to ease the tension and she got really exasperated. She continued throughout the rest of the meal to be brisk, terse, and borderline rude. Throughout dinner, we also had to get up to get water to refill our own drinks.

During dinner live music had started to play and the volume was extremely loud. It was so loud that it was difficult to appreciate the artists beautiful voice let alone be able to communicate with each other around the table. We politely asked Tana if the music could be adjusted and she ignored us. Then we found Maddie, the acting manager and asked her about adjusting the volume and were meet with indifference and exasperation. She appeared to go over to the musician and make an adjustment but nothing changed. It became so loud that the large group at the table next us that had just sat down left during their drinks.

We finished dinner around 8:45 PM. Our desert orders had been placed. Personally, my entree unlike the others did not come with the desert option so I had ordered a dessert separately. Our desserts had taken an unusual amount of time, probably around 20-30 minutes to come to the table. When our party's desserts did come out, mine was missing. I had to get Tana’s attention to let her know that mine was missing because she did not check. By the time I had flagged her over, the whole table was almost finished with their dessert. I let Tana know that since my party was almost done with their desert to go ahead and cancel my order. She became irritated, rolled her eyes, and stormed to the kitchen to notify the staff to cancel the order.

At this point, I found her behavior to be completely unacceptable and it was time to get a manager involved. I spoke with Maddie, and informed her on the type of experience we had. I felt unheard and ignored by Maddie as she displayed absolutely no empathy for the experience myself and my family had at their place. She told me that she was sorry we felt that way and was there anything else I needed...zero sincerity.

Overall, it felt like we were hitting a brick wall. We really did get the impression that staff wanted us to leave from the get go. I really hope whoever does read this is someone with authority from the restaurant that takes the initiative to fix the horrible attitudes of the two staff mentioned because the restaurant really does have a great menu and atmosphere if the staff and service dont drive you away first.

Furthermore, I would be more insulted if management copied and pasted the same default reply about not "aligning with their company standards" they have given to all their...

Last Saturday, for an 8pm reservation, we (11 people all together) arrived 6 minutes before scheduled time and was told they were not quite ready.

Perfectly fine, sometimes waits are a little long…

45 minutes later, they were ready to seat us. During the wait we were provided a glass of Champaign and a front row seat to a potential fight within the restaurant. Kudos on the entertainment potential.

When we sat, the server took our drink and food orders. We were prepared and ready! Another large table happen to sit after and near us. This table also belonged to our server. Order written down and in hand, instead of putting in our requests, the server addressed the other table’s needs as well.

It’s fine, maybe he’s really efficient and quick. My assumptions were wrong.

20 minutes later, he returns to our table looking oblivious with a half empty water vase. It then dawns on him that he forgot to put our orders in. He then provides a 7 minute dissertation on why he forgot to put in our orders, instead of running to put in our actual orders. (I have a thing for time). 15 minutes later, the appetizer and drinks arrive, along with the other half of the water vase. The food arrives in timely manner, once the order we put in. Food (at least mine) was amazing!

Food alone, 5 stars.

For the graduate server though, one plate was not 5 stars. He took the steak from my friend while in mid cut and demanded that another one be brought out.

It’s whatever, not my food, not my problem.

For the amount of time we waited, the food was devoured within 10 minutes.

Now let the waiting for more water and the final check begin! As all good servers do, he inquired about desserts and our opinions. It was a clear no on the sweets, based on tone set at the table. He grabbed the plates, made small talk with every individual, except me, something about my aura I guess. We asked for 1 check, “all together”. He went and retrieved the check. The card was provided to him and he returned with the receipt. He then provided a 9 minute audible instruction manual on why and how to sign the receipts.

We left at 10:45pm.. I recommend this place for small parties,...

A finer restaurant or a sports bar? I was a bit perplexed about this place’s identity. Regardless, I would return to enjoy more menu options. It’s also a prime pre-theatre dining establishment, but be prepared for the livelier atmosphere.

The food was thoughtful and varied. My main dish could have been executed with more attention to detail and care for the ingredients and their compatibility.

I had the prix-fixe meal option, enjoying the steak tartare as a starter and the market fish as a main. They served the fish with a farro tabouleh with garlic yogurt and roasted peaches. While the fish was a more obscure type, it was worth the venture, but the dish’s accompanying garlic yogurt was like a finding a pickle on ice cream. It’s bitterness interrupted the remainder of the dish and clashed with the fish’s and tabouleh’s flavor profile. It would have been better to have light lemon-butter sauce, a tangy garlic butter, or caper and and white wine reduction. But the farro (starch) was a hearty choice.

The fish dish’s roasted peaches were cooked beyond recognition, and their sweetness could not be distinguished from other items. They seemed a wasted ingredient, but a nice selling angle. Their take on tabouleh was unexpected and fresh. It lightened the dish and complemented the seared fish. (I regret not remembering the name of the delightful fish with its lobster-meets-halibut like texture.)

For dessert, I enjoyed a bright and tempting prickly pear gelato, which was a wonderful (and only) dairy-free option. However, it needed a crunchy cookie or oven baked item to contrast the sweetness and iciness of the gelato. Notably, the restaurant’s pickings are slim for the lactose-sensitive types here.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere knocks this place down a notch with it’s sports bar vibe. Classing up the food offerings only to pair them with the bar TVs and punchy music seems a miss. At least the Sunday night I was in.

Finally, the bar staff, though pleasant and nice, spoke too loudly to one another in their chummy and colloquial manner and were overly casual and unrefined in their service approach, mismatching the food’s slightly...