Folk — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

My girlfriend and I took two family members here during a week night and had a wonderful time! If you're looking for a trendy, open-concept space with a menu to match, Folk is the place to be. We did make a reservation.

THE ATMOSPHERE: The restaurant is essentially one big room, with the front of it divided apart by the bar. There is wood paneling along all of the walls with the piping, framework, etc exposed at the top of their surprisingly high ceilings. They also have funky sphere shaped lighting which casts soft, warm light across the entire space. The coolest piece of decor in the space is a mural made out of shotgun shells, definitely need to check that out if you go.

THE FOOD: The menu here is seasonal and changes often. The restaurant is small-plates style that are meant to be shared with the table, while also having a few full-sized entree options. We ordered 3-4 appetizers to share and 2 entrees and that was enough for 4 people (and 2 desserts of course!). One of the most fun things to us about the dinner is trying to figure out what half of the menu said as they use off-the-wall, uncommon ingredients for some of their dishes. If you have a pretty open taste and are not picky, this place is a blast to try since there will be several dishes that I'm willing to bet you've never had before. Everything we had was completely delicious!

THE SERVICE: Our server was absolutely great, and very knowledgeable about the menu which was great since we had so many questions and were unfamiliar with a lot of the ingredients. She also made several recommendations based on us telling her what we liked and disliked, and we...

Let me start by saying we are BIG fans of Rolf & Daughters and were excited for their new project. So sad that it was a serious let down.

Customer Service: I read reviews about the poor service, and didn’t want it to be true. Unfortunately we experienced the same issues as some other reviewers. We were seated about 10 minutes after our reservation, which was not a big deal. Unfortunately when our waiter came by, he didn’t introduce himself or say “hello”, so I’m not even sure what his name was. He started by asking if we had any questions and seemed like he was rushed or distracted... We ordered the shishito peppers (great), speck americano plate (not worth it - didn’t eat it), mushroom toast (thumbs up), and blue crab cabbage dish (mediocre). After the food came out, we realized we needed some extra food and refills on our drinks. While waiting, flies kept landing on the meat plate (we were indoors, so I’m not sure why there were so many flies). We kept looking around for someone to help us. We sat for at least 20 minutes with empty drinks and cleaned plates. Our waiter did not come back to check in on us, or ask if we wanted anything else for more than 20 minutes. I was ready to order some wine and main courses, but the insane wait time was so frustrating we were ready to leave. I’ve never been to a restaurant that let us sit for so long without any type of check in. Our waiter didn’t seem to notice or care, so we just asked for the check and peaced out. The communication, wait time, and service was dreadful. One star. Folk you...

I’ve visited FOLK 3-4 times, and unfortunately, the service has consistently been a major letdown. The brunette hostess seems to treat greeting and seating guests as an inconvenience—on our last visit, we stood there waiting while she passed us by, greeting other guests without so much as a glance our way. It was frustrating to feel completely overlooked.

To make matters worse, our waitress was snarky and made a comment about our order, suggesting that two pizzas and two appetizers wouldn’t be enough for three people (we also ordered two desserts). It felt dismissive, especially since we had more than enough food.

While the food itself is good, the poor service overshadows the meal. For the price, I think I’ll take my hard-earned money elsewhere. It’s disappointing because I had high hopes, but the experience just hasn’t been worth it.

EDIT* I have to give credit where credit is due—my recent experience at FOLK was a vast improvement, and I’m genuinely impressed by the changes. After a previous visit where I had some concerns about the overall customer experience, I had the opportunity to speak with a staff member about ways they could enhance the experience. I'm happy to report that FOLK took the feedback to heart and made noticeable adjustments. It’s refreshing to see a place take accountability for past mistakes and actively work to make things right. Mistakes are inevitable, but FOLK’s willingness to listen, reach out, and show a genuine commitment to improving speaks volumes about their dedication to...