Hal's the Steakhouse - Nashville — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

Six of us were there to celebrate my son’s graduation from Belmont Law. The waitress was pleasant, and the food was excellent. I had the bone-in filet, cooked perfectly. Everyone at the table enjoyed their meal.

However, there were a few service-related issues worth noting. When we ordered appetizers, the waitress suggested we order 4 or 5 sides for the table to share. It was the first time I’ve ordered a steak where there was an extra $6 charge for Au Poivre sauce. More importantly, when taking our entrée orders, she never asked which sides we wanted—even though the menu clearly states that one side is included with each steak. Instead, she recommended we go "family style" on the sides and said she would charge us “a little less” than the standard $14 side price. That didn’t make sense to me, given that sides were already included in the meal. When I questioned it, she ultimately agreed to provide the included sides as listed on the menu.

We ordered three appetizers to share and two sides, all of which were delicious.

Then came the bill. I expected the 20% gratuity to be included as indicated on the menu—and it was—but I noticed an additional charge labeled “Gratuity Tax” for $15.91 on top of the $1,081 bill. When I asked the waitress about it, she couldn’t explain how it was calculated or what it was based on. I asked how long she had worked there (she said two years) and whether anyone had ever questioned this before. She said no, which was hard to believe. She offered to ask the manager and later returned saying, “It’s the law,” but still couldn’t provide any real explanation.

One of our guests Googled it and found that when a restaurant includes gratuity as a mandatory charge, it is considered a service charge by tax authorities and therefore subject to sales tax. Had the gratuity been left to the customer’s discretion, it wouldn’t have been taxed.

I appreciated that she offered to remove the Gratuity Tax, which I accepted. I wasn’t trying to avoid paying—I just wanted a clear explanation, which the restaurant could not provide. That lack of transparency diminished an otherwise enjoyable evening.

Still, the food was outstanding and the overall...

Really wanted to like this place since it’s close to home, but it just wasn’t possible. I ordered, waited about 20-25 minutes for my food to arrive. The steak was ordered medium but arrived very rare, and the side of normal mac and cheese I ordered was mysteriously rung in as a much more expensive lobster mac and cheese. Immediately sent the side back and a few minutes later received a replacement that was cold inside. Sent the steak back and did not have time to wait on another. After sending both items back, I asked for my check. Astonishingly I was charged full price for it all. I asked for a manager, waited 18 minutes, and no one came. Finally I had to flag down another employee to ask again for a manager. A few minutes later a manager arrived and his attitude toward the situation was just not appropriate. He first asked what the issue was as if he didn’t already know after I saw him speaking with my server about it. He then misrepresented the issue as if I had eaten the entire steak then sent it back, in reality I had 3 bites of it before getting past the outside and realizing how undercooked it was. He asks me “is there something we could have done for you earlier before you ate as much of the steak as you did?” At this point just adding insult to injury. There was no attempt made to treat me as a guest or make the situation right at the beginning. After arguing for a few minutes the manager said he would “se what he could do.” He arrived about 5 minutes later with an updated check removing the steak. I find it unreal that I had to have confrontation and waste 40+ minutes just to get these guys to make any effort at all to fix their own mistake. There are clearly major training issues here in regards to hospitality and customer service. I’d...

We loved Hal’s

I had the Lobster Le’beaux and oyster. I lovvvvveeeeddd the lobster. My boyfriend liked the oyster, I don’t care for fried oyster so he ate it. He also ordered gumbo and loved it. Says it’s in his top 3 favs of all time.

I had rack of lambs for my entree and loved it. That wine sauce or whatever that sauce was complements it well. My new fav lamb chops in Nashville because they weren’t gamey.

Matt ordered the NY strip and I loved how flavorful it was, very well seasoned. He said Hal’s is neck and neck with Jimmy Kelly’s but I liked Hal’s better.

For sides we ordered Lobster Mac & cheese and the creamed spinach dish. Matt loved the mac & cheese. I didn’t care for it, but we realize it is because I just don’t like truffle butter.

The spinach on the other hand was to die for. It was so good that I kept it as leftovers and ate it yesterday with chips and tacos. Some of the best creamed spinach we’ve had in town.

Drinks were good and strong. Dessert was good it reminded us of McNamaras in Donelson. We had the bread It was voted one of the best Irish restaurants in the country.

Customer service was top tier. All of the staff was friendly, and our waiter was extremely knowledgeable and helpful in helping us make a decision. I ordered a lemon drop and he let me know that there were other flavors and options which I really appreciated. One time he brought it out with sugar on the rim because he forgot that I said no sugar, but I told him that was OK and he still took it back Anyways and got it fixed so I really appreciate that as well. Overall, we had a wonderful experience and will definitely...