J. Alexander's Restaurant — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

So, this is a very specific problem we had: one of our party has severe allergies. They like to go to steak houses because they can just get a steak, cooked, with salt and pepper on it, and know their allergies won't be triggered. They have multiple serious food allergies. We conveyed this to the waiter. We were polite, but specific on how they wanted a steak, salt and pepper, no garnish or anything else on the plate due to allergies. They did explain the situation, and the waiter acknowledged the order, even asking them about what specific allergies they had. When the steak arrived, it had garnish on the plate. Again, many of their most severe allergies are plant related and they had explained this. The waiter said the garnish hadn't "touched the steak" so they didn't have to worry. And that was exactly the wrong thing to say. Would you bet your life if someone told you that? They asked for another steak. The restaurant simply re-plated the first steak and brought it back. And didn't admit it until she asked, because it was brought back too quickly. She said never mind, she didn't want the steak. So the floor manager came over. He was not overly polite, nor concerned. Clearly he wasn't paying attention, because when they finally said never mind, they didn't want the steak, or a replacement, he asked if they wanted a SALAD. They had just explained not 30 seconds before they were allergic to most vegetables. So I don't know what kind of salad he could have meant. And when this was pointed out to him, again, not any real display of contrition on his gaffe. Look guys, I have been a restaurant manager. I get it. We get busy. We are taking care of multiple problems. It's a hectic environment. But when someone is explicit about food allergies, specific on what they want, how they want it and why, it is time to take a breath and LISTEN. Listen because that is what a good human should do. We certainly don't want to hurt anyone. And even if we aren't nice, all the pesky lawyers out there, who's billboards dot Nashville with the size of the verdicts they have won, should make anyone pay attention just because of liability.

Your steakhouse is very nice. It was a great atmosphere overall. And the wait staff were all friendly, and polite, floor manager aside. But ignoring stated food allergies is not a minor thing. Being dismissive when someone explains they have severe food allergies is neither wise nor kind. Failing to apologize and correct the problem, immediately upon realizing the mistake, is also not good business. So lets chalk this up to a teachable moment: When if comes to listening to food allergies, do better. It's that simple. That is a mistake that can kill, and I certainly know there is not a single person at that restaurant that was purposefully malignant or ignorant. Just very lax in attentiveness to something vitally important. Please take this more...

Had very bad experience with them on Feb.16th. 2025. We invited some people to come out and celebrate our Anniversary & join us for dinner. Had reservations prior to our party even coming in, we had to wait an hour before being seated of 6 and were expecting more guest (original reservation was for 10-12 people) Others were on the way and when they arrived they had to stand up and wait for over an hour, then when the other booth did become available they told us that they could be seated at first to find out they still could not be seated ,the waiter was a nice guy but still could not accommodate.

The other waitresses kept walking by ignoring us when we kept saying "excuse me " excuse me"?? Finally, we requested a manager to inquire about why our other party could not be seated and again she took her sweet time of another 25 mins. or so to come see what the problem was. She was notified I'm pretty sure that there was going to be a complaint so I'm sure that's why she didn't bother to put a rush on coming to our table We did get our appetizers but, prior to that they didn't even bring water out or other beverages to the table. The manager was nonchalant and still didn't accommodate our needs. We ended up not even ordering our entrees because of such poor service and the nonchalant demeanors of everyone else who worked there.

I will never go back to this location again... horrible customer service and so very disappointing of all days!! Seemed as if no one cared and of all people the manager!! Jess was her name, and she kept making all these excuses as to why our other party weren't able to be seated or couldn't be seated in a timely fashion, nothing ever got resolved.

Extremely poor customer service, false information was given to us about our reservations to begin with, had we known this initially we would not have wasted our time, our parties that joined us time, and just went somewhere else to begin with. Lastly, they didn't even offer to adjust anything on the food that was purchased& they had the nerves to add an automatic gratuity on the ticket! We won't...

After 25 years of loyal dining at J. Alexander’s/Redlands Grill, I left more disappointed than I ever imagined possible. The food was still great, but the service was shockingly poor and left me feeling ignored from start to finish.

I have been dining at J. Alexander’s/Redlands Grill for over 25 years and this was the worst service I have ever experienced.

From the moment we were seated, we were ignored. Our server, Sheldon, took far too long to greet us, never offered water, and when I asked for it, it never came. After we ordered drinks and an appetizer, he disappeared. There were no refills and no quality checks. I even had to flag down another server to pour water into my empty fruit tea glass after choking on a tortilla chip. Still, no refills were offered.

It felt like Sheldon was purposely avoiding us the entire night. We had to flag down other servers at least six times just to get basic needs met. Food runners stood at the table without placing dishes correctly or clearing space. Twice, salad dressing was placed next to me when one clearly belonged to my sister.

When I asked for the General Manager, I was told they were on an “extended lavish vacation,” which was unprofessional and unnecessary. A manager came over, but instead of addressing the service issues, she offered to remake our food, which I never complained about, and send us home with dessert. This felt like a quick band-aid to get us out the door, not a solution. We were promised two slices of key lime pie, one slice of chocolate cake, and a deconstructed banana cream pie, but only one key lime pie was brought.

The food here is always consistent, but the service on this visit was unacceptable. Being ignored, handed hot plates, and made to feel like an inconvenience is not the J. Alexander’s/Redlands Grill I have loved for decades. I truly hope management takes this seriously because this experience was deeply...