Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

To paint a picture of the Jeff Ruby’s reputation, the establishment with only seven U.S. locations boasts some of the highest consumer ratings of any restaurant in Nashville, and the original location in Cincinnati is the highest rated steakhouse in the United States by online reviewers. Even with such high expectations, Jeff Ruby’s did not disappoint this connoisseur of excellent food, one of the greatest dining experiences I’ve had in Nashville!

Exceptional- The Australian Wagyu Ribeye Cap at Jeff Ruby’s is the best steak I’ve eaten in the United States, comparable to the best cuts of beef I’ve had in Argentina and Peru! And the Japanese Wagyu at Jeff Ruby’s sporting the highest possible grade of A5 is a very close second! Both are stunningly tender and flavorful! The Bordelaise sauce is a phenomenal addition! The Otoro nigiri, featuring a rare cut of meat from a bluefin tuna’s fatty belly, is just as fabulous as the sushi I’ve eaten in Tokyo, worth the price of $32 for two pieces!

For side dishes, the fried Brussels sprouts are the best in Nashville and so is the six-cheese mac. However, I’d skip the option of lobster mac as it didn’t enhance the dish as much as I’d hoped. The complimentary sourdough bread from Cincinnati’s award-winning Sixteen Bricks bakery is astounding, better than sourdough I’ve had in San Francisco. And the mushroom truffle butter is the perfect complement to that bread, even for this self-professed mushroom hater.

Very good- The sea bass topped with caviar is exquisite, and the crab bisque has beautifully rich flavors and ample chunks of fresh crab.

Avoid- Even at the best restaurants, there are underwhelming dishes not worth ordering. At Jeff Ruby’s, their famed Collinsworth steak topping features a fabulous Bordelaise as previously mentioned. But the portion with Béarnaise, king crab, and asparagus was disappointing. The cheesecake was only mediocre. The truffle fries are really bad. And the boneless ribeye from Chantel Farms was awful, chewy, tough, flavorless, and certainly not worth the $135 price! I probably should have sent it back, as I’ve had better steaks at LongHorn.

But those disappointments weren’t enough to outweigh the exceptional aspects of the menu, the service, and the atmosphere. Jeff Ruby’s rivals Kayne Prime, Bourbon Steak, and Locust as one of the greatest dining experiences...

TLDR; a Chili's for the rich.

✅ Friendly and welcoming service ❌ Huge miss on cooking basic dishes

This place lacked a lot in terms of flavor from the food. The steaks had a nice sear and came out close to our liking. Not perfect, but close enough. I wouldn't rank them in my top 10, especially for the price.

The mac and cheese had to be the worst I've ever had. The menu states 6 imported cheeses, well they must have imported 6 blocks of the same sharp cheddar. Any other cheeses coming through were undetectable and over powered by the amount of sharp cheddar coming through. My partner stated it tasted like boxed mac and cheese, which seemed appropriate.

The mashed potatoes left a lot to be desired. Calling them "mashed" is a big stretch. They were pulverized beyond recognition into something more of a puree or soup. The consistency and flavor reminded me of baby food or something you'd feed your elderly in a retirement home. Total lack of flavor and texture.

The brussel sprouts had the most originality. They were crispy and flavorful with fatty pieces mixed in from the bacon jam. They had a great amount of fat and salt, something you commonly crave with brussel sprouts. The pickled fresnos gave a nice little kick that helped balance out the fattiness in the rest of this dish.

The butter pie stood out as a unique dessert from the rest. The edges were browned with a nice crumbly crust. This was a very sweet dessert, something I don't mind. The candied pralines were a nice touch that created a good balance of textures with the creamy custard of the pie.

Todd was all-around great and provided excellent service and conversation. I don't think there was anything else he could have done to make our visit more enjoyable. We appreciate his push to have lemoncello available since it's always our after meal digestif.

The ambiance of this place is an interesting one. Others have described it as art deco, I would call it an Applebee's for rich old people. Just tasteless colonialism at it's finest. Also, make sure to check out the holes in the ceiling above the chandelier in the back.

I understand this review might seem a bit harsh, which is why it's getting 5 stars for service and 2 stars for everything else. Overall 3 stars. I wouldn't personally recommend it to others, but please feel free to stop by and form your...

Had the BEST experience yesterday at Jeff Ruby’s to celebrate Valentine’s Day!

My husband has been wanting to try authentic A5 Wagyu beef from Japan for a while now. I was searching for restaurants in the area that served it and happened upon Jeff Ruby’s, boy am I glad I found them!

We made reservations to celebrate Valentine’s Day for their dinner service at 5pm. Not a surprise, but the place was packed when we entered! We loved the vibe of the restaurant. When you first walk in there’s the bar area to the right but the dining area is separate and more laid back. Definitely awestruck by all the beautiful chandeliers throughout the dining rooms, very beautiful.

Service was top notch, as to be expected with a higher end steakhouse. Our waitress was so attentive and quick to get us any requests we had. The other wait staff were super fast at refilling our beverages throughout the night, I don’t think we ever had an empty glass. Definitely 5 star service here.

For our meals, I ordered the Caesar salad and my husband got the A5 Japanese Wagyu. We also ordered a couple sides: Jeff ruby’s baked macaroni and cheese, Poblano cheddar cornbread and the Garlic Parmesan fries.

Everything was delicious! My husband highly recommended the steak. He said it just melts in your mouth - honestly I’m not surprised. The mac and cheese has 6 different types of cheese baked in, and a very thick cheesy top crust. The cornbread was just the right amount of spicy, and not too dense. The fries were good but I think we could do without them next time. Just because they were nothing special, the dipping sauce they come with was good though. I believe it was a garlic aioli.

For dessert, my husband and I shared the carrot cake. Honestly out of everything we had tried for the evening - I think this may have been my favorite! Hands down one of the best carrot cakes I’ve ever had in my lifetime. The cake to icing ratio was perfect and it was drizzled with a warm caramel cream cheese icing which made it even more delicious!

Overall I would highly recommend Jeff Ruby’s steakhouse if you are looking for top notch service and delicious food. We loved everything about our experience and will definitely come back for future dining experiences.

PS - they also have valet parking for guests so definitely recommend utilizing that service...