Jimmy Kelly’s Steakhouse — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

We have dined at Jim and Kelly’s Steakhouse before and after ownership has changed which occurred a few years ago. We always purchase half off gift cards around the holidays to enjoy the meals at this location. I am very thankful that the new owners honor gift cards purchased before they took over and honestly it is a good thing for their business to do that even though they did not get the cash for those cards. This is my first time writing a review but have eaten here at least half a dozen times. My family have tired many different dishes over the different dining times and typically the food is outstanding on the B+ to A+ range. There have been a few items that have missed the mark such as a cheeseburger a few times just very over cooked and try or my JK Beef Wellington which was just not eatable tonight since the puff pastry was not cooked all the way and the pieces sat in the sauce making each bite very gummy. I would highly recommend not getting the JK Beef Wellington as I was really disappointed. I did not say anything to the staff as the room we were in was very small with multiple tables and I did not want to make a scene. Now let’s go over the rest of the meal. We started with 2 outstanding and very strong bloody Mary drinks, iced tea and chocolate milk. The blood Mary’s are an excellent choice to start the meal for sure. Our round of appetizers started with thick cut bacon which is very fatty more like a pork belly with a sweet glaze and Brussel sprouts which they really need to add more to the plate. You really want every think on your fork for each bite otherwise not a great dish. The wedge salad was large and excellent with lots of blue cheese and Caesar salad was top notch. I do appreciate that they are willing to pre-split the salads to make your life easy. The Johnny cakes that are like the bread come with whipped butter but I wish they were just made versus made in large batches and just room temperature. Last was the French Onion Soup which tasted average, not a huge taste of onion but we brought it home and will try it again tomorrow and see if it improves. For dinner Brooklyn really enjoyed the burger and fries which we hot and salty and burger was a good burger. I got the JK Beef Wellington and I again do not recommend that dish to anyone. The New York Strip was cooked to a nice medium rare and seasoned well which paired with the baked potato that was quite large but no salt on the skin of the potato which it desperately need. We added butter, sour cream and cheese to the potato to add a little yummy to it but still needed some sea salt or coarse salt to take it up a level. Last my mother in law had the Duck Roulade which was presented like a 3 star restaurant. The puff pastry has a gorgeous pattern lattice on it and the duck was cooked to perfection but the issue is when putting everything on your fork to eat all you really taste is the puff pastry and the sweetness of the cherry or cranberries. At the end of the meal we typically get dessert but decided to pass tonight but in the past we have enjoyed the banana pudding and a few other options. Overall we really enjoy eating at this location and all the history it offers to Nashville, while not every item is outstanding there are a few real gems. Our meal above cost $320 as an fyi including: Bloody Mary, Iced Tea, Chocolate Milk, JK Beef Wellington, French Onion Soup, Thick cut bacon, The Wedge, Caesar salad, New York strip, Duck roulade, JK Classic Burger (plain burger), Baked potato. We will be back again and look forward to trying...

Sadly a step or two back that will keep us from returning. We have been going to JKs for many years for our Christmas "Date Night", and throughout the year for other special occasions with friends and family as well. The service has always been very good, and our experience with Scott on this visit was no different. The atmosphere is nostalgic and very pleasing. The food and price point have changed a lot with the new ownership. I believe the food has taken a step back and does not deserve the price point they have set. My wife and I both ordered the 8oz filet, and she wanted hers a little more done than one would consider a normal filet mignon. Scott explained that they would have to butterfly it to get it to a medium well, and she agreed. It was over -cooked to the point that it was very dried out, not a hint of pink or juice anywhere, plus she said it was tasteless. Me? I want mine so you can put a bandaid on it and throw it back out in the pasture if you decided to. I LOVED the bleu cheese stuffed filet they used to have, and that was my 'go to'; no matter how much I looked over the menu I couldn't pull myself away from getting that. That is no longer offered, and $6 to put a quarter-sized spread of "bleu cheese crust" on it is not worth it and cannot be considered a replacement. We are not opposed to change, but why would someone remove their years-running best selling entree and charge 20% more for less food when the quality is not there? That being said, my filet was cooked perfectly, cold-blood red center and all.....BUT mine had no taste either. My wife and I split a salad as an appetizer and Mac-n-Cheese as a side with our steaks. The entrees no longer come with a salad and a potato as in the past, and we split the salad and the Mac as recommended by Scott because of the size of each. They were both tasty. We left full, but not tastefully satisfied. Should you choose to get a drink from the bar (as we did) and the entrees/salad/side I have mentioned, you are at $100 per person. Prices alone don't keep me from visiting, but the food and value must come close. Unfortunately, we no longer find this to be the case as in years past. On another note, my wife and I had both forgotten to reserve a table until Monday of this week so we assumed we were out of luck to get in before Christmas. Imagine my surprise when she was able to find a table at prime supper time. In the past, you had NO chance of getting a table at 5:30PM on a Friday for at least 2 weeks; and this visit we observed that there were still many tables available up to our departure at 6:45. Our previous visit was with the old menu and new ownership, and we could tell things were changing (food was par) but chalked it up as a "one off". This visit put it all to rest. I hope the new owner's vision works out for them, but sadly it...

Took my girlfriend out to a fancy dinner last night at Jimmy Kelly's steakhouse in Nashville. The ambiance was nice. Had made reservations several weeks back so we were seated in a nice quiet smaller room sans having to dodge the kitchen and waiter staff to get there! Our waitress was polite and efficient so I was pretty excited that the experience would be worth the way over inflated prices! That's why they call them fine restaurants. They're fine with taking all your money! Lol Oh well that's the price you pay! When it came time to order it was disheartening that they were out of many of the side dishes and most everything was a substitute! Jumbo shrimp were large at best unless you sat one next to a popcorn shrimp "tail'! The Cajun sauce was quite tasty and enjoyable! As were their water corn cakes. We ordered the ribeye steaks called the cowboy. Let me tell you that steak was about as close to a ribeye as a large cut poor grade sirloin from an old cow!! It was cooked to perfection but it was the toughest hardest to cut and consume steak I've ever had at that price point! Best I could tell it either was a misrepresentation or someone was selling them dog food beef! Ie old tough cows! The flavor was non existent! They seemed to pride themselves on only using salt and pepper in their preparation which should have been totally delicious! It wasn't! Couldn't taste either one nor the steak! As I looked around the room I noticed a bottle of Hinze 57 steak sauce on the mantel! That should have been a clue! Never in my life would a great steak need to be drowned in some steak sauce for added flavor especially ones that start at 45.00!! The red wine was quite delicious but the 65.00 price for a 20.00 bottle of wine seemed at least 20.00 too much! We had ordered baked potatoes but instead were substituted with their version of augroutten potatoes! Way too salty and definitely not augroutten! More like potatoes cut into lasagna slices with scalloped potato cheese and seasoning! The desserts were very tasty. The blackberry cobbler alamode and the key lime pie where as you would expect from a fine restaurant! Of course before we left I graciously offered the manager my assessment of our meal. I made it clear up front that I was not requesting anything that I was critiquing our experience in hopes they would do better in the future! I'm not sure how they processed what I informed them and if it will make any difference? I do know that before I ever go back there I'll have to notice a good run of positive reviews! Otherwise we did have a wonderful time. We had nice neighbors and everyone was nice and much fun to converse with! Now it's time to start saving up for next year and I think I'll do more homework before I make a reservation especially if I want a surprisingly good tasting...