Jonathan's Grille — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

I grew up in Franklin and have been a long time customer and supporter of Jonathan's. I have also worked in the events industry planning receptions, cocktail hours, and galas for the last 5 years. We booked the top floor of Jonathan's in Germantown for my sister's rehearsal dinner. I didn't take over the planning until a few days before because I live out of town. The few days before leading up to the dinner, Jessie was very responsive and polite and informative. But toward the end of the dinner I found out there were some miscommunication between Jessie, my sister (the bride), and my sister's now mother-in-law regarding the minimum. My sister was led to believe (I guess verbally?) that as long as we hit $2000 then they wouldn't worry about the minimum. Toward the end of the night, the lead server came up to me and told me we were almost at $2k but that the minimum was $2250. I was surprised and concerned since everyone on our side thought it was $2k. I reviewed the contract and asked if she wouldn't mind bringing Jessie upstairs to talk through it. Again, I have worked in the events and customer service industry for more than 10 years now, so I like to approach situations with a can-do, customer-friendly, solutions-oriented mindset. As I started to explain what I had been told about the minimum, the energy she was giving off was far from what I would expect from an event planner. She said "This is a signed contract. You can see the signature right here. Here is the minimum. Right here it says if you go over on time then you will be charged $500 extra. There is nothing I can do." I'd also like to note we had 50 people in the space and 5 people never even got their food(I didn't even have time to eat) and some of the food came out cold. They didn't start taking our food order until an hour into the event, so people were still eating at the time our contract said our event ended. Again, in my 10 years of planning events just like this, I've never had someone actually charge for going over on time. I (the customer) tried to find a solution, and she was the least bit helpful or accommodating. I understand this happened right after the area got hit with tornadoes, so maybe she was just having a bad day, but I have never encountered someone who was so blatantly negative before. I presented the situation to the mother-in-law, and she ended up speaking with Jessie again, and I believe they worked something out. Luckily the bride and groom had no idea so their night wasn't ruined, but I missed a big chunk of the night because I was busy trying to work through this. Needless to say, when recommending venues for my friend's and family's events, I will not be recommending this venue. I will however give a lot of praise to the lead server, Sunshine, and the other waiters/bartenders. They were extremely understanding and went above and...

I entered the establishment and the hostesses and some servers were chatting at the hostess stand. No acknowledgement, so I figured it was open seating at the bar area. So, I sat and waited for 10 minutes to get any assistance. Finally, a server comes and asks if I was waiting on a to-go order. I calmly said no and asked if a manager was available. She said there was. Less than a minute later, a guy comes over and asks if I've been helped. I politely said no and asked for a manager.

The manager comes over and asks how can she help. I stated, matter-of-factly, that I would like some service as I was waiting 10 minutes and no one had helped. She said two of her servers had come to help me. I acknowledged they did AFTER I asked for a manager and after waiting 10 minutes. She asked if someone at the hostess stand stopped me. I said no. She said the hostess was there to give menus and let the servers know a table was seated. Well, they obviously didn't do that yet she kept insisting it was my fault.

She then repeated that two of her servers had come to help me. I reiterated they did AFTER I asked for a manager and after waiting 10 minutes. She then told me it wasn't 10 minutes! I got dropped off by a car service. I know exactly what time arrived.

The manager came off very self-important and accusatory, but asserted she would send someone over despite my complaint. If she felt I was wrong and wanted to support her staff, she certainly could have done that without the aggressive and dismissive attitude she displayed.

Also, I was sitting in the front by an opened, screened-in window. The smell of sewage continuously wafted in. If I had stayed, that certainly would have been unpleasant to deal with while attempting to...

I always thought I didn’t belong. Everywhere I went, I felt like I should be somewhere else. That is, until I found Germantown Jonathan’s and the bartender, gauge. I moved to Nashville for work 6 and a half years ago, and I’ve struggled finding my place in this city. I tried to honky tonks, but I’m well into my 50s now, so I just always felt out of place in “aldeans”. I tried dating apps, and even some local Facebook groups but they were normally awkward and just didn’t work out. I started going to Jonathan’s because I like their ranch dressing. I always sat at a high top table near the bar. One day, as I was wrapping up my chicken tenders, the bartender, Gauge, called me over to the bar. We sat and chatted for hours. I felt like I was talking to my brother again, who sadly passed away when I was a teenager from a rare gastrointestinal disease. What I’m sure seemed like a nothing interaction for him, completely turned my life around. I started going back more. Gauge convinced me to try new foods I had never eaten before. New beers from breweries I’d never heard of. One day, gauge calls me over to the other side of the bar and introduces me to a woman. She had just moved here recently, so I told her I know what it’s like moving to a new city. We sat and talked for the rest of the day until they closed. Gauge kept sending encouraging glances when she wasn’t looking. I walked her back to her apartment and made sure to get her number. This was a little over a year ago. I’m writing this today because tomorrow I’m going to ask her to be my wife, and I hope Gauge will be one of my groomsmen. Germantown Jonathan’s and Gauge turned my life into nothing but pure bliss. Thank you Gauge. You’re a great person and...