L.A. Jackson — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

I have been to L.A. Jackson several times. In the past, I've always had a great time (solid service and an awesome view), but I unfortunately received unacceptable service this weekend.

I went to the bar with my fiancé to order drinks. (For context, I do not drink, but I often join friends or my fiancé if they are going out to a bar.) My fiancé ordered her drink, and I asked for a water. Our bartender clarified, "You want vodka soda?" and I said, "No, just water," to which he nodded. My fiancé and I started chatting, and moments later, our bartender handed over our drinks. Strangely, mine had a sliced lime(?) and a straw. I turned to the bartender and clarified, once more, "Are you sure this is just water?" He responded, "Yep, just water." I joked that this was the fanciest water I had ever seen, and he smiled. My fiancé took a sip out of curiosity, and her reaction suggested that this was more than just water. Still dubious, I asked if it was perhaps tonic water, and he confirmed, for a third time, "It's just water." His tone was somewhat condescending at this point, as if I was being silly for asking so many times. So, after a bit of hesitation, I took a sip. My stomach sank when I recognized the taste of vodka. Once more, I turned to the bartender and confirmed, "Are you positive this is JUST water?" He replied, "Yes... It's just water." My fiancé then chimed in, "It tastes like it has vodka!" The bartender said, "Yes! It's water with vodka." Baffled, I plainly stated, "I asked for just water." Visibly confused, he took the drink from me and finally poured a water. No apologies, just a check.

Frustrated, I walked away with my fiancé (after she paid the check). It could have ended there as an unpleasant misunderstanding, in which our bartender ignored the repeated and vocal concerns of his patrons. But as we grabbed a table by the balcony, my fiancé mentioned that he had charged her for both her drink AND the vodka water that he took back! (By the way, $17 for a vodka water?) My fiancé, simply wanting the ordeal to be over, had not objected to the extra charge. I walked back to the bar with my fiancé's card to ask for a refund.

Our original bartender was elsewhere, and I waited for the next available bartender to handle the issue. He listened to my description of what happened, and went to get the original bartender. The original bartender walked back up, and I explained again: "You still charged us for the vodka water that you took back." Finally, he offered an apology and said he would get me taken care of, which he did.

I went back to my fiancé, and we tried to enjoy the skyline view. But we could not help venting to each other about how we felt so ignored during our service. We were slightly in disbelief at how many times we tried to clarify that what I received was just water, and how many times our bartender confirmed, verbatim, that it was "just water." And on top of that, he still charged us! We left shortly after and agreed that our wedding afterparty (which we had planned to have at L.A. Jackson) will likely take place elsewhere.

I've never before had an issue getting water at a bar. I get that bars can be noisy and busy, and bartenders are juggling a lot, but this was about 6pm on a Friday - it was lively, but not that loud or packed. The misunderstanding could have been easily avoided if our bartender had been more receptive to our repeated questions. And seriously - when you're saying that the drink you're giving someone is "just water," it better...

First ever review below 5 stars and has nothing to do with the establishment. Place was beautiful and had a special vibe to it. The problem was the horrendous DJ. When we got there the dance floor was dead (9/13 11ish) cameras with confirm everything I’m saying if the restaurant wants to fact check. Anyways, 30 mins goes by and me, my buddy and 2 other girls did the most we could with music and eventually the dance floor was swarmed with people in less than 15 mins. Music got a little better for a few songs but then just went to the dirt. We asked a few times if he could just switch it up anyway possible and he could care less. A few other groups of girls who came to dance said the same thing and we asked if maybe he would listen to them.. he shot them down instantly and said “this is the music I like”. At this point we went through 3 songs and couldn’t do anymore. We asked one more time because it was either he changed it up or we had to leave. He ended up getting nasty with us and we decided it was time to leave. The two girls who were dancing with us in the beginning when no one was on the floor were on the same page and took the elevator out with us. There was 3 different groups of girls who complained about the DJ and I would not lie about that to prove my point. The cameras will tell the story and I can gurantee the dance floor never saw no where near that action for the rest of the night. All in all this a place definitely worth going to but please please please be careful with who you hire as DJs as we’re in Nashville and there’s hundreds of people who deserve that shot over this scrub.

Really cool place but below average compared to everywhere else we went because that guy was awful. If you see this guy...

Usually visit Nashville often and I've heard so much about this place. I also kept seeing it on the eater website lists as best patio hands down, etc. The view is pretty good but the general service is horrendous. We walked in and it was fairly open and not that busy. We stood at the bar for a solid 20 minutes without any one to ask or say a word to us. Even as a bartender was preparing drinks for everyone else but us it seemed. We walked away and even returned to the same spot and still nothing. Even when most bartenders walking behind the bar glanced over at us, we still got ignored. Finally we tried the bar out on the patio itself but that was even worse. We finally just sat at a table for another 20 minutes and finally one of the waiters noticed us and took our order. The kettle corn tastes more like burnt sugar than anything else. The bathrooms were messy and had packages of paper towels sitting On the counter, toilet paper strewn over the floors. The drinks were solid but overpriced and there's better cocktail places in town....but honestly the only good thing was the view. For it being in a nice neighborhood in a upscale hotel the quality that I expected was not at all there. I've had better service at bars...