Noir Kitchen & Cocktails — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

We were in town from Atlanta, we wanted to try local restaurants, especially black owned local restaurants, so we were excited to find this restaurant. The parking is a bit confusing, but it’s is validated. Upon entry the restaurant was packed, however getting checked in and getting a table was a bit chaotic. The hostess desk was unorganized and unprofessional as the two hostesses was going back/ forth about seating and other employees came to the hostess table in the middle of them trying to find a table for us discussing an iPhone charge. The two hostess went back/ forth for about 5 minutes and then begin discussing the iPhone charger with the other employees for 2-3 minutes; they acted like we wasn’t standing there. My friend was immediately ready to go at this point.

The table area is very packed and over crowded. The whole time we were sitting, we were ducking and dodging being hit by employees with food and drinks along with other patrons. I understand restaurants want to maximize patrons, but the tables are way too close. The atmosphere was nice. They had R&B music playing with a saxophone player. The saxophone player was a bit annoying as he was walking around playing as ppl were eating and food was getting ordered and delivered; honestly there wasn’t enough space for him to be doing that.

Overall, the food was delicious, however the portion size does not match the prices. Our waitress may have checked on us once and we had to ask for refills on our drinks.

Here’s biggest issue, the restaurant automatically charges surcharges and an automatic 12% gratuity, which was explained to us, so we tipped the waitress extra not knowing that gratuity was already added. Our waitress did not print out a hand receipt, she was using a device and quickly strolled through when showing us the total. We asked her about the prices and tips and she never disclosed the surcharges and automatic gratuity. I personally emailed the receipt to myself from the device. After noticing the additional charges, I called the restaurant. They are having major phone issues. I could barely hear the person talking. The manager rectified the situation by giving us our additional tip money back, but it was an inconvenience for us to have to drive there again. The waitress also put on our ticket that we were a party of six and we only had five. We had three children with us, which was fine, but there is no kid’s menu and I wouldn’t suggest taking children under the age of 16; it’s just not a place for them. This restaurant is for adults or older teens.

The food was delicious and if I was in Nashville again, I probably would eat there again, but maybe sitting at the bar our outside. I now know that there’s an automatic 12% gratuity along with surcharges. Lastly, one of the outside seating areas was closed both times that we were there, which could have decreased wait times and the over crowd. I would also strongly consider moving the hostess table outside because it a very tight space at the door, it’s too close to the bar, and you don’t know who’s been helped or waiting to be seated; it’s very over crowded at the front entrance and...

My friends/co-workers invited me out to go try this place last night (11/25) for the first time. We love supporting black owned businesses. Our experience went sour right at the beginning. We arrived around 7:45-8:00p.m. The host was lovely. We decided to sit at the bar, at first. We received no greeting, wasn't told to use the QR code to see the menu, the bar tender (woman with blonde braids) slammed 3 cups of water in front of us, didn't offer to open the Pellagrino water that my friend ordered, didn't ask if we'd like to start a tab, nothing. She never spoke. She looked like she already had an attitude and didn't want to be at work. There were 2 other women working the bar with head phones in, not offering to assist, etc. We finally placed a drink order. We literally watched this woman for a good 5-10 minutes before she even started to make our drinks. At that point, we decided to get a table instead, to see if service would be faster, in a sense. We had to cancel our drink order at the bar because we were told we couldn't transfer it to our table, even though she never started to make either of our drinks... We sat at our table for about 10 to 15 minutes before someone noticed us. One woman took our drink order (which still took forever to receive), and our server wasn't even notified that she had another table. She quickly wrapped up what she was in the middle of so she could get us started. I didn't get her name, but our server was great. (Lowkey wanted to convince her to apply at our restaurant). She told us her favorites and her recommendations from the menu, and we ordered some great choices. In the middle of us ordering, another guest interrupted to tell the server to close her check. Very rude, but our server handled it quickly. Food was delicious, even the chef came out to check how things were going. But it did take forever to come out. We started eating around 9:20-9:30. It wasn't busy there at all. We received our salads and entrees at the same time, instead of them coursing it out. There was no room on our small square table for all of the food, our drinks, and the preset plates. With us being in the restaurant business ourselves, we made the best of it. The drinks were weak. I got the drink with the peach cognac and it tasted like straight up juice with a splash of alcohol. I'd strongly recommend people to go try the food here. It's very flavorful, large portions, and filling. Maybe get the food to go if you don't want to deal with other guests that are loud, rude, has tacky behavior, or could ruin the experience for you. They're was a large group there whom were extremely loud and inconsiderate of other guests. I personally wouldn't dine here again, but I'd most definitely place a to go order and give the kitchen a fat ass tip for how delicious...

So here are some constructive criticisms: microgreens for garnishing is a cop out. and if you are going to use them and especially pictures for your menu, try not to use old microgreens that have started to yellow. i can instantly tell whoever cooked the fried food in your review pics and on your menu that they are overfrying them to oblivion. and the coloring isnt consistent. so either someone is tampering with the oil, you are using old oil, you arent using a timer, or whoever is cooking back there has no idea what they are doing. most likely a combination. it is filet mignon not minion calling it crÉme cheese is pretentious and unnecessary your fried seafood spaghetti picture is ATROCIOUS. every single plate has a different sized portion. CONSISTENCY IS KEY presentation is the first thing your guests will notice and it looks like someone still in culinary school is just slopping together plates back there. Hire a real chef the comment for the microgreens goes the same with using those tacky edible flowers. if you know how to cook correctly, you dont need to use such corny methods. the picture of your egg rolls are a testament on where your cooks or chefs skill set is at. there should absolutely be not such a huge air pocket when opening those. they should be filled from edge to edge. there is a picture of your fried salmon bites : again, use a little bit of a finesse and learn how to toss things correctly. someone literally just dumped seasoning on two pieces and called it a day and that is some mickey mouse technique. the collard greens should be cleaned and trimmed off the stem. this also shows the level or lack of professionalism. your cornbread looks like it was made using a mix those poor lamb chops. overcooked and drowned in sauce to cover for the mistake. hire a real food photographer or take some lessons on lighting and presentation. nothing looks appetizing. over cooked scrambled eggs on your brunch photos gotta go. if you cant even cook eggs right, there is no hope. your bone in steak picture looks like someone just threw it on a plate after leaving it in on the grill too long. respect your product! it is clear that the idea of "soul food" has clouded your judgement on how to eat right. Slow and low and with love and passion is the only way and it is clear whoever made the food is just there to make a quick buck, wants to be called a chef, and does not care at all about their craft.

ownership: i know these are harsh truths but it is the reality in those pictures and it is truly sad that people would rather lie about their experiences to "support black communities" than rather be honest and actually do something to support you...