Old Hickory Steakhouse — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

Ok, I have been to a lot of good restaurants and some not so good. I have given great reviews for the Chef Fearing's restaurant in Dallas, the Drake in Oklahoma city, the Brix in San Francisco, The Wild's in London UK, Canebrake in Tulsa, OK, the Stinky Rose in LA, Torino's in Albuquerque, Kelly's Fish Monger in Draghada Ireland, or THE FORT in Denver. But the Old Hickory in Nashville, does NOT deserve to be listed with such company.

First off, the waiter was very snooty and made me feel like I was a burden to him, because I was a single diner. I gave this guy every chance by idendifing myself as a Chef, and asking him what specials would HE recommend. His reply, "I dont know, let me get the Chef out here." His reply was the same when I asked him about the vintage of their wine. Now the Old Hickory is a top billed Fine dinning restaurant in a Convention hall/ Hotel. This was not some tourist trap, this was a top tier restaurant, a place where service and KNOWLEDGE equals the price of the food.

I started off with a Steak Tartar with Poached egg. Very nice. Next the main course of a 18 oz. Porter House. Asking the waiter what cut of meat it was, he THOUGHT it was choice, BUT, this piece of meat was barely select cut. It was so tough on one side, I had to spit the meat out. The sides I ordered were split in quality.

I was very impressed with the creamed spinach with kale served with a poached egg on top. But the Asparagus came out cold, and was suppose to have a lemon vinergerette But in actuality, it was only a little Lemon zest and vinegar.

I exchanged my Porter house for a Fillet. But I have to tell you. The fillet at the Stinky Rose in LA, was 10 times better. Again my waiter was partially attentive, but looking at me as a burden. This after I ordered a $125 bottle of wine. I do have to say, the wine was good, and he knew how to open it. Just lacked any knowledge or ability to guide me as a diner. He was nothing more than a order taker, no different from the waitress I had at Denny's this morning.

Then came the Cheese. The Cheese steward, was by far the most knowledgeable person I had yet met at this restaurant who knew her job, and knew it inside and out. She suggested several cheese's to me, but the one that blew my mind was the Kunnic with Honey comb from Nettle meadows. But after this, I wanted to get away from my server and thus sat at the bar. Here I also met two gentlemen who knew their whiskys and ports.

Now listening to the various waiters, assistant managers and bartenders I discovered this places problem. It seems that the Marriot sub corporation that runs the Gaylord chain Hotels has decided that Chefs and Sous Chefs are NOT needed.

They have one Executive Chef that only acts as a ordering manager, and the kitchen lines are run by senior line cooks. None of which have any creativity or training. And the Executive Chef is fairly Raw, right out of Culinary school. This Marriot sub corporation does this so they dont have to pay for quality, since everything is already at a 500% markup. They have been living off of their reputation they built from way back in 1977. Even the other waitstaff and Bartenders, I heard say, They would not eat here.

At the end of the day, if I am spending top dollar for a meal, they had better damm well deliver on the goods. People who think this places is great are those fooled by large portions over quality. And hell, the worst English waiter, in the poorest section of south London, would have been an improvement.

I give the Old Hickory a...

Anyone wishing to visit this establishment, I would wave them off, and recommend McDonald's over the atrocities that are served here.

I was here with a veteran organization as a private party. This establishment set up a custom menu for our large group of twenty seven people. The initial appetizers were satisfactory, but it is hard to mess up cold precooked shrimp. The salads were very good, and we had three to choose from. Two of them were unique, but the third was just lettuce and ceasar dressing. In fact one of the gentlemen that accompanied us had certain diet requirements (gluten intolerant), so the chef sent out THREE leaves of romaine lettuce with a side of ranch. No other vegetables to speak of. The main course was the option of a chicken, grilled salmon or a filet mignon. No one ordered the chicken, a few ordered the salmon, and the rest ordered the filet mignon. When our food was carted out to us there was no organization to how they dispersed the orders. Only one or two received the proper prepared steak. Most of us received what closely resembled that of jerky. When addressed to the staff, the staff replied with "The light that comes through the skylight is altering the color of the steak. Yours sir, is medium." Mind you that the weather under the skylight was a clear blue sky in the early evening, so the sun was still up. You can not get any more natural light than that. The table across from me was handed the same excuse, but they blamed the recessed lights that were above them. Mine was so well done and dry I had to dip it in water to chew. Needless to say we all left hungry and went elsewhere. To accomodate the gluten members of our party we ALL received a gluten free chocolate cake about the size of a folded dollar bill and about a half inch thick with one raspberry. No one finished the desert, and most didn't even try it. They charged us $90 per person and that meal. I would not have traded an MRE for that meal, and that is saying a lot. It also surprises me that they don't follow their online reviews. Maybe they rely on the customers of the Grand Ole Opryland for business, and do not care for...

Ambience is beautiful- glass ceiling, lovely lighting, music. Food is overpriced and underwhelming. We were prepared to spend what we did for the special occassion (final bill just over $500 for 3 of us), but it wasn’t a high-end experience.

Regarding the hot food, they changed their menu last week (May 2018). Taste was just okay; and, nothing was served hot. Lobster bisque was fishy smelling and tasting. Filet was just ok, ribeye was good, but neither hot. The add-on side sauces - don’t bother - they were left uneaten as they were just ok, and again not hot (blue cheese fondue and the Bernaise). Potatoes were slightly warm and bland, as was the asparagus (not sure if it being served cool was intentional). Desserts: creme brûlée excellent - the only outstanding part of the meal. Coconut cake very dry (like it was a week old). Cheesecake presentation was nice.

The service was fair. The waiter was aloof. He pushed “the best steak” in the house ($125) and repeated if we split it between 2 of us, it’s the same as ordering two steaks instead. He should check his math on that. Told him there was a birthday at the table. Didn’t matter, they didn’t do anything - didn’t offer a piece of cheese, chef treat, or dessert...nothing. Whatever, it’s not like we paid that much for dinner so we could get something free, but it’s a nice touch when it’s done elsewhere.

Though it was clean, the tablecloth was heavily nubby/pilled everywhere and in desperate need of maintenance (shaving) or replacement. It was so pilled it felt like crumbs under the arms. It immediately betrayed their message of superior.

The waiter can do a marginal job and be rewarded handsomely just because of the 20% tip math. So, they don’t have to try harder. They’ll succeed just surfing in the Opryland’s grand tourism wake.

Conclusion: go for coffee and creme brûlée- or for a business dinner -but not a...