Pelican & Pig — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

It was our friends birthday so we wanted to take them out for a nice dinner. They actually recommended coming here. After dinner tonight they also agreed that they won't be coming back.

When you first walk in you can smell the wood oven and it is fantastic. The restaurant is smaller and more intimate. I really wanted to like this place. The menu is smaller. It is more small plates/shareables which is actually my favorite style. We love sharing plates and trying as much food as possible. We ordered 6 different snacks/shareables and 3 entrees.

We started out with the beef tartare and the panzanella. Both of those dishes were great. Next was the sweet corn ribs. It is corn on the cob cut and cooked to resemble ribs. It was interesting but it was also good. I'm not sure if I would order it again but if someone gave it to me I'd eat it again.

Next we had the brussels sprouts. This is where it started to go down hill. The brussels sprouts were burnt and soggy. I'm not sure if they're made ahead of time and then kept warm until they are being served but they were terrible. We all tried one bite and that was it. Next was the cauliflower. Again, burnt. It is pretty much a head of cauliflower that you are served so the outside was burnt but the inside was not cooked. The cauliflower itself was bland except for the burnt taste. Whatever sauce was served with it was a miss as well. Our next plate was the roasted potatoes with I believe malt vinegar. Once again these were burnt and soggy. I'm not sure how they manage to burn veggies and still make them soggy but they accomplished that multiple times. I think the box of salt must of spilled on these because they were loaded with salt. I love salt and it was even too much for me. The last shareable we had were the carrots. Again, they were burned and soggy. We did not finish these shareables. The only ones we finished were the beef tartare and panzanella. Which the beef tartare didn't have to bee cooked so maybe that's why we liked it because it was not burnt.

Finally our entrees were served. 2 of us ordered the pork and two people split the ribeye. My pork was pretty good. It was moist and had a decent flavor. The other pork was completely dry. I ended up splitting my pork with my friend. The ribeye was absolutely disgusting. It was chewy and had an awful flavor that non of us could figure out. Also the crispy onions were just burnt onions.

Our server, Danielle D seemed to be offended when she asked how the food was and we were honest with her. She didn't really say anything, almost like she didn't know what to do. After we told her most of it was terrible she got an attitude with us. We did not ask for anything to be taken off of our bill, or try to get a free meal. We simply were giving honest feed back . For the record we did not have anything removed from the bill which was fine and I still tipped 20% so there should be no complaints from her.

We did order a lot of food so I understand its tough to bat 1000 and have customers like every single plate. But to have the majority of our food be burnt and taste terrible was a bad experience. I like the concept of this restaurant and the wood over but the execution tonight was not there. It seemed like the chef did not understand the difference between having a little char on the food and burning the food. I owned a restaurant where we cooked with wood so I understand it can be tricky to manage the fire and cook the food properly. But don't send out burnt food. Maybe it was an off night but this is not a place I would spend over...

We decided to come here tonight after some friends recommended how great this place was… however, after my experience tonight I can assure you I will not be coming back. They also agreed that they won't be coming back as they were shocked at how terrible the service and food was.

The ambience of the restaurant is nice… It smells like a Woodfire fit through the place and an open kitchen concept which is neat. The menu has only a few items. It has more small plates/shareables which is actually my favorite style. We love sharing plates and trying as much food as possible. We ordered 6 different snacks/shareables and 3 entrees.

Some of the shareable we got included: corn on the cob cut and cooked to resemble ribs, BURNT brussel sprouts, BURNT roasted carrots, and BURNT cauliflower.

The brussels sprouts were burnt and soggy. They were soaked in an apple cider vinegar… And had chunks of cheese and soggy apples included in the dish. It was a really awful combination and tasted terrible especially because the brussels sprouts and apples were burnt. We all tried one bite and decided it was so bad we needed to send it back. The cauliflower itself was bland except for the burnt taste. Whatever sauce was served with it was awful as well. Didn’t eat more than a bite of that and sent it back also. Our next plate was the roasted potatoes SOAKED in vinegar. Again when our waitress Danielle asked how everything was and we gave our honest option she coped an attitude the remainder of the evening. The last shareable we had were the carrots. Again, they were burned and soggy with very little flavor. We did not even attempt to finish a single shareable. As the burnt taste overpowered any flavor that could have been recognized in these dishes.

We also got entrees but they aren’t even worth mentioning because the quality of the meat was so disappointing it was hardly touched as well.

In addition to the food being disappointing the waitress was extremely disappointing too. I’ve worked in the restaurant business and served people over the years. The way she treated our entire party was unprofessional and completely inappropriate. Her mannerisms changed the second we made a comment about the food being BURNT. After she ASKED how the food was tasting. If you don’t want an honest opinion don’t ask.

Despite that, she still received a 20% tip. This place will never get my business ever again.

My advice, don’t bother coming here unless you want over cooked, burnt food, terrible service and to smell like an ash tray...

Pelican & Pig: The Fastest Way to Waste $200 and Your Patience

My boyfriend and I made the mistake of coming here Saturday night to celebrate our anniversary. We had a 7:45 PM reservation but ended up standing at the host stand for 20 minutes without so much as eye contact from a single employee. At that point, we should've taken it as a warning sign and left.

When someone finally noticed us, we were shoved into a dark corner like they were hoping we'd forget why we came. Twenty more minutes just to get water, thirty more minutes before anyone bothered to hand us menus. You'd have an easier time getting served at a gas station at 2 AM.

My boyfriend ordered the fish, which was apparently a bold choice because the entire kitchen was falling apart. No one in the restaurant got fish. It became painfully obvious that the kitchen couldn't deliver, but instead of being upfront, they waited another 30 minutes to casually mention there was "an issue" like we wouldn't notice.

Meanwhile, we watched other customers stand at the host stand for 15-20 minutes, get ignored, and eventually walk out. If you're so short-staffed you can't even seat people or cook the food you advertise, maybe just close the doors for the night instead of scamming paying customers. Saturday night was an absolute embarrassment, and anyone involved in it should be ashamed.

I promise you, I'm going full Paul Revere with this experience I will tell everyone I know to steer clear of Pelican & Pig. Loudly.

As for the drinks? Uninspired, weak, and barely drinkable but at least they distracted us for a second from the growing sense of regret.

An hour and a half later, we finally received our steaks. Mine, ordered medium, came out cold, rare, and sad like someone threw it on a plate after finding it under a table. For a "wood-fired" steakhouse, getting a hot steak shouldn't be a once-in-a-lifetime event.

By the time we dragged ourselves out the door $200 poorer and angrier than when we came in -- we agreed we would've had a better night at Chili's. And not even a good Chili's. Any Chili's.

This place isn't just poorly run it's actively insulting. Between the nonexistent service, ice-cold food, and complete lack of professionalism, Pelican & Pig should be absolutely humiliated to charge what they do. Would I come back? I'd rather walk barefoot across a highway. Save yourself the time, money, and secondhand embarrassment. Go literally...