SuperNormal — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

I love the new addition to the neighborhood! Here's why:

Locally owned and operated. Nashville continues to experience a lot of growing pains which have resulted in either personality-less, private equity-backed, "high end" food chains from the West coast dressed up as "local" establishments (12 South and The Gulch) or full-on tourist traps (still looking at you 12 South, The Gulch, and Broadway). True investment into neighborhood-centered concepts are few and far between. Why? Because they're even more financially risky, demand neighborhood loyalty and accountability over pandering to in-and-out tourists, and have to fulfill a neighborhood need rather than just being another option.

1a. I can walk there. See above. Not a day goes by that I don't feel eternally grateful to live in a walkable neighborhood where I can safely get from A to B, or SuperNormal as it were, without getting in a car. It only magnifies the experience of the food and atmosphere to have a nice little walk there and a nice little walk home. To those who have complained about the price of the food, one, check the news and see how our economy is fairing these days, and two, I'm not paying for parking, I'm not putting wear and tear on my car, I'm not arriving frustrated because I couldn't find parking, etc., etc. Yeah, I'm totally fine to pay market rate for high quality foods that allow me to skip all of that other nonsense.

The food. I LOVE A SMALL MENU. I'm of the mindset that the larger the menu, the sh*ttier the food :) SuperNormal is simple and delicious. Burgers, fries, hot dogs, soft serve. And honestly, bravo to them for not having chicken or "hot"-style anything on their menu. Nashville is drowning in that nonsense. I don't understand the one or two comments about portion-size? I've eaten there twice and am happy and sated when I leave, not stuffed to the gills and ready to vom.

The vibe. All outdoors, sleek design-meets-backyard cookout. It's normal, but super, ya know? It fits the neighborhood so well. Sylvan Park is this interesting mix of older generations, young families, and newly post-college kids, and somehow the atmosphere of SuperNormal feels appropriate for all of them.

Creative use of space. Also see #1. Figuring out how to invigorate underutilized spaces (this was an empty lot before, I think?) is not only a smart sustainability practice in a city that struggles to think in this way, but it also shows deeper investment on the part of the owners to create something unique for the neighborhood. Could they have found a big lot to build a bland boxy restaurant with 200 parking spots, indoor seating, and a bunch of ugly shrubs for landscaping? Sure. And they'd probably see a return on their investment a whole lot sooner. But instead, they're playing the long game. Just like almost every other restaurateur in Sylvan Park, the SuperNormal folks are trading fast cash and a mid experience for investment in a neighborhood that values supporting small businesses and local operators.

Maybe this is more of a "hot" (har, har) take on Nashville development and the Nashville restaurant scene dressed up as a review of SuperNormal, but whatever. In an economy where everyone's resources are stretched thin except for the ones at the top, this is how I am thinking about where I choose to spend my money. Are you here for the neighborhood, or are you here to extract whatever you can for some heartless group of vest-wearing bros in Silicon Valley? (Apologies to all the well-meaning vest-wearers and SV/Palo Alto residents, lol.) When I spend my money with you, will it go back into my neighborhood? Will it go back into the city coffers where it will turn into money for schools, trees, roads, and more? Will it support a family? Employees' families? Cool. Take my money. I'm so down with that being the new (old?) normal -- the super normal,...

There are many things that I find to be wrong with Supernormal that are indicative of a larger problem with the restaurant industry in this city.

First and foremost are the lackluster portion sizes and prices. My partner and I got two burgers, one order of fries, and a small butter creme soft serve. The total came out to be around $35, with a 15% tip bringing the total cost above $40. Each burger contained a single patty, a faint whisper of sauce, and what appeared to me to be less than one ounce portions of all toppings. The fries were fine, but overpriced at $4. My partner thought the soft serve was the best part of the meal, whereas I thought it was the absolute worst part.

Secondly: the quality of the product. The burgers were milquetoast, superficial, and overall disappointing for being the main appeal of the place. The fries had little flavor aside from salt. The soft serve - I'm personally not even going to describe what it tasted like to me, it was that bad. Now I do believe that the people behind this establishment are purchasing quality ingredients and preparing everything to order, but if this is actually the case, that fact certainly does not transmit through the product.

This point in particular is upsetting because the chef behind the store is Robbie Wilson, formerly of The French Laundry and a James Beard semifinalist. To have such a limited selection lacking any semblance of flavor hurts not only as a member of this industry, but also as a resident of the neighborhood.

Third: the lack of a dedicated front of house service team. Instead, when arriving at the order window you will find two Square tablets prompting you to order from the very minuscule menu. At no point while we were there were we spoken to by any employee. Yet, at the end of the ordering process, you will be prompted to tip.

As a former restaurant manager, I understand the economics of tipping as well as the importance of paying a living wage. But if no one even acknowledges me, or brings anything to my table, or does anything that might warrant a tip - why the absolute hell am I being asked to tip? If the employees aren't being paid a living wage, then that is a significant problem, moreso than anything I've discussed thus far. Customers shouldn't be guilted into subsidizing the pay of your employees.

There is no sense of hospitality in this eatery. If you've noticed, I've struggled with even calling this a restaurant. This is a modernized ramshackle shack for the 21st century, blinding you with a sleek design and minimalist branding, hoping that you as a consumer will continue to pay and tip what you would have if they weren't a wannabe Shake Shack.

All of these points might appear to be pedantic, but this is a growing, concerning norm in our current economic climate. To me, one thing is certain with Supernormal: you are not paying for high quality food and service, you are paying for branding, nothing more. That's going to be the Supernorm moving forward, and I for one won't...

I don’t really think this is a place worth going out of your way for. We saw this place on TikTok and it had raving reviews, but we didn’t have that experience here. To start, we couldn’t even find the place, it’s tucked into a back alley with zero parking. We had to catty corner ourselves into the construction zone across the street. Then, when you go up to the window to order, the music is SO loud, you can’t even hear anything the cashier is saying. Food was genuinely weird tasting. I got the normal burger that has the mushrooms on it, and the mushrooms have the strangest flavor I’ve ever had on a burger. I had my partner try one and he was asking if it was bathed in soy sauce or something, it almost tasted like they pickled them then grilled them too. Super strange smoky, tangy, weird flavor- not a fan. Speaking of pickles, I asked them for extra extra pickles, and the cashier seemed really understanding of me wanting a TON of pickles, but then my burger had ONE on it 😭. I love pickles on my burger, and to give me one, when I asked for double extra is crazy. AND to top things off, when I took the burger out of the box it DUMPED greasy mushroom pickled soy sauce sludge juice all over me. My partner’s food was overcooked and I have never seen him not finish a meal because he’s the least picky person I know and he didn’t eat even half of his food here. He also got the ice cream and it was beyond a mess. Cup overflowing everywhere, no extra napkins to go along, it was so sticky and gross. I get that the entire seating is outside, but it came out of the window in that state. How do you feel confident in your service giving that out? The place was also infested with flies. I do understand, again, that it’s an outdoor restaurant, but there were easily 30-40 flies around us and you couldn’t get a bite of food in without being hounded and having flies land all over your food. The food here is just so not worth it, especially for cost. Two burgers, two fries, an ice cream and drink came out to $44… I do feel like that’s a really steep price especially for what you’re paying for. The drink ($5) was a watered down country time pink lemonade, and the fries (you have to order these separately from the burger, so an additional charge) were cold and way overly seasoned with a BBQ chip-esq flavor. I would not come back here. I agree with others that it’s a gimmicky type place where you come for insta photos and move on. Just try to not get their trash cans in the photos- because they give out trays to use and have no place to even return them so trash just piles up. I’d go somewhere else for a...