The Old Fashioned Bar & Cafe — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

I will preface this by saying I typically only post bad reviews for a truly disappointing experience (especially when it's a local business)...I couldn't help but feel that this experience needed to be shared - if nothing else to get the attention of ownership to help with operations. I also want to be sensitive to the fact that employees are hard to find nowadays and I'm sure they are experiencing staffing issues. Still...there was not much excuse for the lack of awareness and lack of customer service we experienced here.

My friends and I stopped by Cafe Makai after watching the rock n roll marathon runners run on Saturday morning, hoping to get a quick coffee for our walk back to the Gulch. I ordered an iced americano and my friend, who paid separately, ordered a draft nitro. The front of house woman put us on the same ticket and handed us a number, even though we paid separately. It took us 25 WHOLE minutes to get our coffees, despite no line when we arrived. I began to get concerned when others were getting their nitro coffees ahead of my friend. I asked the front staff if our order got lost and she said no, it's coming up. The whole time we are standing RIGHT in front of the counter and the staff, including the barista. A couple observations from us:

-The front staff could have poured the nitro RIGHT away...we observed her doing many other tasks not related to direct customer care (washing the counter, etc). She appeared to be new, so whatever...it was frustrating, but it was clear she was new. Eventually we asked if she could pour it (which seemed to annoy her).

-The barista was the slowest person I've ever seen work at a coffee shop. I've worked at many myself and I could have pumped out probably 20 espresso drinks in the amount of time she spent staring around aimlessly and trying to locate customers to deliver drinks to.

-There was no awareness of efficiency or of customer service to be found in this coffeeshop. I was so close to asking for a refund for my Americano (all she needed to do was pull a double espresso) if she hadn't brought my coffee out right as I was waiting for my opportunity. Someone, I really don't care who, should have at least checked in on us to see what we had ordered as we were just hovering near the counter waiting for our to-go drinks.

If I were the small business owner of this establishment, I would be in there making sure my operations were smooth and staff were following best practices, and at a minimum, paying attention to paying customers with simple drink orders. Also, one simple change they could make would be to not have their SOLE barista walk all over the store looking for numbers after she finishes making a drink...you've got to get a runner if you're going to choose to give numbers for to-go coffee orders. I really don't understand why they wouldn't just take a name and call the name when the order is ready for to go coffees.

I would say I would go back again if the staff had showed any concern or awareness of how ridiculous the situation was for the customer, but they just had no idea.

That all being said, I do hope the business owner has a chance to assess staffing and operations....

I have salon on Music Row thought we would give Edgehill cafe a break for lunch and try The Jam, I was very disappointed with the food, sandwiches which we got for clients and staff, it was slapped together very bland, tasteless and dry, 4 out of 5 of us phoned Jimmy John's, not only it was quicker service if we took food back but was more tasty, plus there prices were very over priced for 2 slices of bread and thT were as dry as a bone. Tried it twice, will never go back or recommend, oh.. The first time I went I tried to sit and have lunch to find students with a cup of coffee Hogging a 2 to 4 top table, we're I couldn't sit, I dad to sit on an old couch, this is not good for business, as my tea and sandwich cost $17.dollars with tip and I couldn't sit at a table as they were taken up with $5 dollar coffees, not good business,.everywhere else in this town, parking was bad, luckily I am only 2 streets away, so I walked, I wish them well. But the 5 dollar coffee students are welcome to the place.. I will stick with Edgehill...

Held private function here under brand new ownership and name change. It was fantastic. This is the former location of Jam Coffeehouse, so there are some big shoes to fill, and everything was outstanding. They catered our event with a wide array of offerings tailored to our requests. A variety of sandwiches, appetizers, pastries, and drinks (including made-to-order coffee concoctions) all freshly prepared from scratch. The atmosphere is superbly retro with an elegant lightly modern touch, somewhat reminiscent of The Jam. I can't say enough about manager Jess's attention to fulfilling our plan. Preparation, execution, and quality of food were wonderful. On-site barista Michaela flawlessly served up coffee options from the available full menu. This was a private event but the experience has definitely put Old Fashion Bar and Grill on our stop-in list when in Nashville. So whether you're living life at Belmont, Vandy, Music Row, or just passing through, put it on your list too. You'll be...