The Pharmacy Burger Parlor & Beer Garden — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

We came to The Pharmacy last weekend while in town to see a concert. It was reasonably close to our venue and I'd had it on my Nashville bookmarks for a long time, so it seemed an easy pick!

Located in a cute, slightly more residential area along with a pocket of several other highly reviewed restaurants, parking was definitely a challenge on Friday. We found street parking about two blocks up, which we weren't mad about.

Though several groups were milling about outside the restaurant, we didn't have to wait to be seated. We did agree to take a seat anywhere though, which wound up meaning we sat inside. We were totally fine with that, but I imagine the beer garden is a more popular destination and perhaps that's what others were waiting for.

The interior is quite loud and bustling with activity. Again, not a problem for us, but something to be aware of before visiting. Our service was fairly prompt, warm, and good-natured. Our main waitress was agreeable to us paying as soon as we got our food so we could leave ASAP (concert to attend) and I really appreciated that. We were able to pay at our table via a card reading device she had on hand.

On to the food --

My husband had the double, I had their take on a mushroom and Swiss, bro-in-law got the white oak bbq burger, and sis-in-law wound up with an order of beer cheese and chili fries. Hubs and I both got fries, BIL got tots.

Hubs was the happiest, remarking he enjoyed his burger a lot. I didn't hear BIL say too much about his food though he did express that he liked the tots. He didn't finish the burger but he doesn't eat much beef usually so that may not indicate he didn't like it, plus the portions are very generous!

As for me, I will say I was a tiny bit disappointed in my burger. I liked the soft bun it was served on, but I thought the meat was a little dry. I also wish there'd been a few more buttery mushrooms or gooey cheese to help balance out the relatively dry burger. I got ranch to dip my fries in but it was a little more herby and less buttermilk-y for my preference. That said, the serving size of fries is huge and they were quite tasty on their own -- I really enjoyed the fries!

SIL didn't like the beer cheese and chili fries. She said the beer cheese and chili combo tasted weird together. She can be kind of picky but I wound up trying some out of curiosity and I have to say I agree. The combination was just a little odd -- something about the slight sourness of the beer cheese -- and the chili needed more beef and less tomato, in my opinion, as it was on the sweeter side.

BIL and I also both got phosphates, The Pharmacy's housemade sodas. He got the Rickey and I wound up with the strawberry ginger on the recommendation of our waitress. We both enjoyed these very much! Super bright flavors and the perfect amount of fizz.

I really wish half stars were allowed because this is a comfortable 3.5 for me. I'd be willing to visit again and try other things -- the atmosphere is fun and I enjoyed the service. Our food was decent overall and I can easily see how it could've been great! I'd still recommend giving this place a try for yourself if you're interested and...

Edit: You'll see the restaurant responded to this review and asked me to contact them. I did but they never responded. Clearly, that response is just for publicity and there is no intention of improving anything.

Short version: Most chains like Five Guys, Shake Shack, and Fuddrucker's are much tastier, cheaper, and less rude.

Long version:

Pros: -Interesting atmosphere without big screens everywhere and a great outdoor seating area. -A lot of beer choices on tap that you don't see often. -They make their own sodas like old fashioned pharmacies used to.

Cons: -The service was slow. Even though we were seated immediately, it took them nearly an hour to get three thin patty burgers to our table. After the first 30 minutes or so I even politely (or at least I thought I was being polite) asked our waiter if there was problem and she told me to, "Use your eyes, there are lots of people, we are busy." In fact, there were people in our party who are legally blind and can't see much more than colored blobs but don't worry, they heard the condescending tone and felt bad thanks to that comment.

-The food was bland. This place is known for its burgers and I don't know why. We went in a party of three and two of us ordered medium rare burgers and one ordered medium well. We all agreed that the patties had almost no seasoning and the beef was low quality chuck at best. The only burger with any pink was the medium well done one. A frozen patty from the store taste better and is thicker.

The cocktails are poorly made as well. One of us bought one that tasted like powder lemonade mix with a dash of bourbon.

-The price was high. Honestly, for that part of town the price would be fine but the food and service make it not worth paying for. $11 for a standard burger that you can make better at home with frozen patties. $7.50 for cheap beer that comes out half filled with foam. The waiters have no clue what's on the drinks menu too because every question we asked about alcohol she said she didn't know and had to ask.

Summary: We needed food and were out of time for complaints so we left embarrassed and dissatisfied. I know the manager has seen this and chosen...

From start to finish, employee was rude along the way. First, they don’t tell you that tables are shared with other guests. After being shown our shared table, we asked if we could be seated at a regular flat top instead, but the host and hostess scoffed at me and seemed quite inconvenienced. When I asked if we could sit at the bar while we waited for a regular table, I was informed that customers aren’t allowed to wait at the bar for a table. There are many rules here, it appears, but the employees did a poor job explaining their seating procedure a they spitefully rolled their eyes and sighed at the inconvenience of seating guests at a new table.

We ended up sitting at the bar, and ordering food. However, there were employees constantly sitting or visiting at the bar, joking with each other, and drinking beer between tables. The bartenders even rang the bell behind the bar when they took turns pouring themselves small beer glasses.

We enjoyed the first bites of our decent burgers, but a few feet away, two female waitresses were openly complaining to each other about “wanting to go home because they had runny noses”. After receiving my food, it was pretty gross to hear two employees openly talking about the snot dripping from their nose. We were seated at the bar, only one stool away from the corner the waiters had established as their water cooler zone.

I asked the bartender, who had been drinking, if the chili was the kind that could be eaten with a fork, and he laughed at me a whilst saying “it’s probably easier to eat with a spoon, man” Yet, he ended up only bringing me a fork anyway. Which was strange, since he made an effort to tease me for my fork comment.

The bartender never asked if we wanted refills in our beers, yet continued to pour himself small beers from the tap throughout our seating. He also rang the bell between sips. The beer selection here is good, so we would have ordered a few rounds had we been asked.

This seems to be the type of restaurant that is mostly run by adults in their early 20s who still act like teenagers. East Nashville at its best

April 21st,...