The Nashville Chop House — Restaurant in Nashville

Three visits later, we went from huge fans to "hard pass". When we first arrived on trip 1, we thought, "Let's have a drink and bail" because the initial impression is deceiving. We thought it was just another bar. We decided to stay and were greeted graciously by the bartender and owner, who was at the bar. They explained in detail where they sourced their meat and how much pride they took in their meals. We opted to share the 8 oz filet, a wedge, brussel sprouts, and mushrooms. The wedge came out first, as expected; it was huge and delicious. The filet arrived cooked as we had ordered it, and without question, it was one of the best steaks we've ever experienced anywhere in the world. The sides were also delicious. Now, while this is an upstairs hotel bar-type restaurant, it isn't cheap nor should it be. If you are going for atmosphere you will find better, but if you're going for a high-quality food experience, this is the place. Visit #2: it’s been a couple of weeks since our first visit, and our next time was not nearly as good. The mushrooms were terrible, we had to send them back and they came out worse than the first time. The steak, while tender, was overcooked. The server asked one of our party members, “Do you care how it’s cooked?” when he ordered a hamburger. The salads were room temperature, which they should’ve been colder. It was not nearly the experience we had the first time. Also, the place had a really bad musty smell that made the experience less than desirable. Trip #3: We had friends from out of town and thought we'd stop in for just a drink. Not paying attention before, we noticed the carpet in the lobby and leading upstairs to this restaurant/bar is disgusting. Filthy beyond imagination. A girl at the top greeted us (putting her phone down) and we told her we were here just for drinks and she pointed toward the bar. I asked if the restroom was downstairs and she said yes, I went down and they were locked. She was right, there are restrooms downstairs but there are also restrooms upstairs too. Ugh. We ordered two house cocktails (not top shelf) and one beer and the bill was $44. Seriously $19 per cocktail. This isn't New York or Miami. Unfortunately, the good steaks cannot overcome the other issues the place has against it. Smells bad, looks bad, lack of attention to detail and...

Our food was disappointing, especially considering the prices that were charged. The red sauce with the “rotational pasta” tasted like plain tomato sauce from a can to me with no additional flavor whatsoever and the fettuccini noodles were undercooked. Also, the chicken pieces accompanying the pasta and red sauce were small chunks that had the taste and texture of boiled chicken rather than grilled. The “charcuterie board” appetizer was a small cutting board with approx 2 ounces of thin, fatty meat, maybe 9-10 total small cuts of block cheese, some sweet nuts, some strawberry jam, and a few raspberries and blueberries and strawberries and some stale crackers. Trying to keep the flies in the room, which there were quite a few, off of this board eventually proved impossible to do and we weren’t able to eat much of the tray. The server was aware of this and took the board but didn’t offer a replacement or an adjustment of the charges (this appetizer was an unbelievable $40 charge for what amounted to maybe $4-$5 of actual food at best!). The “shrimp cocktail” consisted of 5 decent size shrimp that were apparently pan seared in some kind of buttered herbs and were served warm and not fully cooked (one piece was mostly raw) but were mounted on the rim of a traditional shrimp cocktail dish along with the cold cocktail sauce. Warm shrimp do not belong as part of a shrimp cocktail. I can only assume they didn’t have any fully cooked, chilled jumbo shrimp for this overpriced appetizer ($20 for 5 shrimp is ridiculous). Furthermore, my wife took 2-3 bites out of the “chop house chicken sandwich” she ordered and couldn’t eat anymore. She said it didn’t taste very good and the texture of the chicken wasn’t like that of normal grilled chicken. Her Mac and cheese was a small side dish (half cup maybe) which was made with a white cheese and excessive butter (more butter than cheese it seemed) and after a couple bites was left uneaten like the chicken sandwich. We were not impressed with the food or the atmosphere of this overpriced restaurant and do not plan...

Disappointed and Underwhelmed – Not Worth the Price!

In honor of my daughter's college graduation, we wanted to enjoy a nice meal with our family of seven. We had a late reservation (all that was available, at 8:30pm, and only 3 or 4 other tables had guests at that time). The hotel in which the restaurant is located is quite run-down and in need of a facelift, and the Chop House, located in a one room area that also has a 70's nostalgia feel, also does not present itself as a fine dining experience.

The restaurant clearly wants to present itself as a "nice" steakhouse, but the execution missed the mark in several ways.

First, at this pricepoint, we expected a lovely table and seating, not cheap tables and chairs with old oak trim and ceiling fans more suited to a bedroom apartment.

More importantly, the food was a real letdown. We ordered our steaks medium, only to receive them completely overcooked—dry and totally lacking the pink center you’d expect. At a steakhouse, this is a fundamental failure, especially at over $50 each. With three very disgruntled steak lovers, but with a wait that was well over 45 minutes, we were not about to wait another 45 minutes for a re-do.

To make matters worse, the pricing felt opportunistic. We weren’t given menus with prices, and instead were told to refer to a chalkboard where prices had been written in—clearly jacked up to take advantage of families celebrating graduation. We don’t mind spending nearly $500 on a truly exceptional meal, but when the food and service don’t even compare to what you'd get at Texas Roadhouse or Outback Steakhouse, it leaves a bad taste—literally and figuratively.

We came in ready to celebrate and treat our family to something special, but walked away deeply disappointed. While the waiter was very friendly, overall service was slow and not attentive to the table. Unfortunately, we won’t be returning or recommending Nashville...