Freight House — Restaurant in Paducah

Don't plan on showing up early and sitting at the bar. They won't aloow you to get a drink and stand at the bar unless you RESERVE the bar... Very poor business model. Last time I will be coming here.

Update :: Our party was finally seated - about 10 minutes late of course. I later found out that one of our party had to put a $120/deposit down on the table to reserve it but was only receiving $100 of it back because only 10 of the 12 individuals came to the restaurant. So they decided to punish my friend monetarily for circumstances of other's not being able to make it.

The seating at this place is literally metal lawn chairs. So while you are choking down your slop, your attention can be deterred by the lawn furniture you are sitting on to take your mind off the bad taste of the food.

Dinner : Tasted like microwave food folks, spare yourself the pain.

Time to pay the bill - the server brought us our checks and we handed over the cards to pay.. They bring my card back along with others in my party, but they tell me my card has been declined. I said hmmm, that's odd, that shouldn't be the case. I pull my phone out to check my accounts to see if I have been hacked... No, everything looks fine. So my spouse said, just use mine. So the server takes his card and then brings it back and says no, yours is declined too in front of the whole table. Then proceeds to say everyone else's cards works but not you two.

So we get up to go to where they are swiping the cards.. This lady appears and says - "maybe it's the one star review you left us, maybe that's why your cards aren't working ". I looked at her and said "oh you are denying our cards because we reviewed your restaurant " - now I understand, she didn't run our cards at all, she sought to try and embarrass us in front of our party by coming and saying our cards were declined in front of everyone - but they really weren't, the owner of the restaurant was trying to get revenge, and said I won't be taking money from you since you left us a one star review.

Come to find out, this lady was the owner of the restaurant. I thought maybe she was the food expo or kitchen manager or something, but certainly didn't appear as an owner of an establishment.

She continued on trying to argue with me and I told her my experience upon entering the restaurant and why I left the one star review, which would have been a perfect time for her to say how can we turn this around... Instead she kept on bullying us along with her sidekick.. She took my spouses card and ran it, of course it worked, just as mine would have if she would of ran it initially.

I told her I have never treated my customers the way I was treated there at the Freight House, and by the owner..

Her sidekick then started to chant liar at me... It became so obnoxious the owner had to tell him to shut up.. At this point I was like, is this really happening?? Who legit calls paying customers "liars". Straight to their face because they don't like a review the customer has given..

A few words of advice for the owner and staff of this declining restaurant...

The customer is ALWAYS right... ALWAYS As a leader /owner - it's monkey see monkey do... Very similar to parenting... The employees get their rancid bullying behavior straight from the owner of this establishment.. She allows it to happen and tolerates and even goes as far as to participate. Your customers makes you or break you, you have enough disgruntled customers and you will no longer have a business. When you receive a one star review you should try and communicate with your customer at all cost instead of trying to embarrass and bully them in front of your restaurant. It will never end in your favor if you continue these tactics. Not once did you ask me why I left the review or what you could do to remedy. Instead you sought out a plan of revenge... **To the owner - may I suggest you read the book "Extreme Ownership". By Jocko Willink..... Own your problems and stop blaming...

My husband and I visited The Freight House last night for the first time, as a belated Valentine date night. We agree that this was the best dining experience we've ever had, and want to make it at least an annual tradition to enjoy a meal here for Valentine's Day. This review will be somewhat long, but it's well-deserved.

First off, the reservation process is a piece of cake as it can be done online, so no need to call if that's not your thing. You'll get reminders about your reservation, a notification when your table is ready, and zero hassle or issues when you arrive and check in.

The atmosphere is stellar. The lighting is nice, not too dim but not too bright either, it's just right. The overall feel of modern southern charm is tastefully complemented by local artwork curated by the area's most talented hands. I was equally as struck by the smell though... it didn't smell quite like a restaurant, like a steakhouse or just somewhere with good food. It had a very light, clean almost floral smell. I am not sure if this is the intention, but it seems like it might be, as if to allow more room for the senses to really take in the flavorful experiences of the food on the palate without being tainted or altered by overwhelming scents. It was just interesting, and something I've never noticed about any other restaurant I've ever been to.

There were glasses of water, a full pitcher of water, silverware, and napkins already set at the table for us. Sam, our waitress, was very friendly. She was knowledgeable about the items on the menu, and helpful in choosing a cocktail when I couldn't decide between three that all sounded equally as good. She was just the right amount of attentive, allowing us to enjoy our meal and conversation, keeping our table free of clutter as we were through with our plates from one course to the next, and filling our drinks (without even asking if we needed refills) as soon as she would pass by and see them starting to get low.

Now, onto the drink and food. I ordered The Smoking Gun cocktail, at Sam's recommendation, intrigued mainly by the mezcal - it's usually a tricky liquor, in my opinion, but very enjoyable in a cocktail when mixed properly with other suitable liquors. This one was done right. Although I don't remember most of what made up the actual cocktail, it was perfect for sipping on throughout dinner, very smooth and somewhat fragrant as it was garnished with orange peel and rosemary.

We ordered the smoked fish dip as an appetizer, and it was simply downright delicious paired with the garlic crackers that it came with. For dinner, My husband ordered the shrimp and grits, and I had the roasted duck. We tried bites of each others' entrées, and were equally impressed with both. The roasted duck was visibly plated with care (I'm sure the shrimp and grits were too, it's just a little more noticeable with something like roasted duck), and the flavor of both dishes was impeccable.

We are not dessert people when we go out to eat, but tonight we decided to treat ourselves, and I'm so glad we did. We split the banana pudding, and I dare you to find a better one anywhere, because it was heavenly in itself, but topped with the bourbon "whoop" and toffee crumbles... for lack of a better way to put it, it's bananas how good it is.

All portions were a moderate size. They weren't so big that we felt stuffed to the brim or miserable, but weren't so small that we felt they weren't worth it. Everything consisted of fresh, quality ingredients that meshed so well together as a result of creative genius.

I wish we would've made plans to eat here forever ago, but we love to cook at home and just rarely dine out. As mentioned above though, I think we'll be making room for special occasions at The Freight House from here on out. 10/10...

I have talked about coming to this restaurant literally for years, because I wanted to try Chef Sara Bradley’s cuisine. We drove 1 1/2 hours when we were visiting Tennessee to try this restaurant.

For our anniversary, my husband purchased a tasting menu experience for us. When you walk in, for the tasting experience, you are literally right next to the hostess table, near the kitchen staff at a long high table with tall chairs, the kind that you have to jump up to sit down. If you’re overlooking the restaurant like I was, you can see more relaxing booth/bench seating towards the other side of the restaurant with better more relaxed lighting. They looked more comfortable than we were. I expected a higher level of service and ambience since the tasting menu was significantly more expensive than regular dining.

At the tasting menu table you also sit directly next to other tasting menu diners who are receiving the same courses. If the other diners at the table started earlier, they will be a course or two ahead of you so the fun of being surprised or delighted by a new dish coming out is lost. You know what they’re bringing out and the waiter responsible for serving the table parrots the same script to you that you just heard 30 minutes ago. So, sitting at one long table is not ideal because you and your partner have no privacy. You’re hearing your neighbor’s conversation and they’re hearing yours. We were literally shoulder to shoulder. Bunching all the tasting menu diners together, needs to be redesigned and reconsidered.

The food was good, but not great. I was expecting a lot more. The tasting menu had coconut throughout the entire meal, and notes of sweetness when it didn’t need to be there. The cauliflower dish was delicious, but the PB&J rib was greasy, overly sweet overcooked rib with cornflakes and peanut butter was not good. It made no sense being on the tasting menu. Very disappointing. The experience ended with a chocolate mayonnaise cake with no real flare other than Marshmallow fluff that had been torched. It felt as though the menu selections were based upon the ease of the staff being able to get food out to the diner versus showcasing some of the best things the restaurant had to offer.

The waiter dedicated to the tasting menu table, should be replaced. He is not representing the restaurant very well. In between courses we waited about 15 -20 minutes after dishes were cleared for the next course which made for a long dining experience with 6 courses. The couple near us also commented how slow the service was. In addition, you’re hearing the exact same course description again and again. It felt very transactional and felt disingenuous. There was minimal to no personal interaction with the waiter, as it was a drop and pick up process. All of us were looking for a higher quality experience since we were there to celebrate a special occasion. I think building a mandatory tip into the tasting menu fee, results in the wait staff not being motivated to provide good service because they were getting a good tip regardless. Our waiter was often fluttering throughout the restaurant and too busy to check back on the table. For instance, we wanted to order unique bourbon from their amazing list. Our waiter never came back, so I had to flag someone else down to place our order. They screwed it up and we had to order again. We waited 30 minutes just to get one bourbon order.

All in all, the ambience and the food was ok, again not great. The tasting menu choices toggled from being artfully prepared (Cauliflower dish) to being slop on a plate (PB&J rib). I expected higher quality service/food for what we paid for since it was a Top Chef Finalist and James Beard Award Nominee restauranteur. Fun evening with my husband, but overall...