The Print Shop Restaurant — Restaurant in Smyrna

Supporting Local is really important to me. I’m pretty fair to new business. I want our little town to grow. So after a few months of this place being opened I thought… let’s give this a try. PARKING- unfortunately we had to park quite a ways away and walk in the rain to get the back of the restaurant. There’s no signs for entry or direction into the place. I’ve heard through the grapevine that the owner is working on a parking garage for nearby so It’s easy for me to understand that it will take time to fix. SEATING - Along with about 4/5 other couples/families we were left wondering if it was self seating because the hostess was not around. No problem. It seemed like a pretty slow morning and suddenly a rush of people came in that they didn’t expect. SERVICE& FOOD - We waited a good 5/10 min before even being greeted by our server after being seated. I would tell you our servers name but she never gave it. You could tell this was probably her first serving job so we took it soo easy on her. After asking for waters, and a Carafe of Mimosas she took our orders. 5 more minutes went by and she came back to ask if she took our order. 5 more minutes passed and she asked if we would like some waters while we wait on out mimosas. Mimosas were GREAT. Even though they showed up 15 min after ordering. We did order a carafe but that equals out to 4 glasses. We only received 2. Our food showed up next Steak and eggs and the Breakfast fries. Steak was a cheap cut of meat and extremely fatty. It was delicious though. The breakfast fries on the other hand not so great. Chorizo Gravy is an absolute NO! it taste like chili from a can with 2 more tablespoons of salt. The eggs were okay but again the salt was just too much to stomach. When the serve came back to ask how food was and I told her I was unhappy. She offered to get something else. She “had never tried anything they serve” so she wasn’t sure what the ordered dish was supposed to taste like or what else would be good. For a replacement I picked out the biscuits and jam flight. I wish I took a picture for this review but did not. 3 types of undisclosed jam…. And 6/8 biscuits came out. When I say biscuits I can only describe to you the biscuits that the raccoon had in Disney Pocahontas. Tiny, Nilla wafer size, burnt ,canned biscuits. This was the breaking point for me. When a manager came over per my request she asked if she could get me something else and apologized “the food wasn’t up to my standards”. I told her I wasn’t willing to try another dish Brunch or otherwise. She turned to my partner looking at his plate Condescendingly stating. “ It doesn't look like you hated your food”. I also let her know we didn’t get our other two drinks. She explained the server rang up wrong but didn’t offer to ring up the carafe and bring the additional drinks. She did comp our meal. I would’ve been more then happy to pay for the one meal and drinks. I think that she wanted us out though because people were starting to pay attention. CONCLUSION- you’ve made it this far and I’m so sorry I was long winded but it’s very rare I rate a 1 and wanted to explain my reasoning. We did drive Viva La Fresca (2 blocks away) afterwards and got a great cup of coffee and pastry(because I was starving obviously) and it...

Updated review since they have new owners:

We've been to The Print Shop in Smyrna before the ownership change and saw the new reviews and really wanted to love it. I almost feel like you have to order the $21 cheeseburger to enjoy it, as that seems to be what everyone ordered and liked? That and the mussels or something, which we saw someone eating after we'd ordered our food. They're not on the menu.

Ordered an old fashioned with bulleit bourbon, but what actually did I get? Way too much simple syrup, some hybrid citrus that looked like grapefruit, and what seemed like a soaked maraschino cherry... Though I am not sure what it would have been soaked in. I added water to it, and I've honestly never done that in a restaurant. Arguably the worst old fashioned I've had, but I did drink it. Why? Honestly, I needed the drink and who knows what would have come back. It was comical.

We started with 2 appetizers, which we were surprised to be told were on special for half off or something. First, the arancini, which were mostly cheese not rice with a very hard exterior and not fully hot inside. Seemed maybe frozen then refried? The brussels needed salt, which is rare for me to say. The whipped feta from the arancini is what saved half the plate of Brussels for me. I quit eating them when I ran out of whipped feta.

For entrees: I tried to order the Lamb Ragu but was told it was not available and offered the Bison Bolognese instead. The noodles all stuck together and tasted like the pasta water was not salted enough. The sauce was pretty delicious, though not noticeably bison... Could be farmed limitations, which is completely understandable.

My dining companion ordered the 12oz NY strip, which good flavor but there was a lot more fat than we're used to on a NY Strip. She subbed the polenta for the mashed potatoes, which, in a surprising turn of events, were very, very salty. When she ordered, we found out the veg of the day was broccolini, but she asked for a shop salad instead. She said it was bitter, probably from the greens. She dug around and ate all the toppings. Seemed like a spring mix but more bitter than normal, which is odd. Possibly would have paired better with a sweeter vinaigrette.

Other notes: Saw people eating what were clearly off menu specials... Which we didn't hear about. Nor did we hear about the market or chef's choice items. Very nice server, but also probably very new to serving.

There were flies harassing us through our whole meal. It seriously felt like we were eating outside. Not sure if they leave big doors open through long portions of the day or what, but we were not the only ones waving and swatting the air throughout the meal.

Bathrooms were very dirty. The one I went into was not nearly as bad as the one my dining companion went into.

Beware if you're drinking in the back outdoor area. Uneven fake grass with big dips and possibly a hole? We saw a kid...

So this restaurant has a great atmosphere, but the parking lot is in the back. So, we came in the back all the tables were dirty, it was a beautiful day so we wanted to eat outside. We waited 15 mins for them to clean a table. The staff put the tables back in order gave us a few menues then disappeared. Mean while the bar tender looked at our party about 4 times. After waiting another 30 mins. One of my party went in to ask if we could get a server. She said, "if you eat outside you don't get a server only if you eat inside." After waiting 45mins. And hearing that, I instructed my party to leave as this was rediculous. The problem is... I want this restaurant to be successful. Thats the only reason I am leaving this review. I actually brought my wife up there the night before at 8:40 and they said they were only serving appetizers. And all the chairs were put up on the 1st floor. And the door says they close at 11pm. So we left last night. So I figured I would bring my boys up there and 2 of their friends to try it out before i brought my wife back up there. The point is I've managed in the restaurant business for 7 years at chickfila and 2 years at a 4star restaurant. The girl cleaning the tables could have said something, the bar tender could have said something. The girl refilling the bar, could have said something. But no... 45 mins we sat there waiting on a server. There was an order here sign by the bar. But there were people there just getting drinks. So I figure that was for alcoholic drinks. Not ordering off the menu. The parking lot is in the back. So you should have someone greet the patrons as they are coming in. Not a permanent person someone anyone helping other customers. Just greet people and tell them how your restaurant works. Your staff should be more attentive to their surroundings. And speak up if someone is sitting there. When you put you chairs on the tables at 8 o'clock you are telling the world you don't want anymore customers. I can't even talk about the food because after 2 visits. I still haven't been able to order. You need a floating server outside this is rediculous. The bar tender can float when not busy.

You lost a 125.00 ticket. Not sure this is sustainable for you or not. I wouldn't think so.

Do better as smyrna needs cool establishments like this to thrive. If you need more ideas, to make your business better. Let me know. I'm...