Circa Grill — Restaurant in Thompson's Station

What happened to Circa? My party arrived for dinner last night to celebrate my father for Fathers Day. We were sat quickly and the sweet hostess immediately poured us waters.

That was the end of the Circa service we are accustomed to. We ordered Circa cocktails that we are familiar with, and they came out terrible. We couldn’t drink them. I want to be specific, the drinks were either waaaay too strong or watered down, no in-between. Again, we are very familiar with these cocktails and have enjoyed them may times before, last night they were clearly rushed. Bartenders will know what I mean.

We ordered appetizers…the duck pot-stickers smelled and tasted like they were forgotten and left in a smoker for a week. I mean they were bad. The overwhelming smoke flavor they added completely masked any hint of duck or anything else inside the pot-sticker. Do not order these unless you want to eat chewy motor oil.

The pork belly….OMG the pork belly…our family has ordered this appetizer many many times before. Last night they brought our table what can only be described as a deep-fried stick of butter. Pork belly is fatty obviously, but the cut was ONLY fat. Circa needs to do some quality control on this beloved appetizer.

The mains came out after, and this was where we truly were shocked. “Chicken Carbonara”… The best way to emphasize the problem with this dish is to say that I’ve had Alfredo “Lean Cuisine” T.V. Dinners that tasted miles better than this “carbonara”. Circa succeeded in making a meal with Pancetta taste bland. I CANNOT emphasize how little chicken was in the dish. If I named this dish according to what it actually looked and tasted like I would call it “Green Pea pasta no salt added” .

My dad ordered the coffee rubbed steak. He said it was tough. I thought he might be over critical so he cut me off a piece to try. Bloody rubber. It was as tough as the soul of a shoe. Our glasses sat empty…we couldn’t even fill our own glasses, because the carafe of water was left empty on our table. I think the server was afraid we didn’t like our meal because she avoided us for the most part.

We are literally the easiest people to please, but on Father’s Day Circa missed the mark. My dad asked if we could order Chinese after we left. Not a good look for...

Disappointed with the Decline in Quality

My wife and I visited Circa Grill in Thompson Station for an early Valentine’s Day dinner, and unfortunately, we were deeply disappointed. While the atmosphere was pleasant and the drink selection—wine, beer, and cocktails—was impressive, the food was an absolute letdown.

The portion sizes were small, and the flavor profiles on both our dishes were severely lacking. My wife ordered the salmon, which was clearly past its prime. As someone with experience in the food industry, I can confidently say that the fish had been frozen for at least 10 to 12 months. It was not properly rinsed before cooking, resulting in an overwhelmingly fishy taste—the worst we’ve ever encountered.

I opted for the lamb Bolognese, expecting a rich and balanced dish. Instead, the seasoning profile was so heavy on cumin and other spices that it tasted more like an Indian curry than a classic Italian Bolognese. While I appreciate global flavors, this was entirely out of place for a Southern restaurant in Middle Tennessee. (I won't mention the "Ceasar salad" that was basically one spear/wedge for 13 bucks...for $13 bucks I thought I'd get more that 6 bites)

It’s incredibly disappointing to see such a drastic decline in food quality. Last year, we had an exceptional meal here—my steak was fantastic, and my wife’s duck was outstanding. Sadly, after this experience, we won’t be returning.

I hope the restaurant takes this feedback seriously and returns to the high standards that once made it a great dining...

My sister and I had reservations and were a few minutes late due to traffic -- no problem, even though they were nearly full, we had our choice of indoors or outdoors. It is quite noisy inside so we chose outside on the "front porch." Absolutely lovely. Our waiter was knowledgeable about the menu, although he did say the BBQ shrimp and grits (polenta?) were not very spicy. First we shared the fried green tomatoes, cooked until tender with a crispy corn meal crust and strips of crispy fried pork belly. I could have gone home happy right there. My sister had the fresh trout and it was lovely; I did order the Shrimp and Grits and it turned out to be too spicy for me (I don't like spicy (hot) food). I ate every bite because it was also one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth -- every flavor came through in spite of the heat. I'd order it again! We finished the meal with their lemon shortbread crumbles over ice cream with blackberry sauce on top of two freshly made and still warm donuts. Definitely put out the fire. On the practical side -- you can't see this restaurant from the main road; there is plenty of parking; there is a wheelchair ramp but the inside of the restaurant has tables that are quite close together so I'm not sure how they would handle a wheelchair but the gracious staff would figure something out, I'm sure. Looking forward to visiting my sister again so we...