12/27/07

Below average quality, service

by debbiedl

We'd heard good things about the OpryLand Hotel?s Old Hickory Grill, so headed there for Christmas dinner. After a brief wait, our waiter arrived and began a service that I will charitably describe as dour and indifferent (did we ever make eye contact?) and then, as the meal progressed, increasingly inattentive. For some reason, we were not given a wine list, but the waiter, at my request, brought one; I ordered a glass of decent and well priced Pinot Grigio.

Very tasty and well prepared appetizers and bread were long devoured as we waited maybe 30 minutes for the entrees to arrive; when we asked the waiter when they would be ready, he told us "you're next in line." This seemed odd since the restaurant wasn't even half-full and the party of 4 seated next to us had not only arrived after we had, but were finishing their meal by that time. (They did have a different waiter.)

At last the meal arrived. My filet (filets are priced at $44.00) was lukewarm; the accompanying 5 stalks of asparagus were thick, undercooked and also barely warm. My partner's chicken (at $32.00) amounted to a small portion (4 ounces, she judged), distinctive more for its dryness than any actual flavor. Mom?s filet, accompanied by a handful of desiccated onion rings was stringy and mushy, the latter suggesting a recent visit from the meat tenderizer. I sent mine back to the kitchen to be reheated and asked for extra hollandaise, which I then realized was the main source of the meal?s flavor.

Not much later, after a few more determined bites, we pushed aside our plates (I finally stacked two of them out of the way), and I looked around for the waiter. I finally spotted him across the floor in another dining room, setting tables. My partner went to ask him for the check and a to-go container. The price for 3 with 2 appetizers, hollandaise/crabmeat, 1 chicken, 2 filets and a broccoli side dish plus one glass of wine was $198.00.

• Pros: Nice ambiance, decent wine list
• Cons: Indifferent service, food quality highly uneven and downright bad

12/25/07

High Prices, Small Portions

by ssliston

I dined at Old Hickory on Christmas Eve 2007 in a party of four. To a person, we agreed that:

(1) The setting is cheesy. It's a little like eating in a theme park (Disneyland, Six Flags etc.)

(2) The staff, while well meaning, is undertrained. We encountered oversights in our order and long delays between courses.

(3) The portions were not commensurate with the prices. While the prices were comparable to Morton's, for example, the portions were meager by comparison.

(4)Finally, each of the items we ordered were simply underwhelming in preparation, quality and appeal. Be it the bison steak, the Niman Ranch pork tenderloin, the salmon or any of the salads, all were lackluster.

Our bottom line at the end of the evening was that Old Hickory Steak House is a strange mixture of high aspirations and low achievement. My advice is to look elsewhere for fine dining.

03/13/07

Tasteful Simplicity

by lbelka

My wife and I ate at the restaurant last week, the food, the dining room, and service was five star all the way. The restaurant defines themselves as a comtempory steakhouse that features signature steaks, but let me tell you the menu definately exceeds expectations. Chef Quasha's specials were devine and he even stopped by the table when asked. The desserts were exceptional and make sure you ask for Richard the cheese guy.

• Pros: Food, wine and service
• Cons: NA