06/01/09

Best Overall Locally Owned Restaurant in Nashville

by cray31

Bravo, Margot Cafe, & Chef Margot for an incredible night out on my birthday with three friends on a busy Saturday night. Truly a perfect evening & a perfect dinner in a spectacular dining atmosphere. The hostesses were friendly & seated us immediately even though we were a few minutes early. Our server, Patty, was helpful, professional, & had the right balance of getting us what we needed at the right time but not hovering over us. She was wonderful. We started with a cheese, bread, & fresh peaches appetizer that was a culinary delight & perfect on a hot summer night. We sampled Sangria made on the premises, Spanish wine, & specialty microbrew beer, & topped off the evening with the housemade limoncello. We were not disappointed, all excellent choices. We got steak with greens & beets, spinach linguini, chickpea lemon artichoke chicken, pesto pizza, & gazpacho soup, taking turns sampling from one another's plates. Every bite of every morsel was simply heavenly. I went to Zola's last year on my bday & it does not even compare with Margot. Note we were sat upstairs & even tho it was a hot night, it was cool & comfortable upstairs. And some have written the seating is too close, but that was not the case at all. We had plenty of room & privacy. Kudos, bravo, & we will be back!

• Pros: Atmosphere, Service, Food, Dining Experience
• Cons: None other than the need for reservations

02/15/09

An East Nashville Tragedy

by DavidENashville

Sadly, Margot's seems to have jumped the proverbial shark when it comes to being creatively and innovating-ly disappointing. What was hailed to us as "the" best restaurant upon our arrival in Nashville has declined in quality in each of our three visits, and is now forever relegated to the Never Again List. And this is sad because our first visit was not half-bad.

There's not space enough to detail our previous two visits, so I'll detail our third visit, in May 2008. This was the worst of our three visits. The menu sounded as great as it always does, but the dishes we ended up with looked and tasted so generically bland that my wife and I both ate in resigned silence. And getting those plates of food was not a straight forward story--my wife's entree was incorrect and was intended for a table next to us. So, we were left there, me with my food and my wife with nothing. We made do by sharing my entree while we waited the 10 minutes for her food to come out--it was an absolutely ridiculous situation, especially considering the prices Margot is charging. Oh yes, and part of my entree was never plated up, a fact which I didn't confirm until I checked the menu at the exit.

Probably the icing on the cake-of-absurdity, was that Margot's normally-delicious bread was no where to be found. And when I asked about the bread, the server decided not to apologize and explaing that they were out of bread or that the bread had not been delivered that day; instead the server provided us with a basket of the sorriest, stalest bread you can imagine. The focaccia was dry with a decidedly oxidated taste to the olive oil and the sourdough...wow...the sourdough was so dry and stale that I could not even begin to bite into it. Serving food products so inferior and degraded speaks VOLUMES

I'm not into hyperbole, but considering the price, this third visit to Margo may have been our worst dining experience to date

01/22/09

Best restaurant in Nashville

by sourcingone

Go. Nothing else need be said.

Brunch is great, but Margot's creativity comes out in her evening meals.

Oh, make a booking - small and popular.