Sambuca Restaurant - Nashville

12/13/11

Horrible Experience. BEWARE!!!!

by jae c at Citysearch

A letter i'm sharing to all that I wrote to Sambuca regarding my experience at Sambuca. Needless to say Brian is still employed there!!!!

Good afternoon to whom it may concern, I just wanted to bring something to your attention while I visited Sambuca over the weekend of December 2nd. Seeing how i'm from Boston and not familiar with Nashville, I inquired about nice places to dine in Downtown Nashville. Your restaurant was highly recommended by an associate of mine. My first visit to Sambuca was on December 2nd. As soon as I checked in that Friday afternoon I immediately made it down to Sambuca that evening. I must admit I had a splendid time. The cuisine and drinks were great. The live music and atmosphere was also wonderful. That evening at your establishment was nice and ended without any issues whatsoever. I had such a nice time I decided to come back on that Monday December 5th, seeing I was flying out that next day. Sorry to say that as wonderful as my prior experience was at your restaurant, my second experience was shockingly horrible! I arrived for your happy hour around 4:45pm and the bartender that was helping me name is Brian(tatoo covering right forearm). In the beginning he seemed like a rather charming gentleman. Then over time I realized that wasn't the case. We chatted about several things that were entertaining, especially sports. There were two incidents though that were troubling, one in particular. At one point a few African Americans came in to your establishment who it appeared that Brian knew. They went upstairs and Brian had made a comment that went something like this "uh oh the gang is all here, we may need to break out the bullet proof vest." My reply was "see how you are what do you say about me?". Brian's response was "no you're not like them". I didn't think too much about that conversation until later on when he made some unacceptable comments. Brian and I had got into a conversation about college football. We were talking about the SEC conference and football in the south in general. Brian calls himself explaining why the SEC conference and southern colleges in general are the best. His exact words were " because that's where all the n#@@#!s are!". The gentleman sitting beside grabbed my wrist for fear that I was going to do something because he heard what transpired. Brian preceded that comment with..."don't be offended and I don't mean to be disrespectful". With him stating that makes me feel as though he thought about and knew exactly what he was saying. These comments are disrespectful, demeaning and derogatory in nature. This person is one of the many faces of Sambuca. Is this a person you want representing your establishment? I'm a fire fighter from Boston and was visiting Nashville for the first time. You all do have a beautiful city. But I must be honest after dealing with Brian i'm not sure if i'd come back to Sambuca, let alone Nashville for that matter. Those type of comments you just don't forget! Trust me when I say i'm not looking for anything. Shoot I still even gave him an adequate tip because that's the kind of person I am. But this should be addressed. Whether or not it will be is up to you. Needless to say that I won't be giving Sambuca glowing reviews online or in person. Sorry for having to send this but I couldn't overlook this and shouldn't have too.

05/29/11

Wonderful every time

by purpledoc at Citysearch

This is the third time I have been to Sambuca with my husband. Generally, if I do not like a restaurant I will not go back. I felt compelled to write a review as the place is truly derserving. It was my mother-in-laws 79th birthday. She loves music and seafood so we felt this would be a great choice. To start off, our waiter, Tyler, is one of the best we have ever had. He could not possibly have been more attentive, helpful, or kinder. Everything was truly delicious. I had the lamb chops as my entree and, although I always feel bad sending anything back, they, although delicious, were overcooked for my taste. I ordered them MR and they were MW-Well. The problem was rectified right away and I had an incredible meal. The chops were like butter, and the accompaniments equally delicious. My husband ordered the Aged Ribeye Special. It was very pricey, but you could certainly appreciate the artistry. And, I'm gonna have to say this, it is so nice to get a beautiful steak and not be nickelled and dimed to death for some accompaniments and sauce unlike some other high end steakhouses, namely a new one right around the corner. The quality of the steak was just as good as these places that charge you $50+ for a piece of meat on a plate and nothing else.

Everything from beginning to end, apps., salads, cocktails, entrees, dessert was wonderful. The ambiance and the entertainment just adds to the experience. We will certainly be back again and again. Thank you staff and management of Sambuca for making my 79 year old mother in laws birthday perfect and memorable.

01/24/11

Excellent Food, Great Atmosphere

by roxy13 at Citysearch

Sambuca is a great place to go on a date or with a group of friends. Sambuca is very trendy and the food and drinks are excellent. I definitely recommend making a reservation. I have heard negative things about the service, but I have never experienced a problem.

08/06/10

very hip, greak drinks!

by Samhibella at Citysearch

I visit here everytime I'm in Nashville, which is quite a lot. The place is super hip, lots of seeing and being seen, in a fun area of town. Thumbs up!

07/13/10

Trendy, good food, average service

by RealtorTodd at Citysearch

Very TRENDY place. A younger chic crowd. Very busy on a saturday. I would suggest a reservation. I went late and not a bad wait. We had a drink and sat on rooftop deck, very nice, but half was shut off for a party. Different levels throughout the restaurant and many places to eat, such as stools, couches, outside dining (would suggest) The food was great and drinks strong, but good. When seated, we were never waited on, we actually had to go get host to inform as many people passed by several times. The service is not great and manager did come over and apolgize but did not do anything. The server did not seem into the job as many did not....again it was busy and later in the night and I am certain they were tired, but did not feel very welcome, but the place is beautiful and the food was very good.

• Pros: Atmosphere is TOPS!
• Cons: Service to be desired and patrons are full of themselves