Reviews & Ratings for Big River Grille & Brewing

07/20/11

Good food, service FAIL

by CaitlinO at Citysearch

For a medium priced restaurant, the food was very good. We had the grilled salmon and Sweet Magnolia ribs with the Combo Sampler appetizer. The Salmon was flaky and the ribs so tender the meat fell off the bone. The beer sampler was at best mediocre with only two of the brews warranting the order of a glass.

Unfortunately, the service was absolutely the worst ever. We had to ask three times for a glass of ice water which didn't appear until dinner was nearly over, we couldn't get refills for the kids' sodas until they were finished eating and the glass of stout ale went permanently MIA. Twice we physically got up from our table to wander around looking for our waiter and asked another waiter and the hostess to track him down for us.

The restaurant was steadily busy with about a 20 minute table wait but we certainly didn't see anything like the kind of mob scene which would warrant such a total fail in service.

Sad, really; it ruined what could have been a very enjoyable meal.

05/15/10

Awesome place..

by roger23 at Citysearch

Service was great, and our waiter was able to have a vegan waitress stop by our table to explore vegetarian options with our friends. My wife and I had no problem finding something suiting our tastes - the fish and chips were the best I've ever had. I'm not a local or I'd eat there regularly. I was pretty surprised.

• Pros: Expansive menu, great beer
• Cons: No vegetarian selections (not even a veggie burger)

09/22/09

The only place to go

by predmember at Citysearch

We visited Big River before the last two hockey games, having been disappointed with the service at two other downtown establishments, and we will never go anywhere else. The staff was very busy, yet took time to explain the beer and menu in detail, pointing out favorites and making recommendations. The Octoberfest Beer and the Rocket Red Ale were both outstanding, as were the selections from the Octoberfest menu. Our waitress was sweet and attentive despite the volume, and we never lacked for anything. I highly recommend Big River to anyone looking for good beer and good food with great service!

• Pros: food, beer, service
• Cons: can get a bit busy

02/25/09

Don't Beleive Everything You Read

by colle at Citysearch

Read some bad reviews, but since a lot of people are idiots I thought I would try it for myself. Went prior to a Tuesday night Predator game with my son. Our waitress was great. The food was good. The manager checked on us. The stout beer was excellent!. It was happy hour so they were 3 bucks each. Good experience. Don't believe everything you read.

12/10/08

Best food in downtown Nashville

by Brookelyngirl at Citysearch

My family recently visted Big River Grille in downtown Nashville this past November. We visited Nashville from Myrtle Beach and dined at Wildhorse Saloon, and Hard Rock, but the food and service at Big River put the other 2 restaurants to shame, we ate their on our last night and we wished we had eaten their the first so we could have avoided the Wildhorse and Hard Rock. They brew their own beers there and all 4 that we tried were amazing. The food was fantastic we had hazelnut chicken and filet with shrimp, followed by chocolate cake. It was hands down the best food we ate in Nashville. I would strongly recommend this resturant to anyone visting or living in the Nashville area, it is the perfect spot to start your night off before you go bar hopping.

10/17/08

Great service, great food, very accommodating to our small and large groups

by twohooz at Citysearch

I went to the Big River Grille on two different nights while in Nashville at a conference, taking a group of 8 one night, a group of 22 the other. I have to admit that some of the other reviews made me reconsider going here, but it was too complicated to switch gears to another restaurant at the last minute, and I figured surely it could not be as bad as some of the other reviews indicated.

To say that I was pleasantly surprised is a major understatement. The service was very attentive but not intrusive, the food was served very promptly, drinks were well attended to ... across the board the service was great. The food was also a big plus. With a larger group you have a wide variety of tastes, and our party included vegetarians as well, and the restaurant had plenty of options to keep everyone happy. Dinners ordered at our table ranged from pizza to ribs to pasta dishes to a really nice marinated filet and grilled vegetable dish that I had and would HIGHLY recommend. We had a great experience at the Big River Grill and I would return in a heartbeat.

• Pros: Fast service, great food
• Cons: Can get a little noisy if busy

08/08/08

Looking for pizza checkout Big River

by fb101 at Citysearch

My wife knows pizza and the best is at Big River. Great place to unwind from the busy week. Lighting was nice beer was clod and food was hot.

• Pros: food was great
• Cons: parking

07/15/08

Welcome to the city??!!

by kelly2317 at Citysearch

Went to Big River with a group of associates from a workshop in Nashville. Waiter was in a hurry and seemed to be inconvenienced by having to serve us. Thought food was good, but meal was ruined when a giant pest (am not allowed to type real word, but it was large!) began crawling on me! I am normally not afraid of pests, but this one appeared on my leg and moved its way up my body before someone at the table was able to get it off and squash it! While the manager was quick to have the carcass cleaned off the floor, she offered no apology and only said "welcome to the city," which i found completely offensive since I live in Chicago and have never had a pest crawl on me while eating! No free meal was offered by her or waiter, even though it was obvious I wouldn't be finishing my dinner. When the bill came, I informed the manager I wouldn't pay, which she said was ok. Horrible customer service.

• Pros: food was good while i could still eat it
• Cons: service and cleanliness

07/11/08

Serve drinks with insects in them, then make excuses

by jdd32005 at Citysearch

My sister and I went into have a drink at the bar. After waiting there for close to 10 minutes while the bartender ignored us, we were finally served another bartender who happened to walk back there. We are served our drinks finally, and everything is fine while we drink them.

When I finish my drink, I notice a gnat in the glass. I originally thought that it was frozen in an ice cube, but it was just in the glass. I hadn't noticed it until I was finished. I told the bartender (the one who had ignored us) about it, and instead of her apologizing or acting embarrassed or offering to not charge me, she launches into this lengthy explanation about how it is just a "bar gnat." Oh, is THAT what they're calling them these days?

She explains that they are "attracted to bourbon" (I was drinking a Manhattan), and that since it is an open-air restaurant, that this is commonplace. She then explains that there was enough alcohol in the drink to get rid of any germs. She finally offers some half-baked apology that sounded more like she was just saying "tough luck." She then brings me my tab which still had the full-priced drink on it. No refund. No discount. Nothing. Not wanting to make a scene in front of my sister, I paid the bill and left no tip. What kind of food business serves products with INSECTS in them to customers and then explains that this is NORMAL?

I didn't want an excuse, an explanation, or really even my money back. I just wanted a sincere apology and for her to show even the slightest modicum of remorse for what had happened. I guess that was asking too much. My first and last time at Big River.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Drinks have insects in them, and the staff makes excuses.

06/13/08

A Let Down

by kmills554 at Citysearch

My first time at Big River was really awful, so after about a year I decided to give it a second chance. But the second time around wasn't that good either. It took a long time to get our food, our server wasn't that great and once our entrees finally came they weren't that great. But the appetizer was good as was the beer, if we could get refills and we got immediate seating on a busy Friday night. Also, the bathrooms weren't very clean.

• Pros: Outdoor patio, downtown night life, beer
• Cons: Parking, bathrooms, service, food.