The Old School

Reviews 5

HE

heather anderson

We came in for brunch with a reservation- upon arrival we saw plenty of open outdoor seating, at the host stand I asked about sitting outside for our meal and he asked another person. The guy looked outside (which was far from full) and they both went on to tell me no, they had us planned for inside. I thought this was odd but just went with it. Upon being seated we ordered bloody marys and some pastry options for a starter. The coffee, and starter all arrived and were half way finished before our bloody marys arrived- with no communication in between as to the reason for the time lapse. The rest of the meal was fine, the food was all good but service was very minimal and not what I would have expected from any restaurant, let a lot one rated for amazing brunch. After finishing and pay for our brunch we sat and continued to catch up while we finished our coffees and bloody marys. About 15 minutes after paying we were interrupted by a guy (unsure if he was another waiter/management/owner because he did not introduce himself)- he asked how things were and if we needed anything else, after stating everything was fine and we were good, he continued to tell us that "No rush, but we will be using this table in a few minutes so if you dont need anything else can id be happy to carry your drinks outside to the beer garden for you to have more drinks and continue...no rush but we will be using this table in a few minutes". He continued to say no rush but essentially was also simultaneously stating he was using our table and we had to leave, he was also wiping off my side of the table as saying this. I should also add, he was trying to kick us out and put us outside...where we had originally asked to be anyway...and he was pushing us out of our table that he was "using in a few minutes" even though there were multiple open tables in our room of the restaurant that were available for us. I eat at various types of restaurants on a weekly basis throughout Nashville and have also worked in the restaurant industry, so I know how restaurants, seating, reservations and service work. Never had I ever experience or witnessed someone essentially kicking us out of our table as we were finishing our conversations and brunch cocktails, it is just not something that is done. And I must add that our table of 4 had a combined bill of around $130 so it wasnt like we ordered water and split one meal- we came to enjoy the restaurant and surely paid for it. Especially when there are other open tables and it is a late brunch time...people werent lined up at the door waiting on their reservations, I am very mindful of things like that and would have rushed us out myself had that been the case. Overall the food was good and the place was adorable, but due to the less than quality service and the extremely rude and unnecessary interaction with the man, whoever he was- we will not be back and I will not recommend this place to anyone.

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RO

Rooster42312

I was with a large party of 13. We were told that we had to order family style since there were so many. So we had to order days in advance and were limited to 3 entrees and I dont really remember having sides. When your servers or computer system, or whatever it is that limits you from serving a table of 13 ppl you need to rethink your business plan. Our service was barely average, probly because of the large party. Each couple had a tab at the bar and when we asked for the check they took everyones bar tab and added the food bill divided by 13 and then added gratuity to the food and all the drinks we had before the meal. They did this without asking. Getting our bills seemed quite the challenge,30 mins. So my wife and I had about 4 drinks and food (meatloaf, risotto, and trout) and our portion of the tab was $140. Our tab was the cheapest. Many were from $180 to $212. We felt like the wait staff took advantage of us in how they formulated the bill. we should have each closed our tab at the bar and then split the meal cost with included gratuity. This type of activity reminds me of some shady characters I used to know when I waited tables. The food was good but not $140 good. The drinks were tasty but overpriced for Ashland City. I would like to go back and try it again with less ppl to give the Old School a fair shake. This is a great coaching opportunity for your wait staff and bartenders. To management, you should be able to accommodate a table of 15 ordering off the menu. If Las Palmas and Ruth Chris can handle a table of 15 without special circumstances so can you. You had an opportunity to wow 13 ppl with great food and service but instead you disappointed them.

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PO

Pouya Ameli

So this restaurant is literally on the grounds of an old school. The school house itself is the restaurant, and the land around it is being used to grow a ton of crops that they use in the food. What they dont grow themselves, they try to get from quality local vendors. What a great concept! The food is pretty great, not always "award-winning great," but I always leave satisfied. The flavors are robust (partially due to quality of the ingredients), and the presentations are attractive. What leaves a lot to be desired is the service. Every time Ive gone (3 times now), everyone from the hostess, to the server, to the kitchen appears overwhelmed/inefficient. The dining experience involves a ton of waiting. The last time we went, it took us ~15mins to get a seat, ~10mins to be greeted by our server, ~20mins to get our drinks, ~45mins to get our food. This was in the middle of the day on a Sunday, when 20% of the tables were still empty. I love the food and the concept, but I had to take away a star for the service. Hope to see it get better in time!

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JA

Jason Dixon

Things we loved: The atmosphere was beautiful, service was impeccable, good wine selection, great concept of farm to table, and the savory scones were delicious! Things we didnt love: My wifes carbonara was less than good. The meatloaf was dry, but the homemade ketchup made it edible. I probably would not have even bothered to write this review if the place was less expensive, but I have spent 100 dollars for two people at many restaurants and been MUCH more impressed. We had the scones, one glass of wine each, and one meal each bringing our bill to about 84 dollars + tip = 100 bucks. I doubt we will go back, which is a huge bummer because its close to our home and a fabulous atmosphere for a warm spring/summer evening!

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RY

Ryan Hunter

We had a reservation and they seated us about 40 minutes late. It was very loud in the room and when had to ask multiple times for our drinks. As a whole the food was pretty good, but we asked for the steak medium rare and it came well which is disappointing when you pay $40 for it, and at the end when the check came I feel like they were trying to trick us in to paying gratuity twice by making it not descriptive and automatically adding it in even though we only had a party of 6. On food alone I would give it a 4, but the customer service experience brought it down so far.

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