I wanted to love this place since we went out for a special celebration of my husband. We had not…read morebeen before and the menu looked amazing! We did not have a great experience. We had a party of 10 and went early (before 6pm on a weekday). It was not busy, and when we arrived there was one couple seated. Despite this, I think they rushed our food. And we would have gladly waited a little longer for cooked food. :/
Everyone at the table who ordered "steamed broccoli" received hard, barely cooked broccoli. My mother-in-law's potatoes were not fully cooked, and her salmon was raw. Since all her food was not edible, they took it off the bill. So at least there's that. The green beans my mother ordered were also quite crunchy, which can be personal preference.
I did not complain about my salmon, but it was undercooked as well. However, even if it were cooked, the lemon sauce makes it inedible. I order salmon at most restaurants and I have never tasted a more horrific sauce. I thought maybe I was being dramatic, so let everyone at the table taste the sauce. Every single one of them scrunched up their face and said "UGH!" It was described by my family members as "putrid, disgusting, rotten pudding, and having a strong iron taste." I have to agree there. When they put it on the table I thought the fish was bad, but it was just the strong smell of the sauce.
So all the broccoli, salmon, and potatoes were undercooked... however everyone who ordered steak received it cooked way past what they had ordered. My husband ordered medium, and it looked close to well done. My nephew ordered medium rare, and it looked medium well. My husband's steak was still tender and tasty though, so he did not complain. His Brussels sprouts were decent and grits were very flavorful. My sides were mac and cheese and a salad. Those were both very good! The mac and cheese is in an interesting flavorful sauce. More creamy than cheesy, but I enjoyed it. The salad seemed pretty fresh with homemade dressing from what I could tell.
Our server was nice, but did not check on us at all, and was only at the table to take our orders, deliver the food, and give us the check. The majority of us had empty drink glasses and would have wanted refills. There was an automatic tip of 20% on the bill because of the larger party, which was fine, but like I said, the service wasn't great since we didn't get checked on whatsoever.
Overall, it's not the worst place I've ever been but it wasn't very good. You hate to go to a place that SHOULD be good, pay good money, and receive that quality, but we weren't going to sit there and every single one of us complain. Sometimes, you just have to eat a bad meal, laugh about it, and not return. The fact of the matter is there are much better places to eat in Cookeville with better food and better service, so we probably won't be back.
