Allium Café + Bar

Allium is a quality dining establishment. It does not quite cross the line into true fine dining, but it does come very close. It is one of those restaurants that will not leave you disappointed, but seems to fall just short of really knocking your socks off.
I have now been on three occasions and have found the service to be excellent and the interior to be very pleasant. Unfortunately, the location is on a bit of a concrete island. It is bordered by Gallatin Rd and Spring Street so if you go don’t expect to take a relaxing after dinner stroll. The view of downtown is good but it does require you to ignore the foreground and focus on the distance. Parking is below ground and convenient so if you are just having dinner it is very insulated.
The food is very well prepared, but not quite to the level of the best restaurants in Nashville. I have sampled the steak frites, french onion soup, gnocchi, scallops, crab cakes, and salmon. They were all very good, but the appetizers were the real standouts especially the pear bacon gnochhi. Allium also has some of the best house salads and bread basket selection that I have had in town.
On all the occasions that I visited however I found that the main course dishes to be a little heavy handed with the salt. I love a well seasoned dish and I think that the heavy salt is intentional on the kitchens part, but it is a bit much for my palate.
If I had to make a recommendation for a first time couple dining at Allium it would be to order the entire app menu and the salads. You would get to try a huge variety of quality food for roughly the same price of set of entrees. I am sure with the level of service that Allium provides you would get no complaint.
Allium provides a very good dining option for East Nashville and downtown. It is not perfect, but it is well worth a trip across the river and into the slightly sketchy part of the East Side.

I have been here twice and enjoyed it quite a bit both times. Cool décor and great food. Also, a nice view of the lit up downtown at night. I really like the roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and haricots verts. Good salad to go along with it as well. A lot of people had problems with the parking, but I didn’t. You park in the garage, go to the elevator, go up to the Allium floor and the front door was right there. Don’t know if that is something they had changed since they opened.

the TL;DR version is «good eats, weirdness, sub-​par service, probably would visit again»
The food was good, the service was almost ok, and my first visit was a bit strange.
First off, I parked on the east side of the building, I saw an open parking space and decided to go for it. Then came the walk through 97 degrees through a dead condo complex (the kind you see in zombie movies), we followed signs for Allium, which were plentiful and pointing the direction and finally we entered the only door we saw marked Allium…
We stood around waiting for a minute before being informed we were in the wrong area to be standing around waiting and were directed toward the front… «the front» being a waiting area that is where I would consider the back of the restaurant. I won’t quibble on it though. The door over there was marked, but it did not pop out (looked like the entrance to an office suite)
We looked and half of the tables were open so we thought we were going to be seated and eating shortly… nope. We, and everyone who came after us, were informed that those were reserved tables and as people did not show up they would open up… we were also informed that it was the last day of a groupon they had and 600 people still had this groupon and they were not equipped to handle that, also that Margot was closed for a private party so their entire crowd was showing up.
The wait time went from 45 minutes to over an hour for a party that came a little after us. Half the tables were empty. We heard the speech again and again and how they were extending the groupon till Tuesday (it was Sunday, and they’re not open Monday). It seemed all very odd as for that many tables to have been empty we’re looking at maybe 8 parties in a row making reservations and then cancelling at the same time… seems a bit odd to me. And extending it one day just means a few people who left will be back and the people who showed up were not allowed to get a refund (tricky)
The décor — wooden industrial… nice, generic, corporate, safe. The menu — ok. Food was good, it made me want it again. Sadly, my ability to convey why this food was good breaks down to «it was enough to make me not hungry, it tasted very good». Nothing jumped out and said «I am the cause of FLAVOR». Eh, perhaps my tastes need more roadsigns.
We ordered coffee, there was no sugar at the table, there was no waitress for a while after I noticed there was no sugar at the table, informed her of this and a while later (a good cup of Joe downed) sugar arrived. After drinking some black coffee and eating, I was fairly thirsty, asked for water, and that was about that… never got it, saw her one more time when I asked for the check.
While we were there there were never fewer than 4 tables completely empty. I started thinking perhaps the line about the reservations, 600 grouponions descending upon them, etc might have been to cover up for a lack of servers or perhaps just trying to get people to abandon groupons. I don’t know.
For the most part the place seemed to work, the one thing that did not seem to work was a man who I assume from what I heard was the manager with an unbuttoned white shirt who was greeting people for a short amount of time. The place seemed quite professional and then this one guy was just there, breaking the vibe. Nothing against it, these were just my observations. 15 well dressed waiters, bartenders, greeters, and then one large man in cheap tennis shoes and an unbuttoned white shirt that I don’t think would have worked buttoned either. It might have been fine if everyone else were not in uniform.
A filling brunch for 2 (without alcohol) ended up being ~36 + tip, which I think was more than it was worth. It was good food, don’t discount that, but at those rates I also expect something else, and they did not deliver.

So, I went to this place for a delightful Sunday brunch. Ive read some of these reviews, and I have to concur with whoever wrote something about the parking situation, it is completely Corky. There is no easy access to the door from wherever you park, this was extraordinarily frustrating.
Now, once we got inside things got a bit better, seated right away, good table. That’s where things to a turn for the worse. So, Sunday brunch is one of my favorite things to do, and this Sunday I decided to bring a fantastic bottle of champagne with me. This is a bottle that I had from my Atlanta days, and is currently unavailable here in TN, so not exactly easy for me to replace, and it is fucking delicious (it is champagne after all). So our server saunters to the table, looks at it and says, «let me open that for you).» He brings glasses and a busket and so one, and then proceeds to open the bottle in one of the most ridiculous ways I have ever seen. He sticks it on the table, and just starts yanking on the cork after he has taken the cage off, it explodes all over him, the table and he just looks at me and says «I didn’t expect it to do that.» Are you fucking kidding? The he says «Don’t worry, we’ll just get you a couple of glasses of some other stuff to make up for it.» At this point, I feel bad for the dude, because his morning just got a lot worse and he’s covered in Champagne. So he pours the bubbly, and I proceed to enjoy my brunch, already down half a bottle.
Ordered food, and thankfully, it was pretty goddamn good. That is why this place gets 2 stars. That was the only saving grace of this place, the food was good. I had a great meal. My friend had a great meal. I had the croque monsieur, and everything was delicious. Check comes around, dude hasn’t brought us our free glasses of whatever garbage they were going to pour us, in fact they didn’t even offer to bring out dessert, or take anything off the bill. No one came by to apologize, blah blah blah.
I don’t necessarily blame the server for fucking up my champagne, I blame everyone at the place. Obviously, this dude is not qualified to be a server at a place like this, he had no idea what he was doing, but he wasn’t trained either. He could have just told me he had no idea what he was doing and I would have opened it, shit, he should have told his manager and that guy should definitely be capable of opening a bottle of champagne. Not only did he waste my shit, it’s also dangerous to open bottles of bubbly like you just realized you have opposable thumbs. What a fucking bunch of schmohawks.

Maybe I ordered the wrong thing, maybe I didn’t, but I was rather unimpressed with their brunch.
I had the Allium Benedict, nothing was especially wrong with it, but nothing really blew me away. The food felt really rushed and under seasoned.
I sampled some of the French onion soup, which might have been the best thing I tried, and a small bite of the French dip with a really kicking horse radish sauce.
I’m personally a fan of the stripped back and minimally decorated room. It fits the area and setting perfectly.
Thankfully Groupon saved the day. I’m sure I’ll come back to sample their dinner menu, I hear the burger is worthy of a another visit.

Great vegetarian dish daily. Wonderful dining experience.

I really don’t know what else you would want in a restaurant. If you don’t like Allium you just might be «finicky». Located on the cusp of East Nashville near downtown and interstates – Allium is housed in the trendy 5^th and Main residential/​commercial development. (I’m a realtor and they just re-​released these units last week for sale – contact me if you are interested because the prices are really good!)
The restaurant has tall tall ceilings and a clean modern aesthetic. We had brunch here at 11 on a Sunday and it was fairly packed yet we were seated right away. The menu looked so good that it was tough to figure out what to order. I opted for the Allium Benedict with the pepper jack grits. My girl went in for the Shrimp and Grits washed down with a crisp Mimosa. I was good and had water (she’s bad).
My benedict shows up artfully sitting in a bread bowl. They have the coolest poached eggs here-​so light and puffy and the black forest ham was tangy as well. I would actually prefer this dish with an English muffin instead of the bread bowl – but it was still very good. I reserve my biggest praise for the pepper jack grits. I am not a grits person AT ALL. They usually taste slimy and bland. But these were gritty and had substance and texture that was very pleasing. I may actually have to try to make these at home in the cast iron skillet.
My girl loved her shrimp and grits. I just asked her what she liked about them and she replied, «it was yummy» and then added «the shrimp were good size». I know she liked it alot and hoped to get a better answer – but she is in the middle of repairing her blow dryer and all I can see is flashing elbows, needle nose pliers and phillips head screwdrivers – so I will not ask her more questions.
I asked our waiter, Ben – who was very friendly and informative, how the bar was and he let me know that the happy hour is from 4 to 6 and that they get lots of people that stop in with laptops for an end of the day drink while they finish that last email or two. I’ll be back to try that scene out.

Allium is close to downtown, convenient to east Nashville and the interstate. It has a very cool décor and a beautiful, open, many-​windowed dining room. I can’t understand why it isn’t busier and more popular!
I have been impressed with every meal– we’ve had brunch, lunch and dinner. The menu is varied, from simple sandwich and egg dishes for lunch and brunch to more complex creations for dinner. You won’t be disappointed. A memorable meal was the artichoke lemon soup and a recent filet (both were daily specials) — fantastic!
The ONLY thing I’ve been disappointed by was an unfriendly bartender– she made a good drink, so I can’t complain too much!

The journey of brunch continues to Allium, and I am not sure how this is the sister restaurant to Germantown Café. I had two completely different experiences between the sisters.
Allium has several strikes against it.
(Sttttrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiikkke ONE): Your parking situation is atrocious. I appreciate that you are on the corner of Fifth and Main in the East Nasty, so there probably is not much you can do about it. But, why are the parking spaces in the garage that are actually near your restaurant the ones that are reserved for residents of the (completely vacant) condos. You should ask management to switch around the parking situation, seriously. It’s backwards.
(SSStttrike TWO): Your décor is cold. It is ridiculously cold feeling in your restaurant. The hard metal and steel is just too much for me. Then you go all Charlie Sheen on me and decide to make your linens and your tables very southern traditional. I am confused and so was your décor.
(St-​st-​st-​st-​rrrrrike THREE): I would not write home to momma about your menu selections for brunch (and she lives just across the river). It was unimaginative.
Positives that lead you back into the realm of three stars. Our server was excellent. He said he was new to Allium and said something about there had been a large amount of turnover recently. Well, I’m glad you hired someone fantastic. While the menu was bleh, the food was pretty good.
Look I wouldn’t take myself back to Allium, but if friends were like «hey, we’re going to Allium, want to come?» I’d be like «Yeah, I’m in like Flynn».

I can’t think of anything negative to say about this establishment. I’ve ordered (at a table/​to-​go order) at least 30 times. If you can’t tell, I’m a fan. The service is top notch, a couple of great beers of draft, good wine selection, the view is phenomenal and the food… Oh the food! The Sunday brunch is my favorite in town. It’s so different and creative. And it doesn’t hurt that the menu is constantly changing so there is always something new to try. The lunch (especially burgers and the french dip) is tasty as well. The dinner menu is very different as well… I love it.
Also, check out their happy hour. I believe it’s between 5−7PM. Great drink prices, $ 5 appetizers and you’re able to watch the sunset on the Nashville skyline right from your seat.
Free parking is available in the garage underneath the building.

In a nutshell: Stellar service, great atmosphere, and thoughtful food. I can’t wait to go back.
I had never heard of Allium until my wife decided we were headed there for dinner one night after work. I was really in the mood for authentic Spanish tapas, but have never found any in Nashville. So what I usually end up doing is finding a place with interesting apps/​small plates and making a meal of it. Allium was a perfect choice. We ordered the goat cheese and onion tart, which was rich, but had a great flavor and was a great introduction for what was to come. The escargot in puff pastry was very decadent and would have been passable at just about any fine French restaurant. We also shared the shrimp cakes which, both of us agree, was the standout dish. Perfectly briny and crunchy, with a little lemon zing. (I have thought about this dish a few times since we at there last week. I hope it’s on the Sunday brunch menu.) Last, but not least, we shared the warm trout salad. The dish was just as described, but I felt it lacked a little of the imagination of the other dishes we ordered.
The dining room and bar are both beautiful and the view is as-​advertised — perfect. Our server was around just enough to ensure we had what we needed, but he left us alone enough to let us talk uninterrupted. As we left, we spoke for a few minutes with one of the owners who gave us the background story on the building and the restaurant. A very nice guy who is obviously involved in the business and cares about customer feedback.
We are already looking forward to heading back for Sunday brunch soon and we intend to sample more of the dinner menu as well.

Fantastic. I went with a party of 14 and expected the usual mediocre service that generally goes with a large party. I was pleasantly surprised. The service was fantastic, atmosphere was great, and the food was the cherry on top.
I had the gnocchi, onion tart, french onion soup and pork loin. Everything was delicious and quite unique to Nashville’s food scene.
Will definitely go back soon. Great job!

Where else can you go for a romantic dinner with superb service and a gorgeous view of the city? You see, good service is difficult to find these days so I’ve become accustomed to fake-​happy, rehearsed waiters and substandard wait times at most establishments. Forget even getting a manager.
Our first trip to Allium involved housemade chips with honey mustard cognac dipping sauce, cocoa chili grouper, the warm trout salad (that was mine) and 2 desserts, which we took home and ate: bailey’s irish cream cheesecake, and a chocolate mousse cake. Our waiter, Josh, was polite and made good recommendations. He also warned us about the desserts; they really should come with a box of tissues because once they were gone, I cried more than I did during «the Notebook.»
The owner/​manager was making rounds checking to ensure everyone was happy. This was a nice touch, as we were happy – our water glasses were kept filled, the atmosphere was quiet and relaxed, and we did not get presumptuous vibes here. I would say the prices were competitive with other local restaurants because the serving sizes were good and it’s hard to get really fresh-​tasting seafood not living near a coast. Who can forget the VIEW? And the dessert… well, you’ll have to see for yourself. All in all, we will be back. We’re glad to have a place like this in our neighborhood.

This place is killer for lunch — the wife works downtown for the gubbermint, so from time to time we will meet here for an afternoon work date.
A great, open space with hardwoods, booths against the wall, and tall windows to give excellent natural lighting during the day, and soft pendant lighting at night.
For lunch, they are essentially a standard French bistro. I love their Croque Madame — really hits the spot with a side of frites — perfect amount of Mornay sauce as well. They also have some very good, very inventive salads and the same can be said about their soups. I’ve only stolen bites, but their quiches are quite good as well. Never super-​crowded and some great dining just across the interstate from downtown.
I have also eaten dinner there as well, they have an excellent bar and appetizer list. Their dinner options are pretty creative and they do an especially good job with fowl. They have have a nice selection for the vegetarians out there, too.
Their specials are always quite excellent and they always seem to have some for appetizer, salad and dinner courses — I haven’t had a bad one yet!

I had dinner here this past weekend with a large group. The positives first: the service was outstanding! Our server was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and patient with our group. Parking is also really easy. They were also very accommodating making arrangements for our group, we called them at least a few times before-​hand changing the number of people in our party.
The not-​so-​positives: the food was just ok and the atmosphere was so-​so. Most of the people in our group thought their food was just alright, not bad, but nothing special. I’m a vegetarian and ordered one of the nightly pasta specials w/​out chicken and it was pretty good. Another person in the group ordered the Green Plate and really liked it, so that should be another good veg option for those who are concerned about that.
The décor was great, but the restaurant didn’t really have a lot of people there, especially for being a Saturday night. We had a group of about 13 and there was another large party there, but aside from these two groups, the place never really seemed full. I happen to like a good crowd at places, but I know that’s not something everyone is concerned about. If I was here with one other person, I may have felt like it was dead. One plus to that is it’s easy to have conversation with those in your group.
I might try it again just to try another dish and give it another chance, but not a place I’d recommend as a first choice.

I cannot speak for brunch, but I have had two outstanding dinners at Allium. The most recent was Friday night.
The wine list is not huge, but it is quality. I had the goat cheese and onion tart. My friend had the Croque Monsieur. My tart was nothing short of decadent! It was served with a small green salad and balsamic glaze. It was an appetizer, but made a wonderful light meal. The sandwich was smothered in a rich mornay sauce which was perfect with the buttery brioche. For dessert, we split a slice of red velvet cheesecake. It was my favorite element of cheesecake (smooth and creamy) and favorite element of red velvet cake (light cocoa flavor) combined!
In addition to the fabulous eats, the atmostphere is simple and elegant. Floor to ceiling windows provide a wonderful view of downtown. A huge plus is the non-​cramped dining room. It is actually possible to enjoy dinner without overhearing surrounding conversations.

Three stars on Unilocal stands for A-​OK.
That’s what this place was: OK.
Brunch there today. The ambiance was nice. The coffee was TOO strong, and we like strong coffee.
Omelet was average. Home fries were good.
French toast was nothing special at all. Bacon was ok.
Probably the best thing we had was the grits. Beware that they are peppery. $ 30 for the two of us. A little pricey for what we got.
We agreed that we’ll come back and try dinner sometime, but we’re not likely to return for brunch. There are half a dozen better brunch restaurants within 2 miles of this place. Marche, Mad Donna’s, Copper Kettle, Margot, Garden Brunch Café, and Nashville Biscuit House all come to mind.

Went for brunch today before taking advantage of Bank of America’s first weekends at the Frist. The attempt is white napkin and tablecloth, but a close look at the tables will betray that you’re still in Nashville. That will not subtract from the food or the mood. The 5^th and Main view isn’t much to look at, but the flood of natural light makes for a nice ambiance. This would be a good place for dates or to take your mother when she’s in town.
I sampled the shrimp and grits. I have had this dish in a lot of places, and to me it’s like making an omelet. If a place can make this anywhere close to my expectations, then I know I’ll be back. Allium uses a lot of spice and pepper jack cheese to build a spicy, but not too hot flavor profile. If you start eating the dish right out of the kitchen, you will burn something in your mouth. Give it a second to cool and enjoy it properly. I could use more shrimp, but I could always use more shrimp. The grits stand up pretty well and, in spite of the on-​the-​small-​side gulf shrimp used, it’s an above average execution of a staple dish.
I had some time before the museum opened, so I went ahead and indulged in desert. I had the crème brûlée and, before I go any further, I must note that I often eat this dish with a brulee snob, so I have had it more times than any one man should. That notwithstanding, the dessert holds up to expectations. I did think that the texture was a little elementary and the sugar crust was a little thin (no satisfying «crack and crunch» when hit with the spoon) the flavor was there. After all, it’s flavor we’re after and Nashville isn’t really known for its superior adherence to palatable textures.
I look forward to going back and trying one of the Benedicts. I suggest you give it a try as well.

I’ll preface my review with the fact that I really wanted to like this place. The menu reminded me of the French restaurant in DC where I had my wedding reception. So maybe my expectations were too high or it was unfair to make the comparison.
That being said, the entire meal was so-​so. My husband and I went for dinner. I had the roasted chicken and he had the steak. He asked for it medium to medium-​well and when they brought it out it was totally cooked through, absolutely no pink. Normally this would not be a big deal, but it turned into a bit of a fiasco. He asked to have it re-​fired to include more pink. Then the restaurant manager came over and tried to explain to my husband what it means to order your steaks at different levels. This would be fine, not great, if he were correct, but he wasn’t (I don’t eat steak but his explanation of doneness and pinkness seemed inaccurate, as my google search later confirmed). I don’t mind if something isn’t cooked the way we asked but we don’t need a lecture, let alone an inaccurate one.
All that being said, my chicken was fine, tasty even.
The dessert was delicious and the coffee was surprisingly rich and delicious.
I’d maybe come back for coffee and dessert but given how the evening went, probably now.

The short and sweet of it is that I only went to Allium for drinks at their bar, I cannot comment on their food, so I’m definitely going to have to come back!
The bar itself at Allium is made of huge white marble, or was it granite (hey I had a couple beers) slabs, blocked together. Made for a sleek lovely centerpiece to the L shape bar. I assume you’re supposed to wait at the bar for your name to be called for a table in the restaurant beyond.
On a Wednesday night it wasn’t busy at all, and we had a bill of about $ 17 for 4 yazoo beers (is that expensive I haven’t gotten used to pricing outside of LA, everything is cheaper to me!). They had other beers in stock, a wine selection, and someone was drinking a fancy cocktail.
Anyway definitely a trendy place to meet for a drink, with a view of the nashville skyline!