Eastland Cafe

Over the past 5 years I have dined at Eastland Café about 15+ times. Used to love it– they had great drinks, this delicious seasonal French café menu with yummy but simple seasonal and some local sourced food. The sad thing was over the years we have watched the quality nosedive so epically that it downright sad. I’ll elaborate with a few of our most recent experiences. We had a horrible Valentine’s Day dinner where they took over 2 hours to bring out our food. We never complained, we sat patiently and waited/​the sweet lady who is always the hostess eventually came to our table and told us she would be taking our entrees off the bill. The food was so terrible when it arrived– stringy beef, flavorless mushy fish. We still clung to those memories so we went back a few more times — always mediocre. If you are spoiled on good steaks don’t get the Hereford cut, it’s tough. If you like cheese plates you will be disappointed with their sad uncreative cheese plate (rip silly goose) and if you want to do a meatless Monday do not go here — the chefs find a way to make the veg entrees as over cooked and underflavored as possible. The drinks are good though which might be why we thought it was good in the first place. Recently one night we hot brave again– the service was soooo slow, my entrée the «vegetarian meatballs» was burned black on the bottom and tasted suspiciously like Amy’s Organic Vegetarian Meatless Meatballs from Krogers. The sweet lady apologized when I returned and she offered a replacement but I knew deep in my heart that it was going to be either really gross or have pubes or both. The service is slow but sweet, the food is god awful! I know they make money from that place, why not hire good chefs and keep the quality up? This has so much potential to be a good restaurant but the food is terrible!!! Come on Eastland you can do so much better than that…

Excellent spot for brunch and lunch! Love the menu and service. Different menu than the average Joe. A must stop for us when in town.

Went here for a bachelor party since we stayed in east Nashville. Food was great and 5 star service. Will definitely visit again.

I can’t say enough nice things about Amanda, Dana, Michael and the rest of the staff! We dined here in April and had a couple snafus, but nothing that I would say was earth-​shattering. However, Amanda saw to it that our next dinner for two was on the house to make up for any issues! We were floored! Our visit last Saturday was wonderful! In a time when customer service has taken a back seat to revenue in many establishments on this side of the river, it’s refreshing to see an EN restaurant place it’s patrons above itself. Will definitely be back!

Date night at Eastland Café was awesome as always. They have some of the best customer service in Nashville. I’ve been there quite a few times and they know the secret ingredients for success. Simple, cook good food and have a good attitude. In the service industry, nothing less is acceptable. I’ve left multiple reviews and Unilocal only keeps the most current. The good thing is my reviews all say the same. This is a great restaurant and possibly a little underrated.

Absolutely my favorite spot in Nashville to eat. Great atmosphere, excellent food, and great people!

We had a large group on the patio for a happy hour event and it was fantastic. Amanda, the manager, was great to work with and accommodated all of our needs. I have always loved Eastland and they did not disappoint for our large group of fifty plus on the patio. The happy hour has great food and drinks at a great price and the service is superb. I would highly recommend this restaurant and Amanda and the staff.

Eastland café is amazing. Fantastic food and even better service. The apple donut with salted caramel ice cream dessert is incredible.

«Good Food, Nice Atmosphere, Terrible Service»
I wish I would have read the reviews more closely before choosing this place. We arrived on time for our reservation and were seated promptly. Great! It went downhill after that. It took ten minutes for our server to come take our drink orders. Ten more minutes to bring the drinks. The food came out late and not together. This in itself is usually quite alright with me. I realize quality food takes time to prepare. The problem was empty glasses. Keep the drinks flowing. We couldn’t beg, borrow or steal another drink while we waited. When our food did arrive, we ordered another bottle of wine and I mentioned that we would probably want one more before we finished to give our server a hint (We were a table with 4 people drinking wine). No dice. Our server even did a reverse spin while at the table next to us to avoid «seeing» us trying to flag her down. I ended up going to the bar… The final insult was the twenty percent gratuity that was added due to our table of six. The group I was with never leaves less than that, but considering the near criminally negligent service, we considered speaking to the manager. In the end we didn’t want to cause a stink. I hope management can rectify the service issues because the food was good.

I have always heard this place was hit or miss and the reviews seem to reflect that as well. I have eaten here many times and it has been consistently good and I have never been disappointed. I have had some of the «best meals ever» on two occasions. There are several restaurants that I leave remembering something about the space or the ambiance but I usually leave here remembering the food.

I’ve been here twice now and it’s one of my favorite places in east Nashville. I’ve gotten the cheese plate both times, and it’s to die for, as well as the gnocchi, goat cheese brûlée and French onion soup. The atmosphere is wonderful especially the back patio, which is surrounded in lilac trees and pretty lights. The service has been great and very friendly though sometimes a little slow. All in all, a great place and a must try.

«Consistently horrible service; pretty good food.» Consider this a formal pitch for them to make this their slogan. Been here twice. Once for a work event. And again tonight with my wife’s employer (notice, I didn’t choose the restaurant). Same experience both times. Tonight however, since I didn’t want to make it an issue in front of my wife’s employer (I would usually inform the manager so that they might be able to address the issues in the future), I feel compelled to leave my thoughts here to help any readers out. Reservations were at 8 PM. We weren’t seated until 8:20 PM. We didn’t get any drinks until 8:45 PM. After they haphazardly (seemingly accidentally) delivered our meals one by one in about 3 – 5 minute increments (and of course no one ate until everyone got their meal) we were served our meals at around 10 PM. Her boss wanted desert. It was delivered to the table at 11 something. Ridiculously horrible service at every turn. No apologies or explanation from management or wait staff. No complimentary _​_​_​_​_​while we waited. Nothing. And of course gratuity was included with our party of 7. Horrifically mismanaged. Food was above average though. Would have been even better had it been hot. Will never revisit this restaurant.

We popped in here for a drink/​app and had never been to Eastland, so we’d thought we’d give it a try. It was Saturday and the restaurant was poppin off. We grabbed a seat at the bar and ordered a couple of our traditional starter cocktails. They got to us very quickly and I didn’t want to waste the bartender’s time while perusing the drink menu or asking for the wine list.
We settled in and took a look at the food menu. Nothing was really jumping out at us and to be fair, we were hyped to try another restaurant in the area that was recommended to us initially. But it was freezing out and we were hungry, so we thought we’d play it safe with a cheese board with a $ 3 add-​on of charcuterie and go from there. If we enjoyed the cheese and atmosphere, we’d stay for dinner.
The drinks were fine, but they weren’t anything complicated. We got a little concerned about the board when the bartender that took the order went home – right in the middle of a busy Saturday and the food seemed to be taking long. What was mind blowing was that when the bartender got busy (full bar, full restaurant, Saturday night, ONE bartender), one of the managers had to get behind the bar and make drinks. Clearly poor staff management to cut a key employee in the middle of a shift.
We also were laughing at the ridiculousness of the serving staff, which we found out later was emblematic of the neighborhood. Tattooed and gauged hipsters that looked like they fronted Blink-​182 cover bands. «All the… small things…» became the mantra while waiting for the food. They really must’ve loved the 90’s.
The cheese board finally comes and it’s dropped off by none other than Captain Neck-​Tattoo himself. He drops it and leaves. No explanation of the cheeses on the board, no explanation of the accoutrements – nothing. Well I would have wanted to get out of there too. The cheeses were all quite pedestrian (one goat, one either cheddar or gouda, and one that could have also been gouda or cheddar). Some mixed greens to fluff the plate, three pieces of stale bread (long croutons essentially), some candied nuts and figs, and a lazy drizzle of balsamic reduction. I’ve had better, more serious cheese boards at wineries. This was like, airport café level. And the $ 3 up-​charge for charcuterie? 4 slices of salami tri-​folded. Wow. You should be ashamed for even putting the word charcuterie on the menu. Chef should be ashamed, owner should be ashamed, the neighborhood should be ashamed.
And this is an example of a bigger problem we have now in the restaurant industry – this masquerade of what cuisine is in these gentrified, want-​to-​be-​hip neighborhoods. Oh, it’s on a granite board, served by some douche with full sleeves and blue hair in a former gas station – it must be sooo fantastic. The wannabe-​Brooklyn syndrome. I looked over at neighbor’s beet salad and it was simply ridiculous. Beets set to the right side of the circle, sauce in a line down the center with some sort of crushed nuts on the left. Ugh. Hilarious.
I guess you’re fooling the Nashville crowd, but we couldn’t leave fast enough. I couldn’t give it one star without having an entrée, but I won’t be fooled into thinking this is some hot East Nashville spot by forking over more money to have a deconstructed kale Caesar salad.

Great prices for happy hour! We weren’t starving so we ordered the pizza of the day, I think it was a muffuletta pizza for $ 6. It was okay. Not amazing. Drinks were pretty good though and cheap!

Great food for our company dinner. Fresh, pretty fast and consistent! Staff knew the food and drinks to pair. Must go even if you don’t buy out the restaurant and have a set menu!

This review is merely for happy hour. There were plenty of drink and food options with great prices for happy hour. The outdoor space is very nice and comfortable. There was nothing remarkable about the food– we had the pot stickers margarita pizza and pimento jalapeño cheese dip and all tasted pretty good… But I’m sure those were the same pot stickers I buy at trader joes. Alas, the taste and speed of delivery were both good … I’m excited to come back again to dinner. Oh and the sangria was great!

4.5
Eastland Café might not get the press/​attention of some of its neighbors or comparable restaurants in the city but, trust, it’s serving up some excellent food, satisfying cocktails and engaged service — all in an environment you’re going to want to experience. It had been on my to-​try list for months and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to go there. Parking’s a breeze (street or nearby lot) so don’t let that be a deterrent (and, please, don’t park across the street).
Once you walk in, you realize that the space is a bit bigger than it appears from the street. This allows your group of six (or so) to be as comfortable as you might be on a date. It’s homey and inviting but doesn’t sacrifice ambiance for either. As is my custom, I began the evening with a cocktail before delving into wine/​beer. As an homage to my many years in Chicago, I opted for the Violet Hour: gin, lemon, simple syrup, and lavender bitters. Unsurprisingly, it was a floral yet muted beginning to the evening. I’m not the world’s biggest gin fan but I found myself intrigued by this cocktail. I’d, gladly, order it again. As I sipped my cocktail and took in the mood lighting, our waitress brought out a hot bread basket with chimichurri. Pace yourself on this or else it’s game over. Because we weren’t carb-​loaded enough, we ordered the chitarra pasta — which I liked saying because, Thundercats. It’s an addictive mélange of: red bell pepper emulsion, sun dried tomato, garlic, shallot, chile, and tapenade croûton. Incredible.
For dinner, I thought I’d slow it down with a beer and some comfort food. I was looking for a barleywine but there wasn’t any on the menu. I didn’t hold it against them. Nashville is still getting its footing when it comes to beer. I ‘settled’ for a bourbon barrel ale to accompany shrimp & grits. Yes, I came to a restaurant like Eastland Café and ordered shrimp & grits. And, you know what? I’d do it again. These were ridiculous. Even though I am a native southerner, I am relatively new to the world of grits. I blame Cream of Wheat and early school days. Now that I know the warm hug of properly-​prepared cheese grits, it’s a new story. Not only did the plate have an ample amount of sweet & meaty shrimp, the grits were a star in their own right (and not just a side show). To the cheese grits add a healthy dose of mushrooms, green onion and lemon… and, man… don’t even know. Again, coupled with my beer, it was the perfect pairing for a cold evening.
But, if I was going all in, I couldn’t just stop there, right? I had to have dessert. I had to have the granny smith apple donut. I mean, it’s apple rings (healthy) fried in a cinnamon dough (donuts) and served with caramel ice cream/​gelato/​I don’t know. My eyes had glazed. My ears weren’t functioning. All I knew is that I had to eat every morsel of food on that plate. All else was inconsequential. After dinner, I barely made it home before popping my top button on my pants and passing out.
Yeah, Eastland Café needs to be in your rotation.

I’ve lived in Nashville for 9 years, and never gone to Eastland Café. I heard great things for a long time about the restaurant so decided to try it.. . Honestly, I would give a 3.5 Star review if I could. It wasn’t bad at all.. . just wasn’t what I expected from the hype and for the money.
Husband and I popped in for a quick dinner on a Sunday. We got a table right away, and the service was really good. We both ordered cocktails, but my husband had to send his back — it didn’t taste much like the description, and the bourbon was weak (weak enough that I could sip it — and I hate bourbon). .. our server even agreed. We sent it back and he just ordered Bourbon on the rocks. However, my drink was great (gin, lavender and rosemary I believe).
We ordered the Margherita pizza and shrimp and grits. We didn’t want too much, so we decided to split the shrimp and grits. $ 4 plate sharing fee.. .ugh. Really? The shrimp and grits were good, different — with a French flare, but good.
The décor was nice, service from our waiter was really good, but the food.. . it was just good. Granted pizza and shrimp and grits aren’t anything adventurous.. . but still — for the cost of the drinks and food.
I’ll definitely try it again and order something different.. .. but it took my 9 years to get there the first time.

Reading through the reviews of Eastland Café prior to our dinner we expected a mixed bag of experiences. We got just that.
The bartender (Will) was lovely to chat with and very accommodating while we waited for the rest of our party to arrive.
Once we all sat down it took the server about 15 minutes to get to us at all… and the restaurant wasn’t even full. We ordered appetizers which were overall delicious: pork belly, charcuterie plate, fried green tomatoes (not so delicious) but then had to pull the waiter back to order our meal.
While others complained their chicken was dry and without flavor, ours was really yummy. Seems strange for a restaurant to have so many inconsistencies. They also charge $ 4 to split a plate which seems ridiculous to me. We had several courses!
Overall the food was good but the service was really bad. It would be hard to recommend this restaurant to others.

So I have a mixed feelings about this place.
Lets start with logistics — good luck getting a seat on time (even with reservations — we waited about an hour) because this spot has become insanely popular (especially during the winter). They also seem to run out of things rather quickly (i’m assuming popularity has something to do it — then again popularity might be a sign of how they are doing things right).
There seems to be an utter shortage of staff and I felt really bad for those that were there, just completely unable to keep up.
Now the food is to die for and probably the best I will ever have in Nashville without losing my bank account. Everything from the bread to the salmon to the goat cheese spread is a heavenly experience.
The portions may not be French, but they are on the smaller side of things for an American food standards. I will also say that the staff was super friendly to do what they could to take care of us when things died down and give us alternative menu options and comp us for the wait — which I really appreciate.