Jimmy Kelly’s Steakhouse

Yuck!!!
There are four types of people who give Jimmy Kelly’s anything higher than 2 stars.
1) Those on Jimmy Kelly’s payroll
2) Those born without taste buds
3) Those rating the service, not the food
4) Those who simply feel sorry for Jimmy Kelly’s and never give low ratings
Come on down and try our steaks. We have expensive food, a great atmosphere, and we’ve been open for decades. We have to be good! Just Kidding!!! How apropos that their initials are J.K.
I have never talked to anyone who was satisfied at Jimmy Kelly’s. Everyone I know walked away disappointed, dumbfounded at how they stay in business. The word «steak» is part of their title, and yet these are quite possibly the worst steaks in Nashville. Absolutely flavorless at a cost of $ 40.
The cheeseburger, yikes! The salad, uh! The Au Gratin Potatoes, awful! The Twice Baked Potato, yeesh! The shrimp and grits, barf! I’d rather eat my way across the lawn than eat this food again!
And being notorious for getting orders wrong, especially improperly cooked steaks, is inexcusable!
Mike Kelly, you have completely given up! You can’t charge these exorbitant prices and serve poor quality food! Maybe your predecessors could in 1934, but not in America’s new It City with so many other options. How does this place stay in business??? I’ll tell you how. When you Google «best steak in Nashville,» the first restaurant that pops up is inexplicably Jimmy Kelly’s. So they make their money off unsuspecting tourists who believe Google, but then walk away disappointed. And of course there are the «old money» customers who lost their ability to taste many decades ago. What an embarrassment for our city of great restaurants.
Better ideas!
Kayne Prime — 1.4 miles away — Best New York Strip in Tennessee — 14 oz./$ 38
Etch — 2.1 miles away — The perfect filet at a legendary restaurant — 7 oz./$ 38
Stoney River — 1 mile away — A marvelous cowboy cut — 22 oz./$ 42
Ruth’s Chris — 0.4 miles away — A masterful ribeye for a chain restaurant — 12 oz./$ 50
Fleming’s — 0.6 miles away — A delectable filet mignon — 12 oz./$ 44.50

Been a tradition to come here every year for last 8 years. Made our annual visit last week. Bar and staff good as always. Food– not good at all. The Cowboy steak, terrible, thin, no flavor. Not what I expect from a $ 40 steak. Sea Bass– looked like 4 oz’s, about 3 bites and gone. Sides– twice baked– not good at all, Broccoli with cheese sauce– tasted like Nacho cheese– 3 of us, $ 300 with wine– no thanks. My last time here and very unfortunate as we really liked coming here. I can spend this much in too many places in Nashville with much better results. Hope they get it together.

We had a lovely experience at Jimmy Kelly’s tonight. Our food as excellent and the service was superb. After reading some of the reviews I was worried about ordering a bland, unseasoned steak. I ordered the filet and my husband ordered the cowboy steak. Both were so fabulous even without seasoning and cooked to perfection. The meat had such good flavor that no seasoning was needed, just pure beef flavor to the max!
Our server, Claud, was great and took really good care of us and paid just enough attention without being in the way.
Yes, the place is a throw-​back but we enjoyed the ambiance and had a fabulous meal. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because the food is soooo pricey. Our blackened catfish appetizer was a joke, so tiny (one itty bitty piece) and $ 9 bucks. Wouldn’t do that again.

I don’t typically review things online and I’m not the kind of person to complain about stuff, but I was thoroughly disappointed with my experience here. It has a reputation for the «Best Steakhouse in Nashville,» but other than the tradition and décor, I can’t understand why. Before I state the negative, I do want to say that the steaks are huge and the place is gorgeous. I came for Valentine’s Day and was hoping to have an awesome and romantic experience with my girlfriend. Unfortunately, they took us upstairs into a tiny room where no one was talking and seated us a a four-​person table. This initially made it awkward because originally we were sitting across from each other, as is etiquette, but everyone else in the room was sitting catty-​corner from each other so we, too, switched. The level of quiet in the room was such that we were afraid to speak and disturb the peace. I understand candlelit dinner, but this situation was prohibitive to our dining experience. Next, our waiter tried insulting me by explaining that the salad comes on the «side» of the meal instead of on the steak when I asked him if the dressing came on top or on the side. Finally, the food was mediocre. We both had steaks, she got the Kansas City cut, and I honestly can’t remember what I had it was so forgettable. The steaks were definitely large and looked delicious but were tough, chewy, and lacking flavor. When the check came, I was astounded that it was so expensive. $ 138 with tax and tip for two mediocre steak dinners is absolutely ludicrous. Particularly, when I could have taken my girlfriend to Texas Roadhouse, purchased top-​of-​their-​line, personally-​selected steaks for $ 40 each, talked openly at the two person table they would have sat us at, and kept the whole bill under $ 120. Very disappointed, we will not be returning to Jimmy Kelly’s. My only regret is that I would have read the Unilocal!reviews instead of the Google reviews. The Unilocal!score of 3.5 is much closer to the actual rating than the Google 4.3

My experience at this restaurant was not good at all. I could complain about the price or the food, but really I’m just totally unimpressed with the whole restaurant. It really takes one back in time and feels very stale. Plus, there’s something about the «old time feel» shall we say. Our waiter was very good, and made us laugh. Overall, I believe this place is way overpriced and I have no intention of ever going back.

Can’t argue with traditional Nashville! Our Valentine’s Day «special occasion» treat and I was not disappointed! Had reservations and we were seated immediately – upstairs, same room as our only previous visit. Fire in the fireplace and perfect lighting – Robert was our server and we think he was our server before!
Thought we would have the Chateaubriand (traditional preparation served with a burgundy & mushroom wine sauce) since we love it and it was romantically «for two.» It came with salad and baked potato so was more than enough food.
First treat was mini hot water cornbread (what I call it)…so sweet and perfect size. Loved the salad: The Original Faucon Salad (mixed salty bacon, hard boiled eggs and Bleu cheese served on iceberg lettuce). The steak came and mine was cooked to perfection. Hubbie’s was a little on the fatty side so he was not a happy camper. The wine/​mushroom sauce could have been thicker, but the flavor was true to taste. The meat could be cut with a fork and its seasoning was that unique Jimmy Kelly flavor. The meal included a broccoli branch or two and a large baked potato… perfect compliments to the meat. We didn’t find anything on the dessert menu that appealed at the moment, so we passed on that.
We were in and out in about an hour – probably could have lingered, but decided to get going.
All in all, a really nice meal – good olé southern comfort!

Great food, great service! First timers… aside from the fish smell (assuming because of the Sea Bass special) & the moldy floors in the women’s restroom, we enjoyed our V-​Day dinner.

First time dining here. A group of 4 for my father-​in-​laws birthday.
The ambiance and service is what really makes this place. It was quiet. We had a nice table upstairs. Some background music would be nice. Our server Steve was great! He shared lots of information about the specials, drinks, sides etc. He was very attentive and timely with our orders, drinks etc.
The food:
We all ordered steaks. I ordered the combo of half filet and shrimp. It was a 4oz which was fine with me and came with two large butterflied prawns. I was a little disappointed with the Bearnaise sauce. $ 2.25 for it and it comes in a tiny container. about what you’d get with a side of ranch. Also, the «famous» twice baked potatoes are loaded with horseradish. we were unaware and quite surprised at how spicy they were. Not a typical twice baked potato ingredient. BEWARE. Creamed spinach. meh. nothing great either. Our salads that came with our meal was a handful of spring mix and a few tomatoes. nothing special.
The steaks were mediocre at best. We asked our server what they were seasoned with and he said «they don’t season them. They take them straight out of the package and put them on the grill.» couldn’t believe that! who doesn’t season a steak?! so, not surprisingly, they were incredibly bland.
We ordered crème brûlée for dessert, sugar was slightly burned so we had to remove most of the crust on top.
Overall it wasn’t the worst meal I’ve had. Thankfully we had a giftcard that covered the majority of our bill. I would have been devastated to spend that type of money on a meal like that. Better luck at Stoney River if you want to throw down some cash on GREAT food, or Longhorn. Really. There isn’t really anything that would make me want to come back unless maybe the atmosphere and some dessert.

I don’t claim to be a foody, however, I have eaten at most of the high-​end restaurants in the city. My wife and I were somewhat apprehensive about our Valentine’s dinner at Jimmy Kelly’s after reading many of the reviews here.
We were pleasantly surprised. The service (Fred, who has been there for 40 years) was excellent. Everything was on time and attentive without being intrusive. The only glitch was being asked what we wanted to drink without being presented a wine list.
This is old school Nashville, before it was the It City, and is an institution. Very cramped, but a nice feel.
App crab cakes were probably over priced, but were good-​tasting, southern cooking style and tasty, not your Maryland classics.
The steaks were tender and stood on their own merit, not highly seasoned but a good cut of meat. Mine was medium rare and on point. My wife’s was also medium rare but was ordered medium. I ordered mine bleu cheese stuffed and the amount of cheese was a little overwhelming, but I just pushed what I didn’t want aside.
The side salads were a good green mix; the dressings were so so.
The potatoes au gratin were so rich they make your teeth hurt and were cooked just right.
The corn cakes were a nice extra, not up to the standards of Nero’s, but very tasty.
Overall a very enjoyable night.

Extremely overpriced. Everybody stares at you trying to figure out if you’re important or not. LOL
I know it’s all part of the ‘timing’ experience, but I am just not about having a 7pm reservation and not having dinner til after 9:45. I had forgotten what I ordered at that point, and my stomach had given up hope on eating anything besides those corn bread pancake bites. We were a party of 10 and they sat us outside by the fountain… I was freezing. The calamari was good… my shrimp and grits were disgusting. Took it to go just cuz I felt bad. Our server was nice and very attentive… but for $ 150, I could go to Kroger, the liquor store, and hit up a candle palace and make our own at home romantic dinner… it was a nice new thing to try, and I wouldn’t be 100% opposed to returning, but I just felt weird paying that much for something that just had me feeling ‘meh’.

Went after work on a Friday evening a couple weeks ago.
The service was great but our food was a huge disappointment.
Small portions and not worth the money… at all.
My friend had what she described as a small, tasteless steak and I had the fish special.
We were given «cold small pancakes instead of warm rolls» we sent our drink back as it
tasted horrible. I was charged $ 9.00 for a gin and pepsi the size of a juice glass.
I was expecting a «special» experience and left feeling… dissatisfied… I won’t go
back.

Steaks are comparable to Wal-​Mart quality beef. Actually, at one time, they teamed up with Wal-​Mart to see if people could tell the difference in their «premium» beef vs. Wal-Mart’s. I believe they kept using the other stuff after the challenge.
Service is excellent, the food just doesn’t match up.
The cornbread medallions are the only thing worth eating other than the French fries and the shrimp cocktail. Main courses and salad were awful.
I ordered my steak medium rare and it was almost medium well.
Old establishment that needs to go ahead and retire.
I was told it was a Nashville classic, I’d rather spend $ 100+ at Stoney River, Fleming’s, or Ruth’s Chris for sure.

I feel the need to write this review as kind of a PSA to the world. I feel like Jimmy Kelly’s is a place that Nashville old money goes to feel good about being Nashville old money, and maybe it was good back in the day, but my recent experience was terrible.
The first red flag: we had a party of 35 – 40 people and only two servers assigned to us. We sat down at about 7:30 and around 8:15 I started begging our server to bring out those corn pancakes I had read about because I was starving and actual food did not seem to be forthcoming. They were pretty good. We didn’t place our orders until around 8:30. I ordered the burger because it’s the only actual entrée that costs less than $ 30 and it looked decent in pictures I had googled. It comes with a side salad; I asked if I could get a Caesar. Sure, but it’ll be $ 6.50. What?!
Then we waited about an hour for our food to arrive. And I honestly thought the burgers they delivered to our table might have been a joke. I’ve uploaded some photos so everyone knows I’m not exaggerating. I was presented with a HUGE, flavorless ground beef patty slapped on a bun with maybe some cheese on it… no lettuce, no tomato, no nothing. The sheer size of the thing made it inedible, but it also had zero flavor: no salt, no seasoning whatsoever, super dry. Gross. The fries they served it with were laughable as well. Our server said that the size of the burger makes the fries look small… orrrr maybe it’s the fact that there are LITERALLY EIGHT FRIES on the plate (I swear I hadn’t eaten any before taking the picture I uploaded). I mean really?! I cut the burger in half, ate 25% of it, gave 25% of it to the guy sitting next to me (who said his bone-​in filet was flavorless as well) and fed the other half to my dogs.
I heard the desserts there are pretty good but I wouldn’t know; since it had taken 2 hours from the time we all sat down to get our food, I wasn’t willing to wait another hour for dessert. I asked for my check at about 10, received it around 10:25 and got the heck out of there. We definitely will not be back.
The only reason I didn’t give a one-​star rating is because there was no hair in the food or anything, and they did in fact serve actual food, even though it was terrible.

The restaurant is in an old house with a lot of atmosphere. The menu is a trip back in time: meat and potatoes are emphasized. I had a combination of filet, salmon and shrimp. It was simple but good. The key lime pie was excellent. The baked potato was just that. My biggest complaint is the long wait for food to arrive. We arrived at 7:15, were seated promptly, but did not get our food until 8:45. We asked for bread but were told it (a signature kind of cornbread pancake) was only served with dinner. Our waiter did eventually bring some out in advance but acted like he was doing us a big favor. I ‘ll give them credit for reasonably priced wine choices.
It was Ok. I’ll spend our $ 130 somewhere else next time.

My boyfriend treated me to dinner here for my birthday last weekend. It was a huge disappointment. For the amount we spent I was expecting a really nice steakhouse experience, and what we got was more like steak and shake. First, we got there and were seated in a small room next to the kitchen. Cool, no problem. But as soon as we sat down we realized there was another party crammed into the room. This party was a group of at least 10 and boy were they loud. Not only were they loud but the TOPICS of their fantastically shouted conversation was extra exciting. Highlights include: detailed descriptions of the birthing experience of several of the women (shout out to the 8+ lb baby that «broke his mama’s tailbone!»); in depth discussion of how one man couldn’t have sugar (after he ordered his FOURTH cocktail) because he was having a COLONOSCOPY, which in turn lead to some of the other gentleman at the table discussing their recent health screening related experiences; at one point the server brought out a plate of bread and one of the women yelled «MAN THIS DONT NEED BUTTER OR NUTHIN!» Prompting a discussion of how another woman was «allergic to butter». This is just a taste of the conversation we experienced which wouldn’t have been so bad but they were so loud it was literally impossible to ignore. It was so loud I couldn’t hear my boyfriend sitting directly in front of me. I thought, gee he made these reservations and they’re busy we’ll make the best of it, but as the server continued to bring them more and more alcohol it got more and more trashy. For that part of the experience alone, I wouldn’t return. I prefer my nice nights out sans over-​served trashy people who have no idea how to act in public.
Now on to the actual meal. The wine list is limited and over priced, but we were expecting that and happily ordered a few drinks because we were celebrating (and then because I was trying to drown out the Beverly hillbillies at the table next to us) but the food itself was substandard and that is being kind. This restaurant is obviously geared towards older and elderly patrons, the menu is fantastically oversized with giant font and nothing had ANY seasoning to speak of.
We ordered the fried calamari which was nicely fried although a bit oily, it came with marinara sauce which was fine, but obviously out of the jar. While the breading was fine, we had to salt the calamari several times to give it any actual flavor.
We each ordered a filet medium rare, and split Mac and cheese and potatoes au gratin. Again, the steaks were well cooked but completely lacking seasoning. I have NEVER had to salt a steak in a restaurant before, let alone one that calls itself a STEAKHOUSE. But I had to salt it repeatedly to give it any flavor. The potatoes Au gratin might as well have been called potatoes au pepper because they were undercooked slices of crunchy potato with so much pepper that I couldn’t eat them. The Mac and cheese was the best part of the meal, but was a chunk cut from a pre-​made casserole type mac and cheese and lacking moisture. They used a particularly sharp cheese in this one so at least it had flavor but the cheese was so strong it was almost overwhelming.
The server apologized several times for essentially leaving us to fend for ourselves. He was doing what he could, but the table next to us was running him ragged and it seemed that he had absolutely no help. He was nice enough to bring us a slice of cake with a candle for my birthday and he tried his best so it really wasn’t him that caused the bad experience.
If you like bland food, crowded rooms, and spending a lot of money then sure, check them out. This would be a great place to take someone who cannot handle flavor or sodium. Otherwise, I’ve had better steaks, service, and conversation at Outback at a fraction of the cost.

I took advantage of Jimmy Kelly’s half off gift cards during Thanksgiving and took my wife to dinner last night. It was my first time at the restaurant, which I understood recently was renovated. The place looked great; well decorated for the holidays and very clean. We had a 7:30 reservation, and were setting by 7:45 in an upstairs room which I preferred because it was a little rowdy downstairs.
Our waiter moved a million miles a minutes; he talked too fast to really grasp what he was saying (salad dressings, specials, what comes with a meal) but it was understandable because they were very busy. Our drinks arrived very quickly, and the food while not speedy didn’t take too long.
The steaks (a ribeye and a filet) were very well cooked medium rare and the cuts were generous but I don’t think they’re cooked with any seasoning (not even a touch of salt or pepper). I don’t think I’ve ever put salt on a cooked steak before, especially from a restaurant that’s charging $ 40 for one. Still, the taste of the meat itself was good just not good enough to stand alone after a couple of bites. I highly recommend getting one of the sauces, it would have been worth the extra couple dollars. For sides we had a twice baked potato (very good) and the salad (very tart and tangy vinaigrette, I liked it my wife did not). With two cocktails and two glasses of wine our total was around $ 120 plus a tip.
I should also mention that at one point while sitting at our table a wasp walked across it… followed by another. This startled my wife and killing a couple wasp with a napkin was something that usually happens at a fine dining restaurant, but it’s an old house and I’m sure it’s easy for bugs to sneak their was in so I took care of it discretely so not to disturbed the other dinners. But, for awhile we couldn’t help but keep looking over by the window and under the table for more wasp.
Bottom line, it was a good dining experience, but not great and certainly not worth the cost considering all the other fine dining options in Nashville.

The blackened catfish is amazing! It’s a great appetizer or entrée. The salmon is great too! You really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu here. My favorite thing to get is the mixed grill with half a filet, shrimp, and salmon.

Gorgeous place. Read about it being one of the best steak places in Nashville in Southwest magazine. Terrible server who spoke so quickly that we could barely understand what he was saying and spent no time explaining menu. Steaks were okay, but certainly not worthy of the price or worthy of being mentioned in Southwest magazine. We were seated on the second floor and it was so hot in the room that we couldn’t wait to leave. We won’t go back.

We decided to go to the historic Jimmy Kelly’s for our 29^th Anniversary dinner, as we had one year ago, and were excited to see the recently completed renovations they announced in their emails. Unfortunately, as soon as we arrived, we were taken directly through the first dining room out the side door to a table situated on the inside porch, so we really didn’t see any changes from the last time we were there. The host showed us to the table located at the doorway to the patio, and walked away, not noticing the errant jumbo shrimp tail that awaited me at my place setting. Gross.
Another couple was then seated at the table across from us. As we sat at our empty table with that random crustacean remnant staring at us, I couldn’t help but notice as a waiter promptly arrived at the other table, greeted them with menus and took their beverage order.
Minutes passed as we sat waiting to see who our server was. The other table received their drinks and a sample of house corn cakes, and we fidgeted awkwardly, talking about the menu we had read online, wondering when we would see one in person. I actually watched that table receive their salads before we even met our waiter.
Finally a server came over, introduced himself, but before anything further, I asked him to please remove the shrimp shell. He snatched it up, apologized and said he’d return with glasses of water. It wasn’t until he brought waters that he delivered the menus and we asked if there were any specials that night. He stated there were not, though he did tell us about the fish of the day, which happened to be the same as one year ago, Chilean Sea Bass with Beurre Blanc, but I’d had that last visit and was looking to try something different. We did request some bourbons and an order of the crab cakes appetizer, which were over-​cooked on the bottom but otherwise satisfactory.
We then decided upon our entrée. I’ve always wanted to try the Chateaubriand for Two so we ordered that and although all other entrees came with salad and baked potato, we were told it came with salad and broccoli. Knowing I don’t particularly care for plain, steamed broccoli, my husband asked the waiter to «dress it up» for us. Salads arrived, but I remembered from last year that the house salad was and still is the definition of «meh.» Just mixed greens, two little tomatoes and a tart balsamic.
Aware that our entrée took longer to prepare, it was probably about 30 minutes later that I smelled an aroma surround me and asked my husband if our food had arrived. Our server was busy somehow preparing the entrée, but I have no idea how it looked upon arrival nor what the preparation process involved, since he had situated his tray behind me.
The oval plates were presented before us, containing from left to right: broccoli, sliced mushrooms, three hearty slices of filet topped with burgundy sauce. Both the beef, perfectly cooked to requested medium-​rare, and burgundy sauce were delicious, mushrooms were adequate, broccoli was completely uncooked, no seasoning whatsoever, definitely not worth the effort to chew. Temperature on all was tepid at best.
As the other waiter gave the table across from us their check, he asked if it was a special occasion, and accordingly wished them a happy anniversary as they were paying their bill.
We chose to share a dessert, the apple pie cobbler. It arrived on a very hot, flat plate, making it difficult to chase around the melted ice cream. I found the cobbler itself to be grainy, pasty and rather unappealing. This was one of the very few times we left more than half of a dessert on the plate.
We waited too long to get the check, especially since our table was situated directly over the air conditioning vent, and it was definitely blowing cold air through the second half of our meal. The bill finally arrived, along with a Customer Satisfaction Survey brochure, which I was going to fill out, but reaching for a pen in my purse as I opened the flyer, I discovered that it had already been completed, dated two days before. That customer actually left praises, perhaps a Saturday is a better night to dine there than our Monday.
When we were first seated. there was a party on the patio, so it was pretty noisy, but it disbursed about halfway through our visit. Still, it was awkward being in the doorway of the two. Nothing was as annoying as the constant creaking and banging as the door to the inside was continuously used by the wait staff throughout service.
The atmosphere itself in the room, which was a type of sunroom, perhaps, was uncomfortable, awkward. I didn’t feel like a valued guest, instead felt like we were gratuitously being «fit in» at some extra space. Our waiter was not particularly attentive nor accommodating, though he certainly was cordial and personable.
As we were leaving we noted that our server never asked if it was any occasion. In fact, there was nothing about the visit that felt even remotely special.

Little-​known fact: Most teachers do not go into teaching for the money. Hard to believe, given the exorbitant salaries and sweet benefits (you know… sexy cars, free concert tickets, occasionally the chocolate milk that the cafeteria didn’t manage to sell that day). Given my bountiful cash, I tend to frequent many expensive restaurants.
But seriously. Given how rarely I can afford to go to a restaurant that doesn’t feature free chips and salsa, I want to be wowed when I shell out for a meal. And Jimmy Kelly’s does require you to shell out.
The steak was good. But was it incredible? Was it forty dollars worth of beefy heaven? No. It was good. (The twice-​baked potato, however, may have been an ethereal, carb-​laden gift from above.) It is also my understanding that the tiny pancake-​y bread that is served is also good (not gluten-​free though).
To be honest, my favorite part of the meal was our server, John, who had the fantastic personality you would expect from a retired guy who’s just working because he wants to. We had a jolly old time. But did we have two hundred dollars for four people eating worth of a time? Eh.