Nashville Food Friday: Tenn 16

A few weeks ago Steve and I were thinking of a place to meet a friend for brunch. Some of our favorites had over an hour wait and to put it mildly, my stomach was very impatient. A quick Google search later and we ended up at Tenn 16, the newest pub on the 5 Points scene.

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I'm going to be (a lot) harsh here: the decor is terrible. Despite the name of the restaurant being an abbreviation for Tennessee and the logo being an outline of our fair state, the theme inside is apparently New Orleans Mardi Gras. WHAT?! This is the most confused theme I have ever seen. I guess to drive home the Mardi Gras vibe they painted the walls a variety of yellows, purples and greens while hanging the most hideous plastic bead lighting fixtures I've ever seen. Add to this a dizzying array of flat screen TVs and some really terrible paintings you have a big mish-mosh of decor. I think the whole thing would be better if they created a theme around the name- a very TN-focused vibe, or change the name and go full-on Louisiana.

Since it was Sunday Funday we decided to have a few adult beverages with our meal. The beer selection on tap was quite impressive as well as their bottle list. Unfortunately, they didn't have in stock everything that was listed on the menu. Twice Steve ordered a beer and twice our waitress came back to tell him that they were out of it. Super disappointing to Steve. He did finally wind up with one of our favorites, the chocolate stout from Fort Collins Brewery.

I went with the perennial morning favorite, the Bloody Mary. Tenn 16 made a solid one and I'm always a fan when it's garnished with pickled okra.

For my entree I chose the three egg omelet with veggies and cheese with a side of cheesy home fries. This omelet was inedible and I pretty much just picked out the vegetables and pushed the eggs to the side of the plate. Why? They cooked the omelet in a pan that was way too small for the amount of eggs and fillings, creating a small tough block of eggs that were terribly overcooked and stiff. Omelets should be light and fluffy and allow you to taste the joy of eggs (eggs are WONDERFUL). This omelet was more like a brick and less like a food product. The cheesy home fries were pretty awesome though. We all had them as sides for our entrees and agreed that these were our favorite part.

Steve ordered the crab benedict and once again Tenn 16 proved that they cannot cook an egg. Poached eggs that are traditionally served on a benedict are lightly cooked so that when you first put your fork to the egg the yolk gently pours out covering everything in golden deliciousness. Tenn 16's eggs were overcooked such that the yolk was mostly solid and nothing was runny.

The service wasn't very good either. Our waitress was forgetful and didn't stop at our table nearly enough. After we were done eating, she would stop by our table and ask if we needed anything else, and then leave without taking away the dirty plates. She did this twice before I told her explicitly that we were done and the plates could be taken away. Granted, my plate still had the stiff overcooked remnants of my omelet, but Steve and our friend had mostly cleared their plates. Tenn 16 was busy at this point, but they appeared to have enough staff working that the service should have been better.

Overall, I would say skip Tenn 16 for brunch. There are tons of places nearby that serve a solid brunch (Marche, Mad Donna's) that are definitely worth the wait. I would like to come back and try the more Cajun-themed dinner options and I would be more than happy to pop in here to have a drink with friends.