Nashville Food Friday: Puckett's Grocery Downtown

Last week was Restaurant Week here in Nashville. That meant that a lot of really good local restaurants had a special deal and menu for $20.12. Did I mention that I'm a sucker for a bargain? I usually use restaurant week to try out places that I haven't been before. The price is right and I figure that the establishments are putting their best foot forward trying to woo new customers. Steve and I decided to do two nights of restaurant dining, the first of which was Puckett's Downtown. I have been to the Puckett's in Franklin before, but only for breakfast. This location and meal were new to me.

 

Puckett's is a very small local chain with about 3 restaurant locations and a new "Boathouse" branch in Franklin that focuses on seafood. It is pretty much a regular southern-style meat and three. The menu is traditional and the decor is sparse but homey. There is live music every night. While I wasn't personally blown away by the band they had the night we were there (I'm not much of a country music fan) you could tell the the rest of the restaurant was digging it. Its central downtown location means it attracts tourists, and tourists come to Nashville to see live (usually country) music. I'm happy they are giving the people what they want.

The restaurant week menu usually consists of an appetizer, entree and dessert. Puckett's replaced the appetizer with a salad and added a soft drink. The entree choices were pretty good and there were a few options I was interested in.

For the drink, I saw lemonade on the menu. GREAT! I love lemonade. I was very disappointed when it turns out to be just Minute Maid that tasted like it was right out of a can. Totally over-sweet and gross. I expected a southern restaurant to serve real handmade lemonade. Poops to this. I ordered a water and stuck with that.

The salad was also very non-impressive. It was just regular greens, Kroger quality tomatoes, onions and processed cheese. The salad dressing choices were the norm and I opted for the raspberry vinaigrette. Everything was fresh, but rather boring. I wish Puckett's put an actual appetizer as an option instead of the boring salad.

What the lemonade and salad lacked, the steak made up for. I asked for it medium rare- and boy did I get it. The inside was red and bloody, just the way I like it. The moonshine glaze was delicious and didn't overpower the meat. It added just a little bit of sweetness and nothing more. The portion was massive and I had to take half of the steak home. Oh, and the fat? This piece of meat was fatty and perfect. The sweet potatoes were also really good. Steve kept raving about them. I agree. I was disappointed that the vegetable side dish wasn't what the menu said. It was supposed to be bacon-wrapped green beans. Instead, it was just beans and red peppers. Ung. All I could think of was that the restaurant was cutting corners-promise one thing, serve a cheaper option. The beans and peppers were good, but come on, anything with bacon is automatically better.

Steve had the Chicken Cordon Que. It was a heart attack on a plate. Fried chicken, pulled pork, cheese and a cream sauce?! I can feel my arteries closing. Steve loved this dish and I believed him. He ate the whole thing and I only got one bite.

The dessert was Peach Cobbler. The waitress asked us if we wanted ice cream on it. Restaurants ALWAYS try to up-sell without telling you the additional cost during Restaurant week. Because I've been through that before, I asked how much- $2 a scoop. $2 a scoop for vanilla ice cream that should be included anyway? We declined. Hey Puckett's-always serve cobbler with ice cream include!. The cobbler was stickier they any I have had before. Almost like if semi-cooked dough and bread pudding had a baby. Despite the strange consistency, it was delicious. I was licking the bowl hoping more would magically appear.

Overall, it was a pretty good date night. While I think Puckett's would be great most of the year, I would not recommend going for the Restaurant Week specials. The deals weren't so great and you can probably get exactly what you want on the menu for the same price.

And the best part? Looking at this handsome mustachioed man all night.