"Came here to celebrate the birthday of a dear with a party of 8. Called the restaurant and noted that I had a “no pork/shellfish” dietary restriction and asked if it would be a problem for their pre fixe dinner. Received a phone call (I believe from Nick directly, the owner and said that I would be taken care of. As the dinner went on I received a substitution for their bolognese dish (some sort of Conchiglie with a pesto sauce. Quite nice actually and we also had a guest at our table who was gluten free and she received multiple substitutions to accommodate her restrictions as well. When it came down to the last entrees (a chicken and pork loin dish I noticed I did not get a substitution dish for the pork loin. I asked our server Nellie (who was absolutely wonderful and quite attentive if I should expect a substitute dish. She said no. Then I asked “well, would you guys just mind prorating my bill since I was only served 9 courses instead of 10 like everyone else?”. She said they don’t really do that but would ask about some kind of substitution but came back with “we can give you more chicken”. I didn’t cause a fuss or make a scene and asked her to package it to go and I would take it home. I paid my $175 bill without any protest and left a note for management on my receipt that said something to the effect of “if you are going to charge for a 10 course pre fixe dinner, then please ensure that all guests receive 10 courses”. Nashville is a tough restaurant market right now and places have been closing left and right. I thought privately sharing this piece of constructive criticism instead of making a scene about it in the restaurant was a kind and helpful thing to do. A few of us lingered outside the restaurant (birthday boy included to chat and Nick comes out of the restaurant with my receipt and note in hand, walks right up to me proceeds to tell me how I received the same thing as everyone else and I should be grateful that I was taken care of. I responded saying that I received 9 courses, not 10 and that offering up leftovers of something that I already had (and was already entitled to as there was extra food left over from our table anyway was insufficient. 9 courses leftovers DOES NOT 10 courses. Nick doubled down and said “you should think about that before you write another note like that again”. Sounded vaguely threatening, but more than that I was just shocked that a restaurant owner would chose to be combative with a guest in front of 4 other customers who had an otherwise great night at their restaurant instead of just considering what was said (and if he wanted, just dismissing it . He could’ve asked me to step back inside and chat about it privately or apologize about any misunderstandings regarding their substitution polices (I learned from friends of mine who used to work there that “more of something” and not “something else” is their typically substitution policy regarding meat; perhaps I missed that on the website? . We spent over $1000 with you guys tonight and now after that unnecessarily interaction it’s likely many of us and our friends won’t ever come back. I hope you consider different conflict resolution practices in the future. To be clear, this is not an apology. Dietary restrictions: For their Friday/Saturday feasts, they seem to cater to gluten free fairly well, but not to protein restrictions. May offer more of something you’ve already had instead of an actual course substitution. Service: Dine in Meal type: Dinner Price per person: $100 Food: 3 Service: 2 Atmosphere: 3"
