Big River Grille & Brewing Works

For a medium priced restaurant, the food was very good. We had the grilled salmon and Sweet Magnolia ribs with the Combo Sampler appetizer. The Salmon was flaky and the ribs so tender the meat fell off the bone. The beer sampler was at best mediocre with only two of the brews warranting the order of a glass. Unfortunately, the service was absolutely the worst ever. We had to ask three times for a glass of ice water which didn't appear until dinner was nearly over, we couldn't get refills for the kids' sodas until they were finished eating and the glass of stout ale went permanently MIA. Twice we physically got up from our table to wander around looking for our waiter and asked another waiter and the hostess to track him down for us. The restaurant was steadily busy with about a 20 minute table wait but we certainly didn't see anything like the kind of mob scene which would warrant such a total fail in service. Sad, really; it ruined what could have been a very enjoyable meal. more

Service was great, and our waiter was able to have a vegan waitress stop by our table to explore vegetarian options with our friends. My wife and I had no problem finding something suiting our tastes - the fish and chips were the best I've ever had. I'm not a local or I'd eat there regularly. I was pretty surprised. Pros: Expansive menu, great beer Cons: No vegetarian selections (not even a veggie burger) more

We visited Big River before the last two hockey games, having been disappointed with the service at two other downtown establishments, and we will never go anywhere else. The staff was very busy, yet took time to explain the beer and menu in detail, pointing out favorites and making recommendations. The Octoberfest Beer and the Rocket Red Ale were both outstanding, as were the selections from the Octoberfest menu. Our waitress was sweet and attentive despite the volume, and we never lacked for anything. I highly recommend Big River to anyone looking for good beer and good food with great service! Pros: food, beer, service Cons: can get a bit busy more

Read some bad reviews, but since a lot of people are idiots I thought I would try it for myself. Went prior to a Tuesday night Predator game with my son. Our waitress was great. The food was good. The manager checked on us. The stout beer was excellent!. It was happy hour so they were 3 bucks each. Good experience. Don't believe everything you read. more

My family recently visted Big River Grille in downtown Nashville this past November. We visited Nashville from Myrtle Beach and dined at Wildhorse Saloon, and Hard Rock, but the food and service at Big River put the other 2 restaurants to shame, we ate their on our last night and we wished we had eaten their the first so we could have avoided the Wildhorse and Hard Rock. They brew their own beers there and all 4 that we tried were amazing. The food was fantastic we had hazelnut chicken and filet with shrimp, followed by chocolate cake. It was hands down the best food we ate in Nashville. I would strongly recommend this resturant to anyone visting or living in the Nashville area, it is the perfect spot to start your night off before you go bar hopping. more

I went to the Big River Grille on two different nights while in Nashville at a conference, taking a group of 8 one night, a group of 22 the other. I have to admit that some of the other reviews made me reconsider going here, but it was too complicated to switch gears to another restaurant at the last minute, and I figured surely it could not be as bad as some of the other reviews indicated. Pros: Fast service, great food Cons: Can get a little noisy if busy more

My wife knows pizza and the best is at Big River. Great place to unwind from the busy week. Lighting was nice beer was clod and food was hot. Pros: food was great Cons: parking more

Went to Big River with a group of associates from a workshop in Nashville. Waiter was in a hurry and seemed to be inconvenienced by having to serve us. Thought food was good, but meal was ruined when a giant pest (am not allowed to type real word, but it was large!) began crawling on me! I am normally not afraid of pests, but this one appeared on my leg and moved its way up my body before someone at the table was able to get it off and squash it! While the manager was quick to have the carcass cleaned off the floor, she offered no apology and only said ""welcome to the city,"" which i found completely offensive since I live in Chicago and have never had a pest crawl on me while eating! No free meal was offered by her or waiter, even though it was obvious I wouldn't be finishing my dinner. When the bill came, I informed the manager I wouldn't pay, which she said was ok. Horrible customer service. Pros: food was good while i could still eat it Cons: service and cleanliness more

My sister and I went into have a drink at the bar. After waiting there for close to 10 minutes while the bartender ignored us, we were finally served another bartender who happened to walk back there. We are served our drinks finally, and everything is fine while we drink them. Cons: Drinks have insects in them, and the staff makes excuses. more

My first time at Big River was really awful, so after about a year I decided to give it a second chance. But the second time around wasn't that good either. It took a long time to get our food, our server wasn't that great and once our entrees finally came they weren't that great. But the appetizer was good as was the beer, if we could get refills and we got immediate seating on a busy Friday night. Also, the bathrooms weren't very clean. Pros: Outdoor patio, downtown night life, beer Cons: Parking, bathrooms, service, food. more

I was not impressed at all with the brewery. The beer was not very tasty. We all thought the food was very good though. We had the shrimp & grits, baby back ribs, chicken, mahi mahi sandwich & the halibut. Everyone was satisfied. Even though the crab dip appetizer was mostly mayonaise (not much crab). The service was not up to par. I had to take 2 of our drink glasses up to the bar to get ones without lipstick. (our waiter was no where around - he dropped of the pitcher of beer and ran). I explained this to the waiter upon his return but he never bothered to apologized. In fact, the people at the bar never apologized either. That seemed to the attitude of the entire staff. No one really cared. There were no warm fuzzies here! Pros: very good food Cons: poor dishwashing standards, wait staff needs to learn to WOW their customers more

The food here is edible, but definitely not good. That only gets magnified when the waitress was off in lala land. It took forever for her to take our order and the place wasn't even crowded. She finally got our order then finally brought our drinks. She made sure to not come back when drinks were completely empty, left the appetizer sitting on our table throughout the entire meal. Mayonaisse was put on the burger instead of mustard as requested. I don't know how much worse she could have been. Horrible experience, don't eat here. Cons: service, food more

Good food, but we were not happy with the staff or management at all. The manager refused to help us with some complaints we had against certain staff members, and we will not be patronizing this establishment again. Pros: Location, food, drinks Cons: Dishonest & grumpy staff more

a fabulous eating experience! amazing pepperjack nachos, fabulous crab stuffed chicken, extraordinary fish... more

a fabulous eating experience! amazing pepperjack nachos, fabulous crab stuffed chicken, extraordinary fish tacos & delish hazelnut chicken! and T... more

I went to Nashville in June, and only had to wait about 10 minutes to get a patio seat during mid afternoon. Staff was attentive, they weren't pushy like new england waiters. I went there several times during my stay, and service was consistant. Good Food at a reasonable price. Pros: Good Food, Excellent place. Cons: They don't have Sweet Tea. more

I've eaten here many times for lunch and dinner because I work in the area. My experiences have become the rule, not the exception. Service is so poor and slow I can only imagine that this is the restaurant where amateur service staff begin their training. The food is also very mediocre -- maybe only one short step up from fast food, but at least fast food is cooked properly most of the time. The menu prices basically amount to a cover charge because you're certainly not eating what you're paying for. The only benefit is that Big River is one of the only places to eat downtown outdoors, so long as vehicle exhaust and loud engine noise doesn't bother you. The patio is one narrow sidewalk away from moving vehicles. The only side vegetable I've been able to get here for 2 solid years is overcooked sugar-snap peas -- no kidding. The brewed beer easily places last to other popular local breweries in town: Blackstone and Yazoo. To end on a positive note: The personal pizzas here are uncharacteristically good and fair-priced. Pros: Outdoor seating, close to downtown events Cons: Service, food quality and price, beer quality compared to other local brews more

Big River absolutely has the best patio seating in all of Nashville! Every time I have an out-of-town guest that wants to ""see"" Nashville I take them to Big River for the awesome food, atmosphere and people watching! Pros: great people watching, great food Cons: can't call ahead for the patio, music can be kinda loud more

This past saturday was my first time there, and I just loved the food. more

a lively, fun place - don't go for a quiet dinner. great food. go when alison carmona and her band are playing. they are GREAT!!!! i went to get a quick meal but ended up staying all night because of the band. i don't know when they play. call the restaurant or look at her website i guess. service can be a little slow but it just gives you more time to hear the band. more