Reviews for The Optimist in Nashville, TN
Had a great dinner. Get the Gulf Shrimp appetizer! Excellent! Had the New England Style Lobster Rolls, and their specialty,... Chicken and Dumplings. Both excellent. Also had the new potatoes, hush puppies, and summer greens for sides. All very good! Theambiance was great. Location excellent. Very busy! Definitely need to plan ahead and get reservations. Service was great too.Brian did a great job. I would have given it a 5 star rating, but the bathrooms were a disappointment. Definitely not clean andin-step with the rest of the restaurant. Could have used a good mop! Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Read more
Came for wife’s birthday - food service was on the slower side but overall a good experience. My only gripe was the table... wasn’t big enough to fit all the food we ordered. Had to play Tetris to fit the plates and rush to finish a plate to fitanother in. So if you’re coming to sample a bunch of items on the menu…good luck. The opportunist was a your classic seafoodplatter - the smoked fish dip with the cracker was simple but delicious. Octopus was on the chewier side. Flavor was solid.Swordfish was perfectly cooked but was unfortunately overpowered by the beef bourguignon. Did not compliment each otherperfectly but hats off trying something different :) Read more
I cannot say enough great things about our experience at The Optimist! We went to celebrate our anniversary and all the... thoughtful touches made it so special—from the complimentary bubbly to the anniversary cookies. The food, drinks, and theBREAD were all incredible. And our server, Asha, was one of the best I’ve ever had. ?? Thank you for the incredible dinner. Wewill be back! Read more
Heard mixed reviews and unfortunately we did not have a good meal. The service was great and so were the drinks but that was it.... The seafood was either over cooked or undercooked. All three of us were sick in the bathroom the next 24 hours. After tipping,we spent roughly $110 a person and it was not worth it. Read more
We had stopped in here for a drink one night last year when we had reservations at the sushi restaurant down the street. Tonight... we decided to have dinner here before heading to Brooklyn Bowl for a concert. The cocktail program is excellent but we wereslightly disappointed by the food. The seafood heavy menu is very creative, especially for a land locked state like Tennesseebut the execution was not 100%. Many of the dishes were over complicated and unfortunately prevented the star of the show, thehigh quality fresh fish, from shining through. Read more
This was our first time dining here and it was for Valentine's Day. There was a fixed dinner price per, excluding drinks. The... place is surrounded by construction, but GPS will get you there. Parking was a little rough, there was no handicap parking near.Once inside the staff and our waiter were punctual, knowledgeable, and friendly. The atmosphere here is very laid-back chill,the bar has a good selection of spirits. They do carry allocated bourbon. The menu was filled with culinary creativity. Oysters,crab meat, smoked fish dip, scallops, and my fish was good. The sorbet was good but overpowered by the lime juice, and thebrownie was IMO 3 minutes overcooked (like mine soft). I honestly wasn't wowed with flavor but it did look good so thepresentation was on point. I will be back to try the regular menu to give it a fair score. I heard there is a whole fishflounder I want to try. If you're looking for a spot to grab apps and drinks this is a good spot. Thank you for the hospitality. Read more
We were celebrating our anniversary but it was very underwhelming experience for the price we pay . The food is delicious the... seafood is fresh but the service was not that great and the quantity could be a little better .Paying 40 bucks for a small redsnapper filet is a crime even for a fine dine restaurant. The dinner rolls were pretty good and so were oysters and the crispyoctopus . We wanted to celebrate with some expensive champagne but that was brought out to us after we finished ourappetizers. My recommendation would be go there with a full stomach and enjoy the oysters or go to taco bell after dining at theoptimist because you will not be full after having dinner here. Read more
Always our favorite for seafood in Nashville. Birthdays, out of towners, whatever-the atmosphere is perfect. I myself like to... take down as many oysters as I can, but the entire menu is a win. Last visit 8/17/2022 and service was also flawless! Read more