Blue Restaurant & Bar

Closed.

It’s okay. It looks like it has potential but the food was just average. Not the worst meal but not the best. Service was average — our server was very nice but too much cologne. Very middle of the road.

We ate there for the first time tonight (9÷17÷11). First of all let me say that my wife and I are both restaurateurs with 20 years in the business and we currently own or manage 5 restaurants in the Nashville area — I say that so you understand why I might be a little critical at times.
Let me say first that the food was wonderful. Everything we ordered was as described and cooked to order. Everything was fresh and our server was efficient. From that alone suggests we will be back to try more off of the extensive menu.
Now to the negative — it is obvious that ambiance wasn’t on the top of the priority list when converting this former retail space into a restaurant. The dining room was nothing more than a large rectangular cave with open ceilings, the lighting was ineffective making it hard to see what we were eating. The place wasn’t full on a Saturday night, but even with the few that were in there it was hard to hear because the noise just bounced off the walls. Then there was the piano — a nice touch and the guy was decent enough, but after the 5^th James Taylor song it got old and again, the sound quality in the room was bad enough that it just added to the problem of being able to carry on a conversation.
The bar/​lounge portion of the restaurant was behind the wall of the dining room and not visible, which if it was would probably add to the ambiance. The bottom line here is that all of the investment was in the menu and not the atmosphere. However, had it been the opposite I could assure you we wouldn’t go back.
That said, the place is definitely unique. I’m not sure by the crowd I saw tonight if they are going to make it, but they definitely put together a fine meal — good enough that I will be coming back for more despite the lack of effort over the atmosphere.

This new restaurant tries to be the «upscale casual» restaurant for the ‘Boro. Such a place is needed, and Blue delivers. The ambiance of the restaurant is a little off-​putting though, like a prodigious child who tries too hard to please his teacher. The restaurant goes for the ever-​popular industrial look, with concrete floors, exposed duct work, etc.; however, the restaurant is in a strip mall. The look might feel a little more comfortable if there were soft features like curtains, but there are none. The restaurant feels cold and hard. It’s not a huge problem for me, but there are no booths. I went for Sunday brunch (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), and there was live music (the focal point of the restaurant is a grand piano, but the piano player was off, so we got a string duo). The music was /​entirely/​too loud. So loud, in fact, that I nearly had to scream, and the place was not crowded. Sound travels inhibited by any pillows, curtains, etc. For brunch, when you usually wake up still hungover and want some food, I can imagine that the noise might be quite unsettling.
But the food was solid. I had eggs benedict, which came with a side. I selected the home fries. Now their eggs benedict is supposed to come with steak, but I requested salmon, and that was no problem. I got a generous portion of fish for no added price. The eggs were perfectly poached: It seems that no one poaches eggs correctly these days; they’re either too runny or hard as a brick. Both my eggs and my companion’s were spot-​on. The home fries were underwhelming, and they obviously came from a bag. I’d try the fresh fruit next time.
I also had a $ 5 Bloody Mary that was a two-​ounce pour in a huge glass. That’s a great deal. The Bloody Maries (Marys?) was nothing special; I like mine spicy so I added lots of pepper and hot sauce.
The prices for brunch are reasonable, but dinner prices are a little steep. I haven’t eaten dinner there, so I can’t testify if it’s a good value.
The service was excellent. If you can, request to sit in Angie’s section. She’s great and made the otherwise obviously-you’re-just-getting-started experience A-​OK.