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My hubby and I love a good steak and seafood restaurant.
We have our favorite. Of course, we also have a bad habit of comparing every steakhouse to our fave. Is that fair?… Not sure. But we are always willing to try a new steakhouse — at least once.
We had never been to Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar (never heard of it prior to this either), but I received a gift card so we had to check it out.
First Impressions
I made our reservations online — which is recommended, but not required. I actually had to cancel once and reschedule, but it was quick and simple.
If you’ve never been to Fleming’s, it is very close to Vanderbilt University and it’s located in a plaza on the West end of Nashville (2525 West End Avenue).
They have complimentary valet parking, but we parked ourselves. (It wasn’t too busy on the night of our visit.)
The restaurant is located on the second floor — just an escalator ride away.
On the night of our visit, we were celebrating our anniversary and with a quick stop at the reservation desk we were seated right away.
We were immediately given menus and an iPad. Yes, an iPad. The iPad had an interactive wine list that allowed you to view:
- Some of the wines available (though the actual list was much longer)
- Where the wine originated (France, Africa, Spain, etc.)
- What each wine pairs well with (seafood, steak, pasta, etc.)
That was actually one of my favorite things about Fleming’s Steakhouse — because I don’t know very much about wine, let alone what to pair it with.
Fleming’s has a dark romantic feel with low lighting and faux candles. One of the first things I noticed was that we were surrounded by wine bottles. (Not surprising since “wine bar” is a part of the name.) Large and small wine bottles were perched on crate wine boxes. It was actually very pretty.
The other thing I noticed was that all ages were present inside this restaurant. There were young college kids at the bar, sweet old couples dining behind us, and a wide variety of families around us. Fleming’s attracts an array of people.
Our server was quick to make an appearance and took great care of us during our entire visit.
What The Food Is Like
We ordered an appetizer (Sweet Chile Calamari) and received complimentary bread. Calamari is one of our favorite appetizers. I’m used to fried calamari — which this was — but Fleming’s mixes their fried calamari with a sweet chile sauce. This was different than other restaurants, but it was delicious.
If you’ve never been to a high-end steakhouse then you may not know that most menu items are a la cart — meaning you order your entree, but if you want a salad or a side those are extra. (This is true even though you are generally paying a nice price for the entree.)
I was not in the mood for steak, so I ordered the small plate of scallops — which came with a few green beans — and a separate wedge salad. Hubby ordered the peppercorn steak — which also came with green beans — and a separate order of grilled asparagus.
I ordered a glass of white wine (using the iPad) and he had one bottle of beer.
If you dine before 7PM, there are 5 bar specials you can get for $6 each. They also have “skinnier cocktails” at only 99 calories per drink!
We didn’t order any dessert but received a small box of complimentary Fleming’s chocolate truffles, because it was our first visit.
Our bill with tax and tip was $150. We were blessed to have a $100 gift card, so we were out of pocket $50.
In my honest and humble opinion, if I’m going to drop $150 on a meal for two, the food better ROCK. I can’t say that the food at Fleming’s rocked my world. It was good but not great. For example my “small plate” of scallops was $20.95 and had 4 scallops (a bit on the plain tasting side) and a little side of green beans. I’m glad I ordered that separate wedge salad, because I was still hungry!
My hubby was not thrilled with the peppercorn steak. He called it “very chewy.” It was a large piece of meat, but for $43.95 it should be edible.
I know we are comparing Fleming’s to the likes of Shula’s Steakhouse (our favorite; but sadly, there are no locations in Tennessee), but the price tags are similar so we expected the quality to be comparable.
We were disappointed, but maybe our expectations were just a little too high.
When I think about what I can buy for $150 (I could feed my family of 5 for at least a week), eating at Fleming’s almost felt wasteful. But then again, if it weren’t for the lovely gift card we would not have gone in the first place.
You can become a Friend of Fleming’s to keep up with their special events.
Other Reviews of Flemings Restaurant
- Urbanspoon Reviews of Fleming’s
- Trip Advisor Ranks It The #10 Top Restaurant In Nashville
- Yelp Reviews of Fleming’s Steakhouse
- Lactose-Free Options At Flemings Steakhouse
- OpenTable Reviews of Fleming’s
- Flemings Among Top 3 Dining Places In Nashville
I'm a happily married mom to 3 wonderful children: Taylor (13), Gavin (10) and Garrett (8). We recently relocated to the Nashville area from Florida and we're enjoying exploring Middle Tennessee and all it has to offer. My hobbies are: writing, photography, digital scrapbooking, cooking, and all things parenting.
