O’Charley’s Restaurant & Bar

In college (a long, long time ago), O’Charley’s was IT. Maybe it was the rolls, maybe it was the bar, maybe it was just convenient but we went there weekly. Now, this restaurant is a bit of an afterthought. When I visit 2−3x each year, it’s because someone gave me a gift certificate. The good news is they offer a variety of dishes so if you are visiting with a big party or picky eaters, everyone should find at least one thing on the menu to order.
Still a plus are the free rolls and butter. Be careful though — they almost always are tough to resist and you won’t be able to stop at one. We ordered potato skins for the table. Just average and definitely dry so the sour cream was a must.
My go-​to is always the Chicken Tenders dinner which comes with two sides. Big chicken pieces and not overly breaded. Perfect to pair with a salad and another veggie or fries. What I was most impressed with on this visit were the Kids Meals. My older son ordered a steak and the other got a cheeseburger. Large portions (especially for a kids dish) and decently priced. I’m not sure if they will let adults order off this menu but it’s worth asking.
Quick Note: Wednesday is FREE pie day! Even during lunch — I highly recommend the peach cobbler and its side of whip cream.

On a lonely Friday night, I decided to stop by this restaurant and see what they had to offer. Having never even heard of this place, I was excited to try something different and new. Lucky for me, it was happy hour when I arrived so I could enjoy some adult beverages at a good price.
Walked in a requested to sit at the bar area. They have a bar and additional hi-​top tables that are all included in the bar area. The bar was completely full — not one seat available. So I sat at one of the hi-​tops and waited to be greeted. A young lady came by fairly quickly and asked what I would like as a drink. I asked for some water and asked about the drink specials. She told me what they had available and also mentioned that some appetizers were also on special for half price. Good enough deal. so I ordered some spinach dip. When I came back after a quick run to the bathroom, there were warm rolls and my water on the table waiting for me. Pretty good start.
When my dip came out, I was less than happy about the portion. I mention this because the ad specifically says its «full portions for half price.» I basically ended up with a plate of chips and 2 spoonfuls of dip. And it was actually good with good chunks of artichoke in it — so I would have enjoyed more. After that I asked for a serving of their potato soup. Now… I don’t know what the tradition is here in KY. But this was cheese soup with a few chunks of potato in it. I was not pleased at all! However, being that I’m not from here and idk if that’s a normal thing, I didn’t complain. Definitely not something I would get again though!
Now… in the end… my server got really swamped. She receives no complaint from me because she was a kind and responsive as she could be. However, if the bar area gets that busy on a regular basis… maybe some additional help from management or another server would be beneficial. Also, I ordered their New Orleans Cajun Chicken Pasta (with shrimp added) to go. That meal and my well-​made drinks alone… bumped this rating up to 4 stars.
Not on the top of my lists for places to revisit, but I would give it another try.

Four of us had good meals this evening –prime rib, fried fish, and mine was the appetizer combo plate. Everyone pleased. Service was good but not great. Hope to Return soon.

Love the rolls. The California chicken salad is really good with pecans cranberries and strawberries. The service at this particular location has been hit or miss.

Dinner last evening — service was the best part. It was attentive and courteous. Food? Average at best. I had the catfish dinner which was average — not a lot of taste and maybe could have cooked a bit more. What surprised me was the portion — a «dinner menu item» and all I got was two small pieces of fish. I almost asked the server where the rest of my dinner might be but she only brings it to the table, not cooking or plating. Average taste, poor value. Not likely to be back anytime soon.

It seemed like a great idea to eat here…
I was craving the overloaded baked potato soup and yeasty rolls, that I haven’t had in about a decade.
Let’s start by complimenting the service. Our server was incredibly witty and entertaining, and he was attentive and brought our food out quickly.
The food: Underwhelming, and I get a belly-​ache thinking about it.
In short: No. Just no.

25 Apr 2015: $ 10.95 Club Salad’s chicken was too dry to eat – as if it was prefrozen and a week after cooking – dregs of the chicken bin? Bacon was not crisp, if it was real bacon. Virtually no lettuce except the airy kind. NOT worth the price. The tasty ranch dressing was not enough to overcome the rest. Feel like the salad assembler put stuff on there that he/​she would not eat themselves.
The WORST PART: When I asked waiter to report to the manager that they need to do better cook QC, he said ok, as if being dismissive, and we never saw any evidence that ANYone cared.

If you are looking for an AMAZING server, ask for Darren. He made our evening enjoyable after a rough start.
The hostess and manager were rude and condescending. I am happy that we decided to stay and give it a shot. Because Darren was professional, and kept his cool. Even with a HUGE 20 top table.
We will be going back but ONLY on Wednesday or Sunday, and we will only sit in Darrens section.

The staff was amazing. The woman who took our order was super friendly and happily answered several questions for us and made sure that the kitchen got my brothers crazy order done correctly.
When my dad’s steak came back over cooked our waitress quickly took it back and got the cook to fix it. The manager came over and apologized and handled everything so nicely she even comped the steak. My dad then got his steak again quickly and it was cooked correctly.
The rest of the food was great. I really enjoyed the chicken tenders and twisted chips. And the pickle chips were super good!

Awesome. Always sit in the bar area. Eva is always top notch. Can say I have ever had a bad experience here. The food is always good and so is the service!

I arrived at 1:00 on a Thursday for lunch. The restaurant was not very busy; one entire section was closed and another section was empty. That’s why I was surprised when the male host, who had his pants way south of his hips, took at least 10 minutes to decide where to seat me. I really considered leaving because he wondered around so long! My server, Nick I think, was very attentive. The black and bleu salad was generous portion, crisp and cold romaine, lots of bacon bits, and the steak was tender and cooked to my medium rare order. However, it was a bit too heavily dressed and the «bleu cheese crumbles» were more like a bleu cheese blob. It wouldn’t take much for this location to step up their game. First impressions, however, set the tone for the dining experience and this first impression fell very short.

Sooo disappointing. I waited over 15 minutes in the bar for a beer and they weren’t even busy! Then, i didn’t get what i ordered. The service didn’t get any better after that. Then, the grilled chicken showed up. The menu didn’t mention that it’s prepared jerky style. I’m so disappointed that I couldn’t even wait til I left the restaurant to write this review. The only positive is that I only had to leave a 10% tip! Even that was generous.

A-​OK is about right. Was neither over or underwhelmed by this place. Server was attentive and kind. Food pretty good.