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Categories: American (New), Wine Bars [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Hillsboro/West End, 21st/VanderbiltTue-Thu. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
"For me, this is Nashville's main attraction. The service, food, and ambiance are all impeccable. We shared a butternut squash soup that…" read more »
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I've been to Tayst on two occasions: once as a date night and the other a group celebration for a friend's birthday. Both times service was exceptional. The wine pairings are excellent.
The food? I've tried the chicken, trout, steak (rib eye at the time) and pork. The smoked chicken was by far the star. Amazing, melt-in-your mouth skin and incredibly juicy meat. The steak was alright. Not the best I've had and a little dry (despite being medium-rare). The butter-like bleu cheese sauce on top was a nice addition. The bite of trout I had was tasty despite me not being a huge trout fan. I was not at all impressed with the pork. It was rather dry and served on incredibly bland couscous.
Will I be back? Probably. But I'm going to give it some time.
I manage to hit Tayste once or twice a year since they opened and I have to say that they always please me. Some experiences have been better than others but I have always been happy regardless.
The servers are incredible. I have kids, we don't get out much, maybe it shows, but when I go for a nice dinner, I want to be waited on . I don't want to ask for anything and I want a clairvoyant server who just anticipates my every need before I think to ask for it and I feel Tayste gives me a wonderful night off from mommyhood.
Even more exciting is that Tayste has been awarded a green certification from the Green Restaurant Association which involves everything from recycling wastes to using local farmers and buying food from sustainable sources. Believe me, this improves the food immensely, it does matter.
That being said, my favorite thing about Tayste are the Value meals. They will do a 3-4 course dinner in the $50 a person ballpark and you typically get a couple of options for this value meal to pick from. They will then take care of all the wine pairings for you with each course. I can honestly say that I have had some phenomenal pairings over the years this way and it's a fun way to try several wines without getting snookered or breaking the bank.
If you are just in the mood for the apps and glass of wine, I once got a flyte of cheese and wine pairings that was magnifique...
I've been interested in trying Tayst since I came to Nashville four years ago. All the hype I've been hearing about the restaurant's "green" claim and it's gourmet experimentation.. It's odd I didn't get there before tonight. I was not there for dinner, unfortunately. I was in the midst of a restaurant/bar hop, tasting signature small plates and drinks all over town. My favorite way to spend a night..
Anyway, I had a really fantastic experience here. I sat at the bar with a friend of mine. We had made it clear we were not at the restaurant for dinner, but I suppose we ourselves felt no boundaries as to what else we were or were not at Tayst for.
So... the wine steward read this fairly accurately and basically presented us with a tasting. Of everything.
We expressed an interest in their huge collection of wines. We tasted at least five. We each ordered what was listed as a "first" plate, my friend ordering the beef spare rib and I ordered the chicken and waffles. Sounds like simple home cooking, but it was anything but. The chicken and waffle dish included sorghum syrup (look it up in your Food Lover's Companion!), and the spare rib was topped with fois gras and sat upon dehydrated apple slices. Both were great. When asked if we were interested in something sweet, I mentioned I would like to see a menu. Warning: There is not a physical dessert menu. So after several minutes passed I was presented with Creme Brulee, which came as a much recommended dish from a regular patron who was sitting next to me at the bar. It was FABULOUS. Wonderful eggy texture, in a deep dish ramekin. I've got ramekins of the same size and have always been afraid that they seemed a little over the top for Creme Brulee. I have been assured they are not!
If you consider yourself a foodie - food is your hobby, interest, passion - go to Tayst. It was a tremendous experience and the staff has a lot of experience in the culinary arts and are enthusiastic and knowledgeable. And for those of you to whom it is very important, everything there is local! It's for these reasons I'm giving Tayst 5 stars. It is expensive, but if dining out is something you enjoy investing it, go for it. And of course, it depends on how much you order. You could send for appetizers, entrees, several drinks and dessert as opposed to opting for one of their "Prixe-Fix" choices.
On March 30th they are planning another one of their more common than not "theme" nights. The theme is gourmet takes on corporate chain restaurants, ie. Applebee's, Chili's, places of the like. This is a "Prixe-Fix" dining experience. Make a reservation, and I'll see you there!
I haven't been to Tayst since it opened, but my friend and I celebrated the purchase of my house here. I looked for over a year before I bought, so it was a celebratory occasion when I closed. I was excited when Tayst opened because it was in a good location, and I had heard good things.
The restaurant itself is very cozy . I can see how it would be a good place for a date. A very nice wine menu complements the inventive food. I had a great porkchop when I was here.
The chef here is always doing interesting things that I enjoy reading about. I hope I get in to try them sometime. He did a menu inspired by the McDonald's jingle, "Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, Quarter Pounder, French fry, icy coke, thick shake, sundaes and apple pie" recently. It's nice that good food can also be fun. Oh, and Tayst is now a 'certified green restaurant' so there ya go.
This upscale, cozy cafe is a great date spot or perfect place to go with friends. The menu is a little unusual, but everything I've tried is really good. The fish my friend had got rave reviews, and the sea scallops and shrimp dish another friend had was excellent. I opted for the fillet and I would recommend it any day. I just think Tayst gets it right! The portions are perfect, not too small or too big.
One aspect I like is that they pair their menu items with wine suggestions. And they are spot on! Everyone in our party was very pleased with the wine.
The service was excellent and we could tell that our server knew his stuff. He didn't hesitate to steer my friend away from the crayfish when she said she wanted a light appetizer. He told us that even though it's considered an app (called First Tayst) most people order it for their main meal. You don't find many servers like that! I can't wait to go back!!
We walked in on a saturday night without a reservation and enjoyed a delicious meal. We were seated immediately. I explained to our server that I have multiple food allergies (gluten, soy, dairy) and he was very accommodating and answered all my questions. We had the three course "value menu" where you have app, entree, and dessert for fixed price. The food was fantastic, with good portions, and service was top notch. I was afraid I would not be able to enjoy any of the dessert options due to my allergies, but luckily they had a sorbet trio on the menu--I enjoyed my blackberry, banana, and melon sorbet while my husband enjoyed the creme brulee. I also really like to support local farms/foods and appreciated that they try to use local food. There is even a sign when you walk in listing all the farms the food that night is from.
The food is fantastic. The menu is a little out there with things you don't normally see, but just trust the chefs there, because they know what they're doing! Our service was great as well. The owner even came up and chatted with us for a bit, very personable. I highly recommend trying Tayst or even revisiting if you have been before. Oh and I'm not sure if they still serve it or not, but if they do, you have got to try the KRISPY KREME BREAD PUDDING! TO DIE FOR!
The one thing I can say about Tayst is that they will pick you a great wine! I arrived about 30 minutes before my group to the smallish restaurant. Ordered a nice glass of wine and sat down as i waited for my group, from there things went down hill.
As my group sat down it took a good 8-10 minutes for someone to come by and say hello and take our drink orders, which we received after waiting a while. Luckily I had ordered appetizers while getting the drinks or i fear we would have been all night.
My friend had ordered a dirty martini strait up, with a special request for blue cheese olives (if they had any). What he got was a martini on the rocks. After he was about half way done with the drink he did not order the waiter finally came by and we were able to re-request the drink. Then they brought over a martini, strait up. However it was still not the original dirty martini he had requested. Another try and they finally got it right.
Around this time we had a chance to try the appetizers. Meatballs, Cheese plate and shrimp. The meatballs tasted like they had been popped in the microwave from a large bag of Costco meatballs, although i think the costco ones tasted better. The cheese plate was near impossible to screw up so that was actually very good. And the shrimp was nothing short of amazing....
I thought i had ordered the steak tasting...however all i got was a steak..which was supposed to be a filet. However it was really a poor excuse for any cut of meat. On top of being very stringy the presentation was just blah. It looked like it had been boiled and then quickly pan friend to give it some color. Really disappointing.
Someone else had the rib eye and had to send it back because they ahd requested it well done and it was more rare then my wanna be filet.
Another person ordered the veggie plate which they described as way below there expectations for a green restaurant.
The winning dishes in all of this were the lobster ravioli, the Chicken, and the duck. Which were all very tasty although one person did return the duck because they felt it was undercooked. I like my meet rare but that was just too rare.
All in all their service was very apologetic about the night even offering to pay for desert. By that point I had given up and just wanted to leave.
My two cents is that there are much better places to go out for dinner in Nashville.
Another weekly team dinner done! Cheers!
Ate there last week with my dad and girlfriend on thursday night. Called thirty minutes in advance and still got a reservation at 730. Had a great table outside looking over 21st. The service was excellent. The waitress was incredibly friendly, attentive, and even gave us great recommendations for food, liquor, and wine. The food came out at a good pace, was well prepared, tasty, and I did really like that they were now a green restaurant, the only in Nashville. I did not go with the value meal, which is their price fixe option, and even though the portions were not incredibly large, they were very well prepared. The deserts were good as well and were all made at the restaurant. I would definitely go back.
I have only been to Tayst once, but it is one of those memories of a meal that has stayed with me. Whether merited or not is another story. I came here with several friends...most of us did the super sized meal (wine pairings with each course). It was utterly fantastic. The restaurant is very accomodating--if you only drink reds or whites, they will switch wines that you don't like. All of the dishes were superbly done and innovative. Perhaps what was most memorable to me (and not even my dish!) was the Krispy Kreme bread pudding. Wow, only int he South... A real artery-clogger I'm sure, but it was amazing nonetheless and I'd happily go through cardiac surgery to enjoy it once again.
This is actually a great restaurant. I was driving around Nashville looking for a restaurant near Vanderbilt. This looked like a decent place. The food was actually incredible. I think I got something like a pumpkin pasta. The dessert was great too.
The crowd was a lot more casual than I thought it would be.
I'm just glad that I don't live in Nashville (boring).
tayst, as its name, it's very unique. the ambiance is the coolest part of this place. the food is pretty good, but i think they try too hard to be an upscale restaurant when are really a midscaled. the portions are that of appetizer. however, the wine menu is very good.
if you have that special someone for good food and wine, this place is one of the place, but you better hope that you or the other person isn't TOO hungry. =P
I went to Tayst on a Saturday night and really enjoyed the entire experience. The food is very creative -- for example, my appetizer was Ice Cream and Donuts (a spicy crawfish fried dough + avocado/bacon ice cream). My girlfriend ate the chicken, and I had the pork -- both were delicious. For dessert, we split the creme brulee. They were also featuring a Krispy Kreme bread pudding with a milkshake on top, which sounded excellent, but we were already quite full by the end of the meal.
The service was good and the food didn't take too long to arrive. Would definitely go back.
We had heard a lot of good things about this place. It was good but not great and definitely not our best meal in Nashville. We both ordered their equivalent of a prix fixe--3courses for $32 and ordered the recommended wine. My wife started with their salad which was a very small portion (maybe because of the prix fixe?)but still pretty good, chicken breast that she really enjoyed, sliced still with bone--unusualy but clever presentation. For dessert she had their creme brulee which she really liked. I started with the same salad my wife did. My entree was a pork dish with spaghetti squash--much better portion and it was very good. For dessert I had a puff pastry with chocolate on the inside that oozed out as you cut into it. All in all it was a good meal. NOTE: Tayst is the first "green" restaurant in Nashville priding themselves on fresh local organic vegetables etc.
Neighborhood: 21st/Vanderbilt
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Jazz & Blues
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Bars
Neighborhood: East End
Category: French
Neighborhood: Hillsboro/West End
Category: American (New)
