Review: O'Charley's (Louisville, Outer Loop)

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I have been to O’Charley’s a few times in the past. It’s never been a place that I frequented often. Then again, I have always been more attracted to what I call “genre’” food, than your typical everything place. But, one thing I have always remembered about O’Charley’s was a great Rueben I had there many years ago. It was with this thought in mind that I called up my buddy Ken to propose dinner on a Sunday afternoon. I am not usually a fan of dining out on Sunday because of the crowds, but we got there early enough that we were seated immediately. Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed to find out that O’Charley’s does not serve a Rueben any more.Having set aside my disappointment, and being a huge fan of Chipotle, I opted to start my dinner with an order of their Chipotle BBQ Chicken Tenders. Ken decided to give the twisted chips a try. The tenders were tasty and fairly juicy, but the Chipotle sauce was mediocre at best. I am used to a spicy, heat –driven chipotle, so once again I was a bit disappointed. Ken’s take on the twisted chips was that they were ‘alright.”
Decidedly in a sandwich mood, I found a somewhat adequate alternative to the Rueben I craved in the Philly Cheese Steak sub. The steak was tender and succulent, with good flavor. Unfortunately, all the flavor had been cooked out of the green peppers and onions; I could barely taste them. And what’s more, when my sandwich made it to me, it was far from being piping hot. A Philly Cheese Steak is one of those foods that really is best served piping hot. Lukewarm just doesn’t cut it. There was also the issue of how long it took for my sandwich to actually get to me. On top of that, the central air condition for the restaurant was malfunctioning according to the server.
On the topic of service, it was yet another disappointment. Our server informed us that they were short-staffed. I find it increasingly more annoying and agitating that restaurant managers continue to scale back on their labor as a cost-cutting plan. When you are in the food business, this is bad business. The server is the most important part of your business besides the food itself. I will eat every week at a hole in the wall dive if the food is tasty and the service great, before I go to a chain restaurant. Our server was overwhelmed, distracted, and obviously frustrated herself. The amount of time it took for us to meet our server, order food, eat food and get our check, was at least 75% longer than it should have been.
Overall, the food was lackluster, the service was inadequate, and the experience not worth the money spent. I doubt very much I will be returning there anytime soon. Needless to say, we didn’t even both with dessert.
Wolf’s Rating: * * ½
Ken’s Rating: * * *