Red Clay Table

When you look at this place and go inside you think to yourself, Man this food is going to be good! I was (we were) sorely disappointed today at dinner. It was a red flag when we walked in at 6o’clock and there was only one other table in the restaurant. The order went smoothly enough, but the menu is very straightforward. We got our salads in about 5 to 8 minutes, but only half of them came. Another few minutes go by and the rest of the salads came. There were five of us. Not too big of a problem, and they were tasty and the blue cheese was good. Waitress said they made it in house. The problems came when the food landed, the chicken that my parents ordered was extremely overcooked, dry, and very hard. It came with some sort of sauce, it was tasty, but when we asked the waitress what it was she said she had no idea. My brothers medium rare steak, I could tell from across the table when it landed that it was definitely not medium rare. I was right, it was medium well at best. Half of it was cooked all the way through. He also said that it was dry, there was not a drop of juice on his plate when he was finished. I ordered a shrimp Po boy, no pickles add onions and when it came out it had pickles and no onions. That’s not too big of a deal, what was the alarming part is that there were two shrimp on there. And guess what? Overcooked and dry. A pattern is starting to emerge. I ordered a side salad as my side, I got that as well as french fries with the sandwich. I guess that was just oversight on someone else’s part, I do appreciate them though because the fries were much better than the sandwich. I’ve included a picture of the sandwich. If there was a manager or someone walking around asking how things were, I would’ve said something to them, but it wasn’t apparent that anyone in charge was around. By the time the waitress came back, having not even known what the mystery chicken sauce was, I didn’t feel like it would make any difference to say anything to her. My parents said that they eat her regularly at lunchtime and the food is always very good, but today we were all very disappointed. Won’t be coming back at dinner time, which is really sad because this is a beautiful restaurant and has the potential to be an awesome place and there’s no reason it shouldn’t be packed full of people. It just seems like someone put a lot of money into this place and either have no idea to run a restaurant, or are having very unfortunate luck finding staff. If you’re the owner and are reading this please get it together in the kitchen, educate your staff, and your dining room will be packed.

Food is great, wait time was not long at all and service was fast. I had a sandwich, the Havana with Mac and cheese. The portion was just right for lunch, but I had to try my favorite dessert bread pudding. It was really good. Top was crisp and the inside was moist and tight. Caramel sauce on the side made it. Spot on. Iwill be back to try the meatloaf and the nachos. Love finding new places that cook real well.

I came about eating at the Red Clay Table when I got an invite from a finance retirement company to come listen to a presentation for a free meal. Usually these events don't turn out well but I did agree to go and was glad I did Red Clay Table was quite a find. I had the Ribeye, baked potato, salad and green beans. It was actually one of the best meals I have had in a while. The steak was very tasty, well prepared and not over seasoned and had a great grilled taste. The potato was perfect and the real surprise was the southern style green beans which were prepared as well as any I have found in the Shoals. They were perfectly seasoned and prepared not over-cooked and the only complaint I had with them was I didn't have enough. Actually the portion size for all was very good and I definitely will return to the Red Clay Table again for hopefully another great meal. One more comment about the ambience. It was set up as a formal type eatery but is anything but that. Formal attire is not required or expected but the dining experience is perfect for a family night out or the perfect place for that special date. I liked the Red Clay Table and have no problem recommending it.

Had the soup du jour, butternut squash, which was delicious. The appetizer was stuffed jalapenos which were raw, but worked fantastically with the cheesy filling. My pork Can Tho was excellent. My wife did not fare as well. Her chicken sandwich was dry and in need of more goat cheese. Her side of mac and cheese was nearly cheese less. But they replaced it with a side of their amazing ginger sweet potato mash. I also had the sweet potato mash for the second time.