Pinewood Social

If you are looking to channel your inner white girl, there are several key spots to hit in Nashville, and Pinewood Social is definitley one of them. It has the aesthetic and the charm, but is it worth the price? Keep reading to find out. 🙂

Pinewood Social is located in the heart of downtown Nashville. Anyone who knows me realizes this is already bad news for me because of what it means for traffic and parking. Thankfully, Pinewood Social respects their guests by offering free customer parking in a near by lot, and if that lot is full, you can get your receipt stamped inside the restaurant so you are not charged at the paid lot either.

Once inside the restaurant, you are immediately immersed in white girl culture. The first area after the entrance is dedicated to making you comfortable while you study or work. There are a few tables, but this space is mostly filled with couches and furniture appropriate for lounging. Despite the fact that there is very dim lighting and loud music, there were several people in this area who appeared to be studying the night I went. It’s definitely not the type of environment I thrive in when I’m trying to get work done, but apparently it works for some people.

The next section of the restaurant is the main eating area. It is extremely spacious and filled with seating for probably at least 150 people. I went for dinner, but the restaurant is also open for weekday breakfast, weekend brunch, and lunch & dinner every day of the week. My group did not have to wait to be seated because we had reservations. I think this is the only way we would have ever been able to get a table as it was very crowded, so keep this in mind if you go.

The restaurant is pretty up-scale, so I was a little worried about the prices, but they were not as bad as I was expecting. I ordered the chopped kale salad which had red cabbage, brussel sprouts, feta, toasted almonds, & a balsamic-orange vinaigrette dressing (pictured below). It cost $12, but I added chicken which was an additional $5. This is more than I would typically want to pay for a salad, but the portion was very large, and I really enjoyed how all the flavors and textures came together. I am picky when it comes to salad dressings, but the balsamic-orange was delightful. Other salad options include the caesar, baby greens, and fried chicken. One of my friends ordered the caesar and said it was delicious also.

The appetizer or “snacks” menu includes several options such as chicken wings ($12), chipotle shrimp cocktail ($13), hummus ($10), crispy tots ($9), avocado toast ($10), and fried broccoli ($10). We did not order any appetizers to share, but one of the girls I was with ordered the chicken wings as her meal and said they were not her favorite but had a good BBQ flavor with a little heat.

Entree options include a grain bowl ($13), lobster roll ($22), grilled chicken sandwich ($13), turkey & brie sandwich ($14), salmon plate ($24), beef stroganoff ($22), and a mushroom pot pie ($19), among others. One of my friends ordered the cheeseburger which was made with the typical american cheese, lettuce, onion, pickle, mayo, & mustand and came with a side of fries, all for $13 (pictured below). She enjoyed the burger but stated she liked the one she recently had a Burger Joint better. She said the sauce on the burger did not taste like mayonaise or mustard, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She also said the fries were good but nothing special.

Another one of my friends tried the reuben sandwhich which was composed of corned beef, swiss cheese, sauerkraut, russion dressing, and seeded rye bread (pictured below). It was also served with fries and cost $14. The friend of mine who ordered this dish happens to be quite the connoisseur of reubens, but she enjoyed every last bite of this sandwich and stated it received her stamp of approval.

Dessert is also offered (becuase what good restaurant could operate without one?). I did not sample any of these the night I went, but the “S’Mores Skillet Brownie,” sounded like something I might have to go back for.

There is also an extensive drink menu including everything from cocktails to lattes. I don’t drink alcohol, and I rarely drink coffee, so I can’t make any personal comments on this category. However, one of my friends ordered the, “Pinewood Mocha,” ($5) and said it was pretty tasty (pictured below).

When we finished dinner, we made our way into the bowling area of the restaurant (pictured below). We had previously reserved lanes which was good since there are only 6. It was just as cute as it looks in all the Instagram stories I know you have seen. There was even a seating area attached to our lane, but it was not quite big enough for our entire group of 8. I felt like we were on top of the groups on both sides of us because they also had large parties. I figured somewhere that is so devoted to serving groups would be better set up to accommodate parties of our size, but even the scoring system on the iPad only held up to 6 names. Two of the girls in my group had to keep their scores manually on a piece of paper, despite paying way more than normal for a game of bowling.

Overall, I had a good experience at Pinewood Social. I got to release my inner white girl and enjoy a nice meal with incredible service accomplished by a friendly staff. Although I paid more than I would regularly like to for dinner and a game of bowling, I expected higher prices because of the hype assocaited with the venue. I am glad I got to experience this hype for myself, but I now that I can say I’ve been, I will probably not return.