J Alexander's Restaurant

Came here on a Friday night and the place was packed! Luckily we had reservations and were seated promptly. Our waitress was so friendly and attentive throughout the dinner, which really made the experience that much better.

For our appetizer, we each ordered the broccoli cheddar soup ($6). This is my all-time favorite soup so I've tasted hundreds of variations of this in hundreds of restaurants. Personally, I thought this one was just too salty and dare I say it... too cheesy for my liking. I had two spoonfuls of it and had to take a break because it just had too much flavor. For our main entrees, we ordered the Center Cut Filet Mignon with Bearnaise ($27) and the Slow Roasted Prime Rib with Cut ($27).  Both delicious and absolutely filling.  In fact, I had to box a piece of my steak to take home since I was too full to finish the whole thing.  Overall, the food tasted good but I just don't see why this place is so pricey. Everything was delicious but really nothing uniquely special, flavor-wise that is.  However, what really makes this place a 4-star is the overall dining experience, which was fantastic.  The ambiance was great, service was great, restaurant design was great.  Overall (taking into the account the food AND the intagibles), I'd say this is a nice place to take someone you want to impress.

Everybody knows what J Alexander's is. It's your typical American chain steakhouse that specializes in steak appetizers, steak salads, and steak entrees such as the steak crusted steak. In the past I've been here from time to time and was always impressed with the quality of the food. The mac and cheese is just about perfect, the meat is always cooked correctly, and if you're privy to it they serve ridiculously money complimentary croissants with honey butter while you wait but it's upon request only!

Having just given up meat for the well being of myself and my fellow animals, I thought the days of frequenting a steakhouse were over. However, a friend of mine informed me that J Alexander's not only has a vegan option, but apparently it's considered one of the best in the country. I'm referring to the Veggie Burger. This burger is made in house with rice, garbanzos, mushrooms, herbs, and beets. It's then grilled to order and served with a side of shoestring fries! Let me tell you something, for being a vegan burger this thing is full of vigor and excellent flavor. It's nice to see a restaurant that serves $30 steaks catering to the vegan crowd! Thanks J!

So whether you're a carnivore, an herbivore, or a wild boar (ignore the boar reference, it's intended for my ex-girlfriend Jasmine only) I would recommend J Alexander's for a nice upscale dinner.

The time change on Sunday had my family ready for lunch by 10 AM. We made a trip through the grocery hoping to kill some time before most restaurants would open at 11. Once the clocks struck the magic hour we popped into J. Alexander's in Rookwood Commons. I had visited this location many years ago, but hadn't dined at any J. Alexander's since.

We arrived to find the restaurant mostly deserted except for a couple of other early riser tables. We were immediately seated in a comfortable booth near the other parties. After a few minutes another employee came by to take our drink order and quickly dropped those off. Then again within a few more minutes our server was at our table ready to take our order. Since we were very hungry and with our soon to be two-year old son we knew exactly what we wanted.

I went with the Veggie Burger and fries ($11). This was a thick made in-house patty filled with rice and even a touch of spice. Even though I typically enjoy black bean based burgers better, this one was still very good and worthy of ordering again. Plus the fries are the very thin shoestring variety that cook up so well and taste great.

My wife ordered the Thai Kai salad ($15). The way the salad was piled high at first made it actually appear much smaller than it really was. Once she started digging into the dish it was obvious that this was more than she could eat in one sitting. I stole a few bites and have to say that this was a great salad, even though the price still seemed a little high.

Though the menu made no mention to having kids selections, we asked our server anyway. She happily listed three of four items from the top of her head. We were torn between the grilled cheese or the chicken fingers, but ending up going with fingers and fries ($6). Our son really loved the fries and even took down nearly an entire piece of chicken. I stole a couple of bites and have to admit that the chicken fingers were right up there with some of my favorites. They could have used some dipping sauce, but I guess most kids wouldn't use that anyway.

We had a very nice lunch at J. Alexander's despite it costing quite a bit more than we traditionally spend on lunch. The dinner menu looks even more expensive, so this restaurant may be best saved for special occasions.