Jay's Family Restaurant

Jay's Family Restaurant is a great option for a meal. I stopped in here for breakfast and not only was the food very good and fairly priced, but the service was also personable and professional.

Jay's Family Restaurant has an ambiance like many other down-home southern casual restaurants. It is comfortable and inviting.

As I said, Jay's Family Restaurant is a great option for breakfast. I met a client here for a breakfast meeting and it was definitely a great choice. I would definitely recommend here.

Jay's Family Restaurant was a surprising find for me as I have driven by this spot countless times and was always a tad afraid of stopping in. Well, glad I decided to pop by one Saturday morning as now I have a new favorite spot for well priced, large servings southern food.

Jay's is located directly on Dickerson Pike, and honestly, not in the most savory of areas...however, it is a hidden gem that fits in well, but also stands out in the neighborhood. Décor is southern farmhouse and for the most part the building, inside and out, is showing its wear and tear.

I have been here only for breakfast, which I think is the meal I will keep coming back for. My go-to is the biscuits and gravy, which comes in as many as you want...I always go two, and side it with sausage patties and cheese grits. And of course wash it all down with sweet tea! The above meal usually runs me around $11 plus tip. Which is crazy, but so amazing!

Service is always stellar. The servers are friendly and helpful, but I will say they do seem frantic on occasion. The place can go from empty to full real quick, so be patient with the staff.

Parking is a bit of a headache on the busy days. They have a few spots up front, along the side and a small lot in the back. If you are looking to come during peak times, may be best to rideshare.

Overall, Jay's is a great classic southern spot in NE Nashville that I will certainly be back to!

We were looking for a breakfast place that had tasty "home cooked" breakfast on a Saturday morning and this place fit the reqs! Good food, great, attentive service and the family ambiance we were looking for. Dont let the area of the location fool you--it's a best kept secret!

This was our first time at this hidden gem and we are so glad we stumbled upon it!!
The staff was super friendly and the prices were fair.
Melissa was our server and she made it such a fun experience!! She has a great personality and her positive attitude was contagious.
The food was also very delicious and filling!
The interior of the diner is super unique and cozy.
Feels like home away from home.
Very clean and well-decorated!
We'll definitely be back and recommend it to anyone looking for a great breakfast and fun experience!

Great old-school lunch spot! Super friendly staff and a nice variety of homemade food, including rotating meat and 3 with sandwiches and sides.

We started with onion rings for the table. They were cooked well and had nice flavor. I had the liver and onions special with gravy, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw. But the star of my lunch was the squash casserole! Chunky, cheesy, and tasty! My friend loved his fish and chips.

Staff are super friendly and helpful. Prices are very fair. We'll be back.

For our last morning in town, and this restaurant was close to our BNB. It was also close to our interstate routs back home. The food was tasty and had larger portions.

Our server seemed a bit overwhelmed, and would come back to the table with items we already had, or would ask if we ordered things that we hadn't ordered. The food was good and as mentioned you will not go hungry with the amount of food you receive.

Came in for the Fried Chicken based on a previous review but they only make it on Thursday so I had to settle for the roast beef and gravy. Had the mashed potatoes and mac and cheese as the sides. It came with rolls. The roast beef and gravy were ok, not much flavor. The potatoes were good. The Mac and cheese was runny with no flavor so I only had 1 bite. The rolls were the highlight of the meal. Pretty small portions as well. The waiter never came back to check. It must have been an off day as the reviews were much better than my experience.

I really enjoyed my breakfast and lunch at Jay's Family Restaurant! Breakfast is my preferred option. The biscuits are as large as the palm of my hand!!!!
I noticed at lunch there's some premade items, especially sides. I have no problem with that because they are offering decent food at a decent price. Let's all help make the owner and employees rich. Go there!

I want to start out saying the reason for 1 star rather than 4 or 5 has nothing to do with food.
This is simply about integrity.
We arrived shortly before 11am CST on 12/30/22. When we were seated we hoped to have breakfast. Instead...we were told it was beyond breakfast hours (after 11) and that lunch was the only option according to the server. In fairness to Jay's, we could have walked out at that point and gone to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Instead we ordered lunch. Also, Jay's was very busy that day, so we were expecting long wait times for food to be brought to the table.
We ordered our food (pictured) and it came out fast!! As we were finishing lunch, the table next to us received their food and it was breakfast!! They were seated a few minutes before us prior to 11am. In the next couple of minutes another table that was seated 5 or more minutes after us got breakfast.
So we made note. The manager came around asking about our experience. I let him know that we weren't given an option of breakfast instead of lunch since we were right at the cut off. He proceeded to say that there is a kitchen transition, which I understand, and that there is a cut off time. When I persisted and informed him that a table seated after us ordered breakfast, he then placed blame on our server.
We talked a few moments more. Afterwards our server asked if we were OK. I said yes, but she said "are you sure?" I proceeded to tell her what it looked like I had to be a friend of someone to actually get breakfast regardless of cut off time.
She said no, that the manager was very strict about warning them to stick to timing. She was new and didn't want to rock the boat.
At that moment I realized the manager was blaming the server for this ordeal.
I lost respect for him at this point.
I went to pay the bill and we conversed a few minutes about him blaming the hard working servers for what seemed to him as a miscommunication, was really the server following the manager's policy.
Again...the food was good, not denying that. We've had breakfast at Jay's two other times in the past. It was very good as well, that's why we returned.
So...moral(s) of the story...get there by 10:30-10:45 If you want breakfast!!
The manager showed true self when he blamed a server for following through on his policy,
And I'm to blame for getting there late (I truly thought it was breakfast anytime) and we should have gone to Cracker Barrel at that point!!

1/6/23
I see the owner doesn't agree with my assessment of the situation. Frankly it doesn't matter whether he does or not, because it happen EXACTLY like I described. He may disagree with how I called the manager (owner) out for saying he would talk to the server, when, if what he says is policy, the server did exactly what she was asked to do by management!! Just own it and stand behind your employee!!
There would be nothing for which to apologize or disagree about!!

Food is always great however this morning we had to endure who I believe to be the founders son loudly screaming and cursing the kitchen staff. Not very professional. I will continue to eat there because the wait staff and the food is great