Maple Street Grill - Murfreesboro

We had to wait on help to jump start our car, so we didn't have time to go shopping. Stacey and I decided to go to the town square and try and support local restaurants. Since she had recently been to Marina's on the Square, we opted for Maple Street Grill.

I wish I had anything positive to say about the place, but it's more disappointing food in a series of mediocre meals here in Murfreesboro. It's apparent that if we want something better than chain food, we'll have to venture into Nashville or Franklin.

As we opened the door to the Maple Street Grill, I already knew the outcome of the meal. It has a weird decor that is fancy casual, but hasn't been kept up. The floor was covered in ratty low-tread commercial carpet and the tables had 1980's era vinyl-ish table cloths. The menu wasn't huge, but was all over the place from a burger served on a doughnut, to ahi tuna tacos, to alfredo pasta.

The fact that, during the dinner rush, there was only one other couple in a restaurant that seats probably 75+ people would normally have been plenty of warning for me to turn around, but there really wasn't anywhere else we wanted to go.

1. Bread - They brought out bread before the meal, which was very 1990 of them. It wasn't awful, but the best way I can describe it is a cross between a Chinese doughnut (sans sugar) and dinner roll. It was deep fried, but too dense. 
2. Caesar salad - Everything about this salad was average. Store-bought everything. Unless you really just want a grocery store salad, skip this. 
3. Loaded cheese chips - This may have been the only dish that contained a freshly-made component. The chips were freshly made, but then covered in bland, canned cheese sauce and topped with shredded cheddar and what appeared to be pre-crumbled microwaveable bacon. With just the smallest effort, this dish could have been better. 
4. Blackened chicken alfredo - Not only did this dish lack any flavor at all, it wasn't even salted properly. It was hand down the most bland pasta dish I've ever ordered at a restaurant. The chicken breast was slightly over-cooked, and also lacking in flavor. 
5. Ahi tuna taco - Stacey got these, but they looked so gross I didn't even want to try them. The tuna looked like it was cooked ok, but it was just an unappetizing dish. Just tuna and spring mix tossed into flour tortillas without any sort of preparation. Putting them in fancy taco stands only goes so far. 

Overall Rating: 2/5

Would visit again: No

Would recommend: No

Best dish of this meal: No real winners, but the Loaded Cheese Chips were the best of the less-than-memorable dishes.

Date of visit: 12/1/2014