O’Charley’s, Nashville Airport (BNA), TN USA

Ordered at the O'Charley's in the Nashville Tennessee International Airport (BNA).

The sign caught my eye: “Good food, Good times. Come on it for good food.”

“Good” wasn’t the most exciting word, but the redundancy is what got me. I had walked around the airport for a solid 30 minutes – O’Charley’s was the only spot with a club sandwich and with my hunger at an all-time high, “good” was what I craved.

Half soup half sandwich I was SOLD. Sounded like the perfect combo before I boarded my plane back home. Comfort from all sides while I reminisced about the weekend. Tortilla chicken or loaded potato soup? I took the bartender’s recommendation and went with tortilla. In some way it felt like I was hedging my bet. I wasn’t too concerned, O’Charley’s was definitely the hot spot at the Nashville International Airport, I just wanted to make sure I’d leave this place satisfied.

Before you go any further – just check out the menu photo below. How appealing do they make their club sandwich sound? It looked like God’s gift to this airport. They nailed the menu description. How could I go wrong?

“Uhhhhhh” I thought as my half sandwich was placed in front of me. Disappointment and my expectations weren’t even high. This club sandwich looked like the definition of lame. Sitting on its lonesome, the mayonnaise packet didn’t really enhance the plating. Maybe it would taste better than it looked? At least the side soup was a large serving…

The first bite left my fingers covered in grease from the cold, thin, butter soaked bread. Literally soaked. The turkey was freezing and a bit tasteless. And the ham? Completely unnecessary for this poor sliced ham to be tucked in with the flavorful bacon bits… yes, at least the bacon was nice. The giant leaf of lettuce was a boring attempt at garnishing this club. And the two types of cheese… c’mon, how was that necessary??

But the tortilla soup – YUM – that was great! Really delicious flavor, nice crunch, a little spice – I liked the soup. I gobbled down that soup. I feasted on that soup. Each bite was even better! It made biting into a cold club tolerable simply because it soothed the soup’s spiciness.

Ordering the soup was the best hedged bet ever. I would have been beyond disappointed – crying maybe – if I had ordered the full club. And I was leaving satisfied; barely, but satisfied. At least at $8.50 including tax, I thought it was decent value for an airport. But gosh, I expected more from O’Charley’s.

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