The Red Pony was located on the main thoroughfare. We could not find street parking but there is a nearby parking garage about a block walk from the restaurant. The interior of the restaurant has a nice look, a little bit rodeo but still modern and high end looking. However, it is very dimly lit so if you are afraid the dark you might need to bring a nightlight. We had a reservation and were sat almost immediately. They placed us on the first floor next to the kitchen which might sound bad at first, but the wall to the kitchen has a large clear window allowing us to watch the chef prepare the food. Let me tell you, everything we saw the kitchen staff put together looked absolutely delicious. The spot was a little loud. I did not have much problems hearing my sister across from me, but hearing the waiter was a bit difficult at times. You can check out the menu HERE.
We started out with two appetizers – one which we ordered and one which arrived magically in advance much to our delight. The first to arrive was a flour gnocchi. I apologize in advance because I am going to butcher the ingredients, but oh my gosh it was wonderful. The gnocchi were in a white crème sauce with herbs that had almost a blue cheese kick to it. We had also ordered the Crispy Calamari which was very good. It was large pieces and the flavor was not overpowered by frying like many calamari dishes are these days. However, I have to admit it was not as good as the gnocchi.
For our main courses, I ordered the Shrimp & Grits and my sister ordered the Wood Grilled Beef Tenderloin. The serving sizes are significant and if you order an appetizer each of our dishes were large enough to share between two people. I had a small taste of her meal and it was good. I don’t normally eat a lot of beef tenderloin, but I did find it enjoyable. The asparagus and blue cheese sweet corn risotto that came with it – DELICIOUS - which of course means it was probably horrifically bad for me! My Shrimp & Grits was amazing. As in, so amazing I ate all of it and didn’t have room for dessert which for me is a huge deal. The Shrimp & Grits has apple bacon, green onions, mushrooms and wine all sautéed together and served on top of garlic cheese grits. The shrimp was perfectly cooked, the mushrooms were delicious, the bacon was good but not too much and it didn’t overpower the other flavors. You serve that on top of cheese grits that are wonderfully creamy and its food heaven. I was completely sated by the end of our meal.The waiter brought out a small plate with thin apple slices and cheese that cleansed the palate. We had planned to order dessert, mainly because we watched the items being prepared in the kitchen and they looked delicious, but we were too stuffed. I will have to make a return trip mainly because I hear the guacamole is delicious and I really love guac so I need to try it. Perhaps next time I will manage to save room for the Chocolate Demise baked lava cake. Our Groupon was for $50 and made the dinner more affordable.
I really enjoyed the Red Pony. The food was incredible. Our service was good and I liked the atmosphere, although as I said before it was a little dark. Without the Groupon our bill was probably around $75, which is not horrible but should be noted in case you are on a tight budget or dining with a large number of children. However, I think the high food quality makes the Red Pony definitely worth the price. I would recommend heading out with foodies or on a nice date. Even with the restaurant being all the way out in Franklin, I will definitely make a return trip back.
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