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.

Veggie Burger

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.

Thai Kai Salad

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.

Kids Fingers And Fries

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.