Nashville, TN

I will be heading down to Nashville, TN in a few weeks for a three day getaway weekend (Southwest Airlines MDW-> BNA, $39 OW).

I would like some recommendations in the $10-20pp price range. I prefer regional favorites - southern cooking, soul, etc. - but I am pretty wide open to any ideas.

Not sure why you never got an answer to your question but this is probably as good a place as any to post this link. It is an aid to just about anywhere you want to go in the south, and lots of fun reading as well.
www.dixiedining.com

If you scroll down the forum just a little bit, you'll see a recent thread that included Nashville. Here's a copy of my suggestions. Both are in your price range.

Hog Heaven. Great bar-b-que. A small stand across from the park with the replica of the Parthenon. I think there's one picnic table but most people take their 'que across to the park. They offer both red and white sauces but it's tribute to the meat that sauce isn't needed.

Loveless Cafe. A bit of a drive but this classic motor-court restaurant has down-home southern cooking that will bring a big smile to your face at the same time that it is clogging your arteries. Fried chicken, mashed potatos and bisquits in a time-tunnel like setting.

Folks,

I appreciate the ideas ... but the original post was posted in February.

Going back to my Mastercard bill ...

The first place that we tried was a small bakery in Dayton, TN - Olive and Rosemary's Bakery. While the baked goods were pretty good and the Byran College students staffing the place were friendly, the prices were twice as expensive as Chicago. And in a location where the costs are about half, it be hard to see the place last for long

The Catfish House in Smyrna and a few other towns south of Nashville serves some good catfish and fried fish dinners. Most of the food is fried but the product is pretty good.

Jamaicaway is a small lunch counter in a small market area that is below the state capital and adjacent to one of the UST warehouses. They serve a wide variety of Caribbean foods. I tried the goat stew as well as the turnip greens and both were pretty good, but not outstanding.

The Mellow Mushroom is a campus pizza joint adjacent to Vanderbilt University. The pizza is generally pretty good. The atmosphere, especially in the light of day, is faux-60s.

Centerpoint BBQ in Hendersonville serves some pretty good pulled pork BBQ and roast chicken. While there are better, the sides and the desserts in this place make it a very nice meal.

El Chico ... well, first it was family owned. Then, it was bought by Campbell Taggart, the bread people. Then Anheuser Busch bought CT. They spun off the restaurant back to the Cuellar family ... All I know is that the food makes you long for Chi-Chi's and that is pretty bad.

There is a truly outstanding BBQ joint in Geraldine, AL. Unfortunately, I paid cash and can't find the business card. The BBQ was pretty good but the pies were unforgettable.

Lefty's BBQ in Crossville, TN wins a best value award. Two people, ribs and chicken for $15 and the food was quite good. Over the years, I have driven past the place 20 times and have never tried it. It is on Peavine Rd. near Fairfield Glade.

All the locals were recommending the Tenn. State Park restaurants. We did not have the time or the inclination to try them on this trip.

Roosters Family Restaurant - Back in the old days, the owner of this place was one of Bill Anderson's partners in the old Po Folks chain. And the Nashville restaurants in the chain were very good. When they headed north, the food headed south and was generally inedible to put it mildly. Ohio boys cooking okra doesn't work ... The food here is pretty good but nothing real outstanding. However, the prices are very reasonable.

I will be back in Middle Tennessee in mid-October to head to the Shiloh Battlefield.

One more point - Southwest offers Ding fares to Nashville at $84RT. Add in an Avis rental car for $10-12/ day on weekends and a $30 LaQuinta 2* hotel on Priceline and a visit to Nashville and most midwestern cities Southwest flies to represents a good value.

Paradise Ridge competition BBQ team just opened up a place in Nashville by the same name. I would seek them out. they are major winners on the KCBS bbq circuit and know their bbq.

I would go to Lefty's BBQ based just on the location: Peavine Road near Fairfield Glade. Reminds me of VA place names I grew up with.

Hog Heaven was outstanding, eat your pork samich in the park with the ersatz Parthenon. Did the Loveless for breakfast, wicked good biscuits, gravy or butter or homemade preserves. None of the "meat and three "places thrilled me. I just don't get it- bland salty food served lukewarm.

on a side note, the Country Music Hall of Fame was way better than expected. We spent about three hours there. Side trip to RCA(?) studio also interesting.

deke rivers wrote:Paradise Ridge competition BBQ team just opened up a place in Nashville by the same name. I would seek them out. they are major winners on the KCBS bbq circuit and know their bbq.

We tried them out tonight while on a business trip here in Nashville. Far more of a bar - at 7:45pm the bar was full, the dining room was desolate.

The ribs and brisket had promise if they had been fresh, but obviously had been kept and reheated. Not worth going back for dinner from where we were staying near the airport, about a 14 mile drive. But the food may be more of a lunch destination, and it is very close to I-40, on the west edge of town.

For those of you who use online mapping, the address will not show up for some reason. Instead, put in the intersection of Charlotte & Annex, and the restaurant is west of the intersection, across from the Costco.

Lots of talk about BBQ in Nashville, but on a recent trip, I ran across an excellent Persian restaurant called Genie's Persian Palace. Not the most posh digs (it's in an old Captain D's, proving that crappy corporate space can be redeemed with good food), but the lunch buffet ($9.95) was a bargain of goodness. The owner, Mohammad Karimy, is "Mo" of Fat Mo's, a burger chain that I've heard good things about, but have no firsthand experience with.

The buffet is a sample of just about everything the menu has to offer--melting-tender lamb shank, Khoresht Fesenjan (a puree of walnuts and sweet and sour pomengranate paste with boneless chicken--my favorite), karafs (beef in a celery and tomato paste stew), kashk-o-bademjoon (eggplant in garlic and mint), kababs and other stews, plus a big selection of snibblies like hummus, pickled garlic and fat shallots, a yogurt/shallot sauce, and a nubby, house-made butter that I could've eaten by the bucket. One of the rices offered was spiked with tart, tiny berberis/barberries. All served with fluffy, warm pita.

Pictures taken, but shots of a buffet, particularly vats of stew, never do justice to the food.


Genie's Persian Palace
Two locations:
1133 Murfreesboro Rd.
Nashville
(615) 366-8988

6990 Moores LN
Brentwood, TN 37027
(615) 370-7022

My wife had to go to Nashville for a conference at the Opryland Resort and I decided to tag along. I culled dining recommendations from this forum and other online sources and managed to hit up a few few places. Several Nashville recs are all over these forums, but I decided to post here due to the unambiguous subject line of this thread. I've been meaning to get this post up for a while -- the trip occurred in July 2008, so the memories have faded regarding the details. I won't write much, but just add to the collection of pictures associated with some of the dining options in and near Nashville, TN.

Hog Heaven BBQ:

A perfectly good pulled pork sandwich, with coleslaw and vinegary BBQ sauce (mild) made unique by the (optional) corn bread pancake "bun." I was very impressed by the "bun's" ability to maintain its integrity to the last bite.

Arnold's Country Kitchen:

From top left to bottom right: fried green tomatoes, creamed corn, chess pie, roast beef w mac 'n cheese, corn bread pancakes with a pat of butter. Everything was excellent. My biggest surprise was my love for the creamed corn. This was my favorite meal of the trip, and the best lunch I've had in a long time.

Here is a pic of Arnold's interior and menu


Miller's Grocery (Christiana, TN)

Fried Catfish with corn nuggets and cheesy mash potatoes. The catfish was beautifully fried, moist, and wonderful.

We had cherry cobbler for desert. The trip to Nashville was my first time in the "South;" though I've been on some previous quick trips to Atlanta, and I've spent some days in New Orleans. However, Miller's Grocery was the place I was at, which was the closest physical manifestation of the my mental fantasy of the "the South." A family of musicians played bluegrass throughout the meal. I enjoyed this place a lot. It occurred to me that Miller's Grocery could be the real essence on which the simulacrum that is Cracker Barrel is based.

Loveless Cafe

Who doesn't enjoy all you can eat, freshly baked biscuits?

Or, a hearty breakfast of eggs, home-made ham, bacon, and sausage patties. Loved the ham...did not finish eating the dry sausage patties.
This was the most "touristy" of the places we visited. Had a perfectly good meal.

Margot's Cafe
Unfortunately no pics of the food at this "upper-end" establishment. We had a very enjoyable meal. Very nice, warm, cozy, atmosphere. The menu appears to be upscale southern with a twist. I enjoyed pasta with shortribs and roasted corn, with a thin BBQ sauce as the gravy. It was delicious. I think this place is a bargain by Chicago standards given the quality of the food. Highly recommended.

Overall, I got to do some good eating in Nashville. I would definitely stop to eat at Arnold's and Miller's Grocery next time I'm in the area. However, I do not envision making Nashville a destination any time soon.

Hog Heaven
http://www.hogheavenbbq.com
115 27th Ave N
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 329-1234

Arnold's Country Kitchen
605 Eigth Ave S
Nashville, TN 37203-4102
Phone: (615) 256-4455

Miller's Grocery
http://www.millersgrocery.com
7011 Main St
Christiana, TN 37037
(615) 893-1878

Loveless Cafe
http://www.lovelesscafe.com
8400 Highway 100
Nashville, TN 37221
(615) 646-9700

Margot Cafe and Bar
http://www.margotcafe.com
1017 Woodland St
Nashville, TN 37206
(615) 227-4668

Phil Vittel has an article on Nashville on the cover page of today's (12-21-08) travel section that includes Spike O'Dell's food recommendations. I would link the file but I cannot find it on their website.

Since I will be in Nashville next week and have no time for research, the article looks like it will be the my travel guide.

jlawrence01 wrote:Phil Vittel has an article on Nashville on the cover page of today's (12-21-08) travel section that includes Spike O'Dell's food recommendations. I would link the file but I cannot find it on their website.

Since I will be in Nashville next week and have no time for research, the article looks like it will be the my travel guide.

Here's a link, at least as of today.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/ch ... 1217.story

Here are some more finds from my New Years expedition to Nashville:

San Antonio Taco Co. - We were driving around the Vanderbilt area looking for something that was interesting as well as open at 9 pm on New Year's Day. We ended up at San Antonio Taco Co. which is your classic campus area diner.

When you walk into the restaurant, you pick up one of the menu pads and write in the quantities of the food that you would like. They have a very limited menu of tacos, enchiladas and burritos. Then you circle what you want on the tacos. Take the order to the cashier and pay for it. Excellent salsa filled with roasted chilis; pico de gallo with a warning that you better be expecting a real kick.

Good food at a good price.

San Antonio Taco Co
416 21st Ave S
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone: (615) 327-4322


Gigi's Cupcakes - Since my wife was celebrating her birthday and we did not want an entire cake, we returned back to the Vanderbilt area and bought a designer birthday cupcake at Gigi's. For $3, the cupcakes are generally filled and well decorated. The packaging ensures that the cupcake can be gistwrapped and transported.


GiGi's CupCakes
1816 Broadway Ste A
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 342-0140
http://www.gigiscupcakesusa.com


We decided to head up to Bowling Green, KY, home of Western Kentucky University and the Lost River Cave. After taking a boat ride through the cave, we drove around town looking for a restaurant. I have never seen a thriving downtown area in a growing town with few closed stores that was so devoid of restaurants. After half an hour, we gave up and headed to the freeway. We ended up at Judy's Castle.

Judy's Castle is one of those non-descript mom and pop restaurants that you find down south. Nothing extraordinary to look at. It was a typical "meat and three" common to the area. The food was fantastic. I ordered the pork tenderloin and three sides. The greens and apples were excellent and well done. I expected a huge breaded pork tenderloin. Instead, I received a 6oz flattened pork tenderloin that was dredged in flour and lightly sauteed. It was one of the best things I ate over the weekend.

Judy's Castle
1302 Us 31W Byp
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 842-8736

We headed back to Nashville for dinner. It was our intent to have dinner at Bro's Cajun Cuisine. However, like many places last weekend, the restaurant was closed for the holiday. We continued to our second choice, Wendell Smith's Restaurant in West Nashville. The restaurant is located immediately behind Wendell Smith's Liquor Store and grocery. It is a diner from the forties that I do not think has been refurbished since then. Everything, including some of the staff, looks like it has been there. We were a bit hesitant to eat there as we walked in at 7:23PM knowing that the restaurant closed at 7:30 PM.

The menu is handwritted, not printed, but handwritten. Meat and three for $7.45. Eight to ten entree choices; fifteen side dishes. The catfish was relatively ordinary, not bad but not special. The sides were phenomenal. Their fried corn is made with fresh corn - two varieties and was very sweet and seemed to me a consistency between whole kernel and cream style corn. The zucchini and tomatoes was also made fresh and was flavorful. The turnip greens were the best I have had this year but were made WITHOUT meat. My wife's beef stew was nothing special. The blackberry cobbler was also made with fresh berries, which is unusual this time of year.

Wendell Smith Restaurant
407 53rd Ave N
Nashville, TN 37209
(615) 383-7114


The next day, we headed over to the Nashville Farmer's Market which is located in the flats are right behind the state capitol. There are generally a couple of restaurants open and a few vendors. This week, there was little going on and the Whitts\Swett's stand was the only place open. We decided to pass.

We drove all over East Nashville looking for the Five Points neighborhood. We almost stopped at Bolton's Fried Chicken but I did not feel comfortable in that area. Finally, we found the area we were looking for. This area is a five block area of small restaurants and shops along Woodland Ave.

We decided to try Batter'd and Fried Boston Seafood, a sushi and fried seafood restaurant. It is a casual restaurant with a sushi bar that was definitely decorated by a Boston Red Sox fan. You would think that you were in Boston. However, the food was a major disappointment. The clam chowder was very good. The soup was creamy with plenty of clams. The oysters were breaded and were flavorless. I do not think that they were breaded in the kitchen. My wife ordered the haddock which also suffered from heavy breading . Honestly, my wife's reaction was "we paid THAT much for fish sticks." One interesting presentation was the french fries. They were served in a brown paper bag; you were to put in the seasonings and shake the fries up. The worst meal of the trip was also the most expensive. The next time we are in that area, we will stop at Marche Artisan Foods next door.

Batter'd & Fried Boston Seafood
http://www.batteredandfried.com
1008 Woodland St
Nashville, TN 37206
(615) 226-9283

Saturday evening, we went to the Grand Ole Opry which was held in the old Ryman Auditorium, a venue far superior to the current Opry house. After the show, we needed to kill some time before the Midnight Jamboree. We walked to Jack's BBQ down the street. We both had BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. The meat was well smoked and there were six different sauces to choose from. The side dishes were very pretty decent; however, they come in prepackaged.

Downtown Jack's Bar-B-Que
416 Broadway
Nashville, Tennessee 37203
615-254-5715 Restaurant

Sunday lunch was at Loveless Cafe, which has been covered on several occasions. I have eaten there three times and I have always found the food to be very solid. It is a "cleaned up, dress up" version of a meat and threes restaurant. Yes, it is touristy, but the food is no slouch.

We tried to find Pickett's Grocery and after nearly an hour, we found it but it was little more than a grocery and we were looking for more of a sit down place.

On this trip, I stopped by Krystal's to remind myself as to why I preferred White Castle. Th buns are oversteamed and are loaded with ketchup and mustard.

Can anybody update this thread, heading down for Memorial Day weekend. Been to Loveless, great Breakfast. Did Neally's BBQ which i also enjoyed. Loved Radius 10 for our one nice meal but have hard it has since closed.
Any updates and recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks Joey B

Since I started the thread and head down to Nashville at least once or twice a year in anticipation of a move there in 2015 or 2020, I will add a few more recommendations. I do not have time to add locations and websites and all that.

The worst meal of 2010 was Mexican food at Casa Fiesta near the airport. All the food was uniformly poorly prepared. To give you a good feel, imagine a large bowl of iceberg lettuce with raw onion slices served as a salad. We thought it could only get better but it didn't.

Swetts is a classic "meat and threes" located near downtown with locations at the airport and the farmer's market. In general, the food is done very well. We are not taking fancy gourmet but good solid Southern cooking.

The find of the trip was Bro's Cajun Kitchen, which is run by a man from the Lafayette area. Excellent food and service BUT he is not open on Saturdays and Sundays. We were there the week before the Super Bowl and the place was rocking at lunch time.

We also went to Richard's Cafe in White Creek, TN. They had pretty good music on the Saturday we were there. The music was better than the food which was a decent representation of Cajun cooking. The boudin sausage was really pretty good.

That is my update. In all fairness, while we do NOT hesitate trying a couple of new places each trip, we find it more enjoyable to mix in some of the old favorites.

In any of these places, you should be able to eat for $15 without beverages.

I used to find myself in Nashville once a month or so on business. If you're inclined to drive a bit, its pretty darn hard to beat the ribs at Carl's Perfect Pig.

Carl's Perfect Pig
4992 Highway 70 E
White Bluff, TN 37187
(615) 797-4020

The big surprise on my Tennessee road trip last summer was Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish:



Owner Bolton Matthews learned his craft directly from his uncle, Bolton Polk, who worked as a cook at the venerable Prince's Hot Chicken.

Both the spicy catfish and chicken were exceptionally good in a primordial sorta way. The shockingly fresh catfish had a crisp, brightly spiced crust with a squirk of hot sauce and mustard atop.


Although the chicken was a hair dried out (much like my experience with Prince's hot chicken), the turbo-charged spiced oil crust elevates the experience to the ideal late night stoner grub.



Even if you don't like the food, the shack should not to be missed. Just make sure to knock on the inner back door to the kitchen when you're ready to order. You'll be greeted with a warm smile.


Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish
624 Main St
Nashville, TN 37206
(615) 254-8015

PIGMON wrote:...ideal late night stoner grub.

I wasn't sure I got this until I saw the "Pot Salad" on offer. Cool place !

Today is National Fried Chicken Day, Southern Foodways has a blog post with this short film on Hot Chicken of Nashville:

ooks like boltons on sat. ?

rolled in to nashville around 2pm had some quick biz . to take care of then it was time to eat.

went to boltons first, got fried chicken and fried fish.both was fried in a big cast iron skillet.
chicken had great flavor but was over done some what dry.
fish was great cornmeal breading, spicey
parking at boltons can be tough. owner has to keep a open lane but it s not marked. he did not yell at me . we had a cab.

then over to princess. got med.and that is hot juicy great stuff.

for super we went to
bros cajan cuisine
3214 charlotte ave.
615-329-2626

what a great place . yes ddd has been here .
had gumbo with chicken & sausage .. nice
one of the high lights of the day was the boudin balls, crunchy coating and the sausage was unbliebable(bought 20 lbs of sausage to go).
also had the house sampler red beans,shrimp creole,crawfish etouffee, boudin sausage link. all great
did not have but the smoked pork chop smells & looks great.next time.
darrell is a very nice hospitable. we talked for over a hour. he showed us all of his bbq pits & cypress wood smoke house(sausage)
i will be back for sure


so we hit the town . bb kings front row table.
lat night burger at paradise cafe. not bad

sun morn. went to pucketts gro.& rest.
great place. love all the old stuff.
had texas eggs benedict. was good but there gravy sucks.
everthings else was very good. also shared a buffett plate.
on the hwy back to chi by 10 am

I took a drive down to Nashville a couple weekends ago for my cousins bachelor party and had a blast. I'd never been but now know for sure I will be back. I could even see myself living down there if the option was on the table and that's usually not the case for places down South. I knew about the Country Music awards and the fact it was known for it's music scene and a favorite place for Blackhawks fans to travel to watch away games and also the home to an NFL franchise which in case you've never been to Green Bay, doesn't mean much as far as fun things to do while eating and drinking well goes. But Nashville had the feel of a young up and coming city with neighborhoods like the historic Germantown becoming hip again and from what I was told a very vibrant farmers market along with other little things you see when a city starts booming.



Nashville Tennessee

As evidence from this classic post shows, Tennessee is a legit BBQ state especially for whole hog but that tends to be found more towards the middle of the state. Nashville has BBQ and of course the most accessible places in the most touristy areas suck. On the regional food map Nashville is known not for its BBQ but for its spicy chicken and also their "Meat and Three's" (read on) and biscuits. It's southern country down to the core when it comes to their food likes. Before we even got settled in at the house we were renting I had to take a ride to Prince's Hot Chicken. One of the most well known and popular places to eat at in Nashville.


Local and tourist favorite

Located in a strip mall in an urban part of town. When we came in the late afternoon, the liquor store next door had Young Jeezy blasting on speakers outside and I got a chuckle out of it knowing my cousin and his sisters boyfriend were out of place and most likely wondering "where the (bleep) did he find this place and what are we getting into" My younger brother was with us too but he already knew what I do. Be not afraid my friends, everyone is there with the same goal and that's to get some of that spicy fried goodness. I felt like we arrived in the south when I went inside the original no frills location where they sling their famous spicy fried chicken mostly to those on the go and until the early morning on weekends.


Prince's mild, yet still spicy, chicken

They season the bird up with spices that make your lips heat up a little bit more with each bite. At Prince's they offer their chicken in mild, medium, hot and extra hot but they're all spicy. I imagine mild would still be too spicy for those who don't like spice at all. It's not mild. I got two whole birds of both mild and medium to take back to the place. Extra pickles please. It was pretty damn fantastic and I love eating fried chicken with pickles, what a pair. Just to see how hot it was I got a quarter dark, extra hot for myself which we tried in the patking lot. It was "f^cking hot" that's exactly what I said. I decided it'd be funny to get a few more quarter extra hots and leave them in the fridge for my cousin and his friends to eat when they got in later that night. Of course without mentioning the heat factor. The four of us who knew gotta good laugh outta that when they bit the bait. Imagine that southside guy with the bald head sweating balls on a shot summer day at the Cell, that was them.


Prince's HOT, EXTRA HOT, chicken

Bolton's is another spicy fried chicken place that gets some love on here and elsewhere and a spot I've long had on my list. I went here hans solo on Saturday when the rest of the group went golfing. It's a real gem of a southern fried chicken shack located in East Nashville that all first time visitors should seek out. Anyone looking for something to do this 4th of July weekend who also loves fried chicken should check out the Music City Hot Fried Chicken Festival. It sounded pretty fun and of course theres some damn good spicy fried chicken to be had.


Bolton's Spicy Chicken and Fish

Bolton's is a fun experience and the people working there were so welcoming. There's three tables to dine in at and a little space to wait but like Prince's they do alot of takeout. As PIGMON noted as you enter you need to go knock on the door to the kitchen when ready. Actually you need to use the door knocker as I knocked with my knuckes a few times looking like a true tourist as I stood there pretending not to be. It was a few knocks before someone waiting on their order told me I had to "slam the sh!t outta the knocker so they can hear you dude" Followed by welcome to Nashville man, where you from?" Lots of southern hospitality was showed to me on this visit.


A Nashville Summertime favorite


Menu -- A view inside from where you order

I knew about the chicken from Bolton's and of course was going to try that but I was more excited about trying the hot fish sandwich. While it's certainly not original to Nashville, the fish sandwich is another one of their lesser known eats. Called a "hot fish" they're offered at quite a few places which I had hoped to get to at least one other one but never was able to. As I rode to Bolton's there was a local East Nashville youth football team that was selling fish sandwiches with a car wash out of a vacant parking lot. I'm still sad I never made it back there to chat it up with the folks offering it. In Nashville the typical hot fish sandwich includes fried whiting but in most every case catfish is offered as well. You get two large pieces stuffed inside cheap white bread along with mustard, onions, pickles and hot sauce.


Whiting Hot Fish Sandwich

I kind of forgot the PIGMON post about how good the catfish is and was tempted to try the most regularly used option of whiting and that's what I did. You cant really eat the thing as sandwich but it was pretty dang good. Certainly kicks the shit out of the filet o' fish not that that means much. It was ok but the catfish looks and I'm sure tastes better. They got the frying game down here and do an excellent job with their chicken. I got it hot and it didn't throw flames like Prince's did. I went with the 1/4 white and it was up there with the greats as far as fried bird goes but the breast was a little dry, that's my fault for ordering white, I almost never do.


1/4 Chicken Sandwich (breast and wing)

On Friday morning I had only one goal and that wasn't figuring out what we were going to do for the day. I had to get to Arnold's Country Kitchen and wasn't doing anything else until I did so. It's closed on weekends but this is the type of place you take work off on Friday and start your trip early for. A must visit in my book.


Arnold's Country Kitchen: Home of the Meat & Three

Just like he was there to greet me at Prince's, Tex Wasabi was also at Arnold's. No that's not his red camero parked in front popping into the bottom right hand corner of the picture but his picture was on the walls as you enter. Well you know what broph? The dude gets to some righteous places yo! F'real though! I don't watch the show but should of known he'd already been to Nashville's most popular "meat and three" option. Friday was a great day to be there with roast beef and chicken and dumplings on the menu, which is determined by what day of the week it is.


Roast Beef carvery station


Waiting to pay as the place fills up for the lunch rush

So a 'meat & three' in case you were wondering is a popular southern way of eating out. Served by places that usually offer their food cafeteria style where you walk in and grab a tray and then get into line. Once it's your turn you choose what you want by telling the guy behind the counter and he's plop's it onto your plate which you then proceed to take the cash register where you pay before you find a seat and eat. Those not a fan of places like Edzo's wont be fond of Arnold's. Coincidentally you'll be missing out on some fantastic food. If your not a fan of places where the food is already made you wont like Arnold's either but the constant line makes for the cooks in back being busy the whole time they're open. This was the best cafeteria style food I've ever ate. It's what I've been craving since we got back.


Meat & two: Catfish with collard greens and fried green tomatoes

I could side with anyone who ever took a 3+ hour ride to eat here and then turned around and drove back. Not much I can say except everything I ate was GREAT. The roast beef as seen in the pic collage was getting finished up when I got mine carved and then a few people later they brought out a new one. I can pretend to taste how great the middle pieces to it are.


Meat & three: Roast Beef with mashed potatoes, mac & cheese and green beans

If I could of got a little rarer slices that's the only thing that could of made this entire meal slightly better for me. Even so, some of the best roast beef I've had, I don't know what they season theirs with but its tantalizing to the tastebuds. The chicken and dumplings were a revelation. I know I cant find anything like them near here but will seek them out when I'm in areas south of the city. I'll try perfecting my own recipe when winter comes. I never had them that good. Desert was great but I forgot what we ate, I was too busy going back into line to get an order of it all to take back to the house.


Chicken & Dumplings -- Pie

After a late or rather crack of dawn morning I had to get a little sleep on Saturday and woke up ready for another southern breakfast bonanza. Unless its late in the wee hours of the night there's not much reason to do Waffle House while in Nashville. Save it for the road and those times you don't want to venture far off the highway while en route somewhere else. Go to Arnold's and the Nashville Biscuit House for breakfast while in Nashville.


An East Nashville locals favorite

I read about the Nashville Biscuit House in a book about southern biscuits I was browsing at Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville on a stop we made while riding down. I had seen some other things on it and had it in my address list of places to seek out so it was perfect for breakfast around noon. This place is pretty diverse and had everything from church going African American families to gay hipsters waiting to eat. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Its def. a fan favorite, they had a full house but they also have a drive thru window which is what we used. I was getting food to feed 13 and this place was perfect with their biscuit sandwiches offered with your choice of meat along with eggs and cheese. Each one was $2.25 and we got something like 7 country ham, 7 sausage and 7 bacon along with 7 full orders of biscuits and sausage gravy. If you think that's too much, I was wishing we got more.


Full order of Biscuits & Gravy, highway robbery at $3.50 an order

This like Arnold's I consider a must. The Loveless Cafe is considered my many including LTH favorite Steve Plotnicki to have the best biscuits in the world but these would be damn hard to beat. Without a doubt the best I ever had as well as everyone else who was with us down there and ate one or in my case four of them. but then again we some damn Yankees. I'd eat these weekly if there was anything like 'em in Chicago.


An arsenal of breakfast biscuit sandwiches that would make Paula Deen weak in the knees

Nashville is booming and one way to tell is the hipsters that have come thru. With them come some cool new spots and of course the cocktail trend has taken off too. This is one trend in the food/drink industry that I'm a fan of. I cant take cheap vodka and cranberries or Jack & Cokes anymore. I hate Red Bull and when it comes to cheap beer I'll drink a High Life bottle if that's what you got but that's about it. No wine (yet) for me. Ever since a couple friends opened Da Flat within walking distance from where I live and showed me the light, I've become a cocktail snob. On Friday me and three others decided to stray away from Broadway street and ditch the Miller Lites for some Bacon Old Fashioneds and such. Its located in a popular part of town with a few other bars up and down the block where more of the locals tend to hang out around.


The Patterson House

Perfect timing as we got a little afternoon rain that day in Nashville. The Patterson House is a speakeasy like cocktail bar opened up by two brothers with prior endeavors in the Nashville bar scene. The idea came about for them on a trip here to Chicago when they went to the Violet Hour. They fell in love with the drinks, service and atmosphere of VH so they decided to bring something similar to Nashville. As someone who's been to both, they did a damn fine job. The Patterson House is name after Malcom R. Patterson who was the 27th governor of the state of Tennessee. He vetoed a bill during his 2nd term that would of lead to the return of statewide prohibition. He argued the issue should be decided at the local level rather than statewide. In a rare instance for this time period his veto was overturned.


As you enter, the waiting area outside the curtained off drinking room

His memory lives on thru the Patterson House. Inside its very dark so pictures without a flash are pointless. All four of us loved our cocktails which I forget the exact ingredients and names of each one but they were all great including their famous bacon old fashioned. Foodwise its a southern influenced menu with no item being more than $13 and most of them made to share. I tried the fresh fried pork rinds which were as good as any batch I've ever had. Also on the menu was their "Elvis Panini". While not in Memphis we were still in Tennessee and as they say "when in Rome" Peanut butter, banana and bacon are pressed into a tasty sandwich. It's cliche to say but, what isn't made better with the addition of bacon? True story.


Fresh fried pork rinds -- The Elvis Panini Sandwich

On Saturday my cousins and everyone else planned to play some golf and I have no patience for the game. Which was fine because this would give me the chance to seek out a few other places I really wanted to get too including another speakeasy type place located in East Nashville called the Holland House Bar & Refuge.


Holland House Bar & Refuge

The more places that pop up like Holland House the better off the bar scene in that area is as far as I'm concerned. This was a little more my style with there being some light inside. Still no TV's or anything like that but I just hate going into those pitch dark places and then walking out tipsy and its light out still. It throws my balance off. Holland House is a great place to start while Patterson is better to end your night.


My view from the bar

Holland House began when a local mixoligist who had helped make the menus at some other Nashville bars decided he wanted to do something new. Elsewhere in Nashville there was a Dutch businessman who owned a piece of old property that used to be an antique store. He wanted to give it a new identity and somewhere along the lines they were introduced and Holland House was born. The idea was to unify fine new American culinary tradition with a classic epicurean cocktail culture set in an affordable neighborhood friendly atmosphere. They knocked it out of the park for me, I'd love to have this place as one of my local holes.



(Top) Pharmacy Cobbler Drink -- Spring Drink Menu
(Bot.) Black Lemon Old-Fashioned

I got cozy with Mick who was the bartender on my side of the bar and let him take me away as far as drinks go. We started it off light as he suggested a 'Pharmacy Cobbler' which I got with gin and comes with fresh muddled fruit in season (berries this trip), phosphated lime soda and St. Germain. Excellent summertime drink on a 85+ degree day. Mick continued to take care of me as we talked cocktails and what not and when I told him my love for drinking whiskey Old Fashioneds while in 'Sconnie land and the fact I wanted to try something with bourbon, it had to be the Black Lemon Old Fashioned for round 2. Two ounces of bourbon go into a glass muddled with lemon and fresh blackberries. Add in a giant piece of ice that takes forever to melt and I was drinking my favorite cocktail I've had since my favorite, the Broken Shoeshiner (off menu), at Barrelhouse Flat. It was perfect for the setting. I ordered their shrimp and grits which were so very, very good and then finished with a "Pyre and Mighty" which was a Rhittenhouse rye whiskey and pear liqour paired drink served shaken. I'd of tried three more if I didn't have to go home to get ready for the evening.


Shrimp and Grits with asparagus

Even though I wasn't golfing I had to drive a carload of people to the course which it turned out was about 40 minutes from Nashville. At first I wasn't too happy and I ended up not getting to go to the Farmer's Market that Saturday afternoon which I really wanted to do. There were a couple food trucks, one a biscuit driven one and the other a Delta Style Tamale truck I wanted to try but I never made it due to the time it took to get there and back and also go to Bolton's and Holland House. But I was blessed with some BBQ in one of those out of the blue unplanned moments in eating in area you dont know much about. It was a nice ride with some scenic views outside the city as we went into the rocky top lands.



Cruising the country lands north of Nashville

It was on the ride there that I spied the Old Fashion BBQ "since 1975" sign and I suddenly didn't care quite as much that I was going to miss the Farmers Market as I saw this little BBQ shack located alongside somebody's house with a line outside post lunchtime. I actually stopped here on the way back after dropping them off and finding another similar place. But lets take a look at this place first. Its owned by a guy who lives next door and with his wife they sell BBQ out of the little shack located in their backyard on the weekends.


Preparing my order after its made

Here in Robertson County the local bbq of choice seems to be chopped pork served sandwich style. At Old Fashion BBQ which was featured in a best BBQ in America article back in the early 80's, they offer only sandwiches. I had no idea about this place but found this cool blog about the BBQ here after I came home and searched them. Aside from that guys post and now this one here, this place is virtually non existent in an online world where its hard to be. Its on Tom Austin Highway and they serve some great perfectly smokey pork.


Old Fashion BBQ chopped pork

This was some great sandwich meat. I had to get a couple pounds which I brought back to the house for the others to indulge in when they got back. It had the perfect amount of smoke and all it needed were those cheap buns and his hot sauce and we had some real deal BBQ. Well before I went here as I tried to search on my iPhone for the place I was led to another located the opposite way. It all worked out.


The Tennessee Boondocks

Located in the middle of nowhere off the side of the road is this little smoke shack which is a wkd operation. I had to go in and try their BBQ and was glad I did. They also sell their chopped pork by the pound ($5) and offer it in meals or as sandwiches. They do smoked chicken and ribs. I got a couple pounds to go for them and a dinner for me.


The view from the ordering counter

Another treasure and a great place to just stumble upon. There's no Famous Daves or KFC's out around this way but who cares when you got Mike's Old Fashioned BBQ. Their sides were wonderful, basically how you expect traditional all American potato salad and cole slaw to taste. The real highlight of Mike's was their sauce which goes on the sandwiches and into the meat. Its a very light vinegar based brew that takes the sandwich from good to really good. I got 10 bottles of the pre-bottled stuff seen in the picture to take back and use this summer. Not bad at $2.50 each.


BBQ pork dinner from Mike's old Fashion BBQ

Of course theres also Broadway Street which is Nashville's Bourbon Street, Beale Street, 7th avenue (Ybor City), Church Street (Orlando) and so on. Every southern city with tourism dollars coming in has a street where tourists and locals like to go get loose. They can be fun times if your under 35 and stop by during the day and get to hear some people playing music you might like it no matter your age or music tastes. As far as food goes around Broadway and 2nd street (off Broadway, another popular nite life area) your best bet is to stick with what you already know is good. My cousins friends ate at a couple BBQ spots and one was really bad and they said Jack's BBQ was ok, some said pretty good. I enjoyed both my Vienna Beef Chiacgo style hot dogs with with everything around 2a when the bars were closing down.


a little taste of Sweet Home Chicago in the Music City

I'm not a big fan of country music but the performers brought the energy in at these bars around there. The best entertainment though was the free stuff, the locals. If your lucky enough to get the chance to see The Nashville Clogger perform at the bars while hes out and about drinking, you'll love him, it was a trip. When he would get going with one the bachelorettes there dancing he would get going. That old man can dance! Then there was the Nashville Freestyle Drummer who was hilarious. Well known for his freestyles calling out the passerby's he gets the corner of Broadway he's set up at rocking on the weekend nights. It was as entertaining as anything the both nights we saw him. They both give a great peak into both of the types of music featured in Nashville's musical scene. Plenty of scenic views in these parts too if you like those like I do.


Broadway Street from a bars balcony on a Saturday night

I already have plans for trip to Green Bay and hopefully Dallas for 2012-13 Bears away games and now I think I'm going to try and do Nashville too. You know Cutty's going to want to put on a show and most likely will. It's a place that will be on my radar from here on in. If your ever driving down to Nashville from Chicago and taking 65 you can check this thread for recs.


Hope to see you in early November Nashville...DA BEARS!
________________________________________

Prince's Hot Chicken (Open til 4a Wkds)
123 Ewing Dr # 3, Nashville, TN
(615) 226-9442

Boltons Spicy Chicken & Fish (Closed Sun)
624 Main St # B, Nashville, TN
(615) 254-8015

Arnold's Country Kitchen (M-F)
605 8th Avenue South, Nashville, TN
(615) 256-4455

Nashville Biscuit House (open 7days til 2p)
805 Gallatin Ave, Nashville, TN
(615) 228-4504

Patterson House
1711 Division Street, Nashville, TN
(615) 636-7724

Holland House Bar & Refuge
935 West Eastland Avenue, Nashville, TN
(615) 262-4190 ‎

Old Fashion BBQ (wkds)
1784 Tom Austin Highway Greenbrier, TN 37073

Mike's Old Fashioned BBQ (wkds)
3655 Dunn Road Cedar Hill, TN 37032
(615) 696-1111

Fantastic, Beef.

Da Beef wrote:I took a drive down to Nashville a couple weekends ago for my cousins bachelor party and had a blast. . .

Great post, great pics as always. I really need to get to Nashville. For whatever reason, I always choose Memphis instead. Not next time.

Thank you!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote: Great post, great pics as always. I really need to get to Nashville. For whatever reason, I always choose Memphis instead. Not next time.

Thank you!

=R=

Haha, I'll by the great post part but great pics? I guess compared to those who use their iPhones. Compared to the ones you share? Not so much. Ha, I'm actually about to get a new camera. The one I got now is at least four years old and been good to me but it's time for something new. I was actually thinking about you at Holland House and how much you'd most likely enjoy it and their drinks. I've done Memphis a couple times although not in four years and I really like it there too but I think Nashville gets my vote. Check it out.

Awesome report Beef, as always. I'm likely to be in Fayetteville, Memphis, Nashville, maybe Louisville, maybe Indianapolis in a couple weeks (or maybe later in the year). I've been to Nashville at least 5 times and loved it (I'm a musician and a big old country music and bluegrass fan). I've never been to Memphis, so I'm finally going to hit both in one shot. I've already started lining up some Memphis BBQ eats including a pulled pork at Morris Grocery, but it sure seems like I'll be eating a bunch of fried chicken and biscuits on this trip. I do want to hit Loveless Cafe and Arnold's in Nashville, but that Nashville Biscuit House mention has me conflicted! I'm a Bojangles Chicken and Biscuits fan, so I have to hit that in Nashville.

Da Beef wrote:I took a drive down to Nashville a couple weekends ago for my cousins bachelor party and had a blast. I'd never been but now know for sure I will be back. I could even see myself living down there if the option was on the table and that's usually not the case for places down South. I knew about the Country Music awards and the fact it was known for it's music scene and a favorite place for Blackhawks fans to travel to watch away games and also the home to an NFL franchise which in case you've never been to Green Bay, doesn't mean much as far as fun things to do while eating and drinking well goes. But Nashville had the feel of a young up and coming city with neighborhoods like the historic Germantown becoming hip again and from what I was told a very vibrant farmers market along with other little things you see when a city starts booming.

...

On Friday morning I had only one goal and that wasn't figuring out what we were going to do for the day. I had to get to Arnold's Country Kitchen and wasn't doing anything else until I did so. It's closed on weekends but this is the type of place you take work off on Friday and start your trip early for. A must visit in my book.


Arnold's Country Kitchen: Home of the Meat & Three

So a 'meat & three' in case you were wondering is a popular southern way of eating out. Served by places that usually offer their food cafeteria style where you walk in and grab a tray and then get into line. Once it's your turn you choose what you want by telling the guy behind the counter and he's plop's it onto your plate which you then proceed to take the cash register where you pay before you find a seat and eat. Those not a fan of places like Edzo's wont be fond of Arnold's. Coincidentally you'll be missing out on some fantastic food. If your not a fan of places where the food is already made you wont like Arnold's either but the constant line makes for the cooks in back being busy the whole time they're open. This was the best cafeteria style food I've ever ate. It's what I've been craving since we got back.

I could side with anyone who ever took a 3+ hour ride to eat here and then turned around and drove back. Not much I can say except everything I ate was GREAT. The roast beef as seen in the pic collage was getting finished up when I got mine carved and then a few people later they brought out a new one. I can pretend to taste how great the middle pieces to it are.

I agree with pretty much all of that, and would certainly endorse Nashville as a fun destination.

And, of course, a lot of you are like me, thinking nothing makes a destination more worthwhile than its food. And nothing makes Nashville more worthwhile as a food destination than Arnolds. We had nary a bad meal in Nashville. Ate biscuits, country ham, ciccioli, small-batch paletas, spicy fried chicken, pancakes, buttermilk panna cotta, more country ham, bacon-lettuce-and fried green tomato sandwiches, and other things, but nothing compared to the things we ate at Arnolds. We splurged on one higher-end meal, the South meets Italy of City House, but nothing beat Arnolds.

Being with a family of four, hounds all, in a place that gives you 3, with your meat, we had a chance to eat a lot (but not all) of Arnold's fare. That meant catfish and greens, black-eye peas and stewed okra, roast beef and fried apples, mac n' cheese, green beans, Local Beet approved slices of red tomato and a "summer" salads with squash. There were flat corn cakes and then there was pie, an exemplary chess and who could not be impressed with cream being whipped up in front of you for the peach pie.

Freshly whipped cream. That's the type of quality at Arnold's. Maybe it's not exquisite heirloom dug up just for them, but these were more than decent materials handled at levels way above what you might expect. Then, add, trimmings from the roast beef for some veg or luscious hog jowls for others and really deft hands with the spicing, and you can see why this is the best. The real revelation dish was stewed okra, with thick slices of baked tomato. One of the few vegetarian friendly vegetables at Arnold, it was just so right in the way it was done.

You can enjoy a lot of good food in Nashville, and nothing may be better than Arnolds.

Spent some time in Nashville a few weeks back on a trip down to Atlanta. I absolutely loved it. Really lovely town filled with lovely people and good food and fun music everywhere. Several of the places I went to have been covered in this thread but I wanted to add a few observations.

We had a great breakfast at the Nashville Biscuit House, which also had the best coffee we had on the trip. It was a major bargain, price wise and we hit it at a great time on a Sunday morning and only had to wait a few minutes for a table. We had eggs, biscuits and sausage gravy and some pancakes and were stuffed to the gills when we left. Our other breakfast in town was at the highly touted Pancake Pantry, which, frankly, left us very disappointed. Huge lines gather there every morning (we were there on a Monday) and our wait was only about 15 minutes -- we had sort of beat the rush (it formed after we sat down), and while we were very hungry, the food really left a lot to be desired. The pancakes were average at best and the eggs were overdone and a bit cold. Service, while stressed with all the business, was perfectly pleasant but the upshot was that the breakfast, celebrated by so many, was only average to us. Not bad -- but certainly not worth the inflated prices (as compared to the Nashville Biscuit House). They were charging prices you'd see at the Bongo Room for a product that was more like a greek diner. And not a particularly good one. I would not waste my time going there again.

On the plus side, we had an absolutely delicious Mexican dinner at a placed called Rosepepper. My SO had some very delicious Carnitas and my steak fajitas were outstanding and loaded with great veggies. Great margaritas and again, lovely service.

We attempted to go to the Loveless Cafe but even at 2:00 pm, the wait was insane. Like 2 hours or something, and so we wandered around and looked at the crazy tourist trap surroundings and hopped back into the car and found the nearest hamburger joint (we were hungry). Five Guys hit the spot in a pinch.

We also had a stop at Fox's Donut Den -- a very old donut store that had great apple fritters and delicious cake donuts. It was a nice swan song to our time in Nashville.

There were many places we didn't get to go to -- Arnold's for one and Prince's for another -- but hopefully we'll go back again sometime.

I would also highly recommend a nice little visit to Robert's Western World for some great honky tonk music and the smell of greasy hamburgers frying up to feed hungry music fans. It was a hoot.

Rosepepper Cantina
1907 Eastland Avenue
615-227-4777

Fox's Donut Den
3900 Hillsboro Pike Nashville, TN 37215
(615) 385-1021

Nashville Biscuit House
805 Gallatin Avenue Nashville, Tennessee 37206
(615) 228-4504

Robert's Western World
416 Broadway Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 244-9552

Loads of Great suggestions in this thread and I'm sure we'll be trying some of them-

but
Anyone have a suggestion for a Xmas eve dinner in Nashville?
We have plans with friends for xmas day,
but will be on our own and in a hotel of no particular distinction...

Thanks

Have used a few of these recs...and loved them! (Nashville biscuit house, Arnold's etc)...but am currently constrained - stuck with non-foodies, on a trip to Atlanta, passing Nashville maybe 9/10pm one way, returning Sunday. And the non-foodies will refuse to detour more than 0.5-1.0 mile off the highway for food

Any suggestions at all, given those straightjacket constraints? (I've never done hot fried chicken...any of those options really close to the i-24, and maybe open late or on Sunday? Or anything BBQ, southern food, soul food etc?)

Any help appreciated

C8w