Tennessee

A good diner breakfast is only half the story, because the real test is what happens to your…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 23

Some of the best meals in East Tennessee sit far from the busy strip of Gatlinburg, at the…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 23

Remember when a road trip meant pulling off the highway for coffee, eggs, and a booth by the…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 23

Some Memphis mornings start before the sun does, and a line is already forming on Summer Avenue. People…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 23

Some of the best coffee in Tennessee gets poured before most people have found their car keys. In…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 23

Some Clarksville families plan their whole weekend around one question: how many plates is too many? At one…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 22

Some of the best meals in Tennessee get served while most of the state is still asleep. Before…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 22

Some restaurants chase trends, while others simply keep the grill going decade after decade. In downtown Murfreesboro, one…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 22

Tennessee was built along its rail lines, and some of the old depots that once sold tickets now…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 22

Some towns have a spot where nobody needs a reservation, a reason, or a dress code, just a…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 22

Some Tennessee lunch spots open with a ribbon cutting and fade away in a few years, but a…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 21

Some meals are about the food, and some are about the coffee refill that shows up before you…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 21

Plenty of people in Cleveland, Tennessee, have driven past a plain little building on the northwest side of…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 21

Some Tennessee diners have been flipping burgers and pouring coffee since before your grandparents could drive. The seven…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 21

Tennessee is a long state to drive across, and the best lunch stops are rarely right off the…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 21

Some of the best meals in Middle Tennessee are served inside plain little buildings that are easy to…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 20

Some meals come with a menu, and some come with a challenge: how many plates can one person…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 20

Some restaurants open late and close early, but one spot in downtown Columbia, Tennessee, unlocks its doors at…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 20

Tennessee barbecue is about more than sauce. At the best spots, the real work happens in pits out…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 20

Pigeon Forge is famous for go-karts, dinner shows, and a main road that never seems to sleep. Tucked…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 20

Some of the best lunch spots in Tennessee hide in places nobody thinks to check. This one sits…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 19

At six in the morning, most of Nashville is still hitting snooze. A certain stretch of downtown sidewalk…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 19

Some towns have a town square where everyone checks in. McMinnville has a river path with a dam…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 19

Some lunches fill you up, and some lunches feel like coming home. In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, there is a…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 19

Some towns keep their history in museums, and some keep it in a booth with a pizza on…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 19

Some restaurants chase trends every year, and some just keep the lights low and the steaks coming. In…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 18

Some meals are worth a long drive across town, and in Memphis, a lot of people keep making…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 18

Some of the most famous barbecue in Memphis is not on a busy main street with a giant…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 18

Some meals start with a menu, and others start with a story that goes back to 1830. In…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 18

A malt is just a milkshake with a scoop of malted milk powder, but in a few Tennessee…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 18

Tennessee has plenty of flashy spots with neon signs and stage lights, but the real lunch magic happens…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 17

Some of the best lunches in Tennessee come wrapped in wax paper and cost less than a tank…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 17

Tennessee country ham is salty, aged, and a little bit stubborn, and the best of it still comes…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 17

Some of the best meals in the Smokies happen far from the busy strips of Gatlinburg and Pigeon…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 17

Here is a quick road trip correction before anyone gets lost. I-10 does not run through Tennessee, and…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 17

Every November, the same thing happens across Tennessee. Somebody volunteers to bring dessert, waits until the Tuesday before…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 16

Nashville’s Broadway has no shortage of neon signs, but one building on the strip runs a show from…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 16

Some of the best biscuits in Tennessee are not served in fancy restaurants. They come from old general…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 16

Road trips between Memphis and Nashville have a funny way of bending toward one particular exit in Jackson,…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 16