Tennessee

Long before drive-thrus and phone apps, a lot of Tennessee towns had one favorite place to sit and…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 6

There is a line on a Midtown sidewalk in Nashville that forms before the doors even open, and…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 6

Some road trips are planned around mountains, music, or barbecue, but the smartest ones leave room for a…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 6

Some mornings in downtown Chattanooga start with a line out the door, and nobody in it seems to…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 6

Some restaurants in Murfreesboro earn loyal fans one table at a time, and this one has been doing…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 5

At 5 AM in Gatlinburg, most of the Parkway is still asleep, and the mountains are barely awake.…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 5

There is a short window every year when eating a burger at a picnic table still makes perfect…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 5

Remember when a steak dinner came with a trip to the salad bar, a cold plate, and a…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 5

Tennessee has a lunch tradition that is simple and hard to beat. You pick one meat, choose three…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 5

Some restaurants chase trends, and some simply open the doors before sunrise and keep doing what works. Down…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 5

Tamales in Tennessee are not just one thing. In Memphis, hot tamales come wrapped and simmered in a…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 4

Tennessee has a soft spot for a full plate, and a few buffets across the state take that…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 4

Some mornings in the mountains start with a hike, and some start with a pancake big enough to…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 4

Some Nashville dessert plans start with pie and end somewhere else entirely. A family says they are heading…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 4

Some drinks just taste better in a glass mug that has been sitting in a freezer. Across Tennessee,…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 4

Some people plan road trips around mountains. Others plan them around crawfish. In West Knoxville, there is a…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 4

Some Knoxville couples have eaten at the same steakhouse on their anniversary for decades, and one taxi driver…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 3

Tennessee might be famous for barbecue and hot chicken, but there is a quiet fish and chips scene…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 3

Some restaurants hand you a menu and a table. Others hand you a marina, a row of boats…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 3

Some retirees want quiet, and some want a calendar so full they need a second one. In East…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 3

Tennessee has plenty of fancy restaurants, but some of the best meals in the state still come with…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 3

Some wings get fried once and sent out the door. The ones at this East Nashville hangout go…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 3

Some towns are known for a courthouse or a water tower, and one small Tennessee town has quietly…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 2

Some families in Tennessee drive an hour and a half just for dinner, and they do it again…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 2

Some breakfasts come on a plate, and some come with a pink Cadillac parked right under your elbows.…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 2

Some ice cream travels hundreds of miles in a freezer truck before it lands in a cone. Out…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 2

Some of the best meals in Tennessee hide at the end of long country roads, far from any…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 2

Some bakeries open for a trend and close before the next one arrives. This one has been shaping…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 2

Some restaurants hide in plain sight, and this one sits in a modest strip mall in Franklin, Tennessee.…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 1

Some of the best meals in Tennessee come from buildings that barely look like restaurants from the road.…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 1

Some families plan road trips around museums or ballparks. Others plan them around a buffet line and a…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 1

Tennessee is famous for biscuits, but a good bagel can be harder to track down. The shops on…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 1

Some restaurants chase trends every few years. Others find a good thing and hold on tight for decades.…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 1

Tennessee has plenty of places to grab a cone, but only a few still come with jukeboxes, neon…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 1

Every city has one lunch spot that locals quietly treat as the standard, and in Nashville that spot…

By Caleb Whitaker · Sep 30

Some restaurants brag about a secret recipe. One spot in Memphis brags about its cooking grease, and it…

By Caleb Whitaker · Sep 30

In Gatlinburg, Tennessee, there is a breakfast tradition older than most of the souvenir shops on the main…

By Caleb Whitaker · Sep 30

Some of the biggest country hits ever recorded started with one person, one guitar and a blank page.…

By Caleb Whitaker · Sep 30

Nashville’s most famous dish has a surprisingly personal origin story, and it involves a late night, an upset…

By Caleb Whitaker · Sep 30