Tennessee

On a busy Saturday in downtown Chattanooga, a line of hungry people can stretch right out the door…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 8

Most highway exits offer the same handful of drive-thru signs and a tank of gas. Exit 11 near…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 8

Somewhere in the Smoky Mountains, a baker starts work while most of Gatlinburg is still asleep. By mid-morning,…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 8

A full-size elk stands guard at the front door of a steakhouse in White House, Tennessee, and kids…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 8

In small-town Tennessee, the pie case is a clock. Show up at lunch and you might get your…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 7

Some places in a small Tennessee town only open two days a week, and people still plan their…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 7

Some Nashville mornings call for a plate that has not changed much since your grandparents were young. A…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 7

Some restaurants hand over a menu and wait. This one hands over a challenge. Out in the rolling…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 7

Some families drive hundreds of miles for a theme park. Others do it for a waffle, and they…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 7

Some of the best meals in Tennessee come from buildings that barely look open. In the small town…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 7

Some of the best retirement plans in East Tennessee do not start with a big city address. They…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 6

Some Memphis restaurants chase trends, and some simply outlast them. On a quiet corner in South Memphis, an…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 6

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