Tennessee

Some tables in Sevierville get claimed before the menus even land, and the reason usually arrives in a…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 13

Townsend calls itself the peaceful side of the Smokies, and it lives up to the name. There are…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 13

Some of the best meals in Tennessee come wrapped in paper and handed through a window. Across the…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 13

Downtown Cookeville has a lunch spot where people plan their week around a basket of fried Southern snacks…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 12

Chess pie might be the most Southern dessert that nobody can fully explain. It starts with simple pantry…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 12

Fall in the Smokies comes with a sweet side that many visitors skip on their way to the…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 12

Some of the best lunches in Tennessee are served within sight of a county courthouse. In towns like…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 12

Some restaurants chase trends, but one small spot in Mason, Tennessee, has spent more than a century doing…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 12

Lunch in one small Tennessee town comes with a twist. You do not get your own table, and…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 11

Some breakfast stops earn a quick nod. Others earn a road trip, a bucket list spot, and a…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 11

Some hotels hand over a key card and a map to the ice machine. Others hand over two…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 11

At five in the morning, most of Lebanon, Tennessee, is still asleep. One small diner on the west…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 11

Some recipes get written down once and never touched again, and in Northeast Tennessee, one chili recipe has…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 11

Downtown Nashville is full of neon, guitars, and price tags that climb faster than a fiddle solo. Yet…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 11

Every small town has a table where the big moments land. Somebody turns ten, somebody makes the team,…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 10

Somewhere off the interstate in East Tennessee, a working dairy plant hands out ice cream at the end…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 10

Some lunch lines in Middle Tennessee form before the doors even open, and one of the longest belongs…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 10

Some of the best breakfasts in Tennessee are found by people who were not even looking for them.…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 10

Fall in Tennessee practically begs you to roll the windows down and take the long way home. The…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 10

Some of the best snacks in Tennessee come wrapped in wax paper and handed across a counter. Fried…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 10

Some restaurants hand you a menu. One little diner in Alcoa, Tennessee, hands you something closer to a…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 9

Some of the best meals in Memphis hide in plain sight. On a busy stretch of downtown, there…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 9

Some barbecue spots run out of food by mistake, and one Nashville favorite runs out on purpose. Everything…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 9

Nashville has no shortage of shiny hot chicken counters with neon signs and long lines of phones held…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 9

Some sandwiches are lunch. Others are a group project. On the north side of the Tennessee River in…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 9

Some Nashville dinners start with a line, and this one is worth every minute of it. A strip…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 9

Some restaurants chase every new trend. Others stay the same year after year, and that is exactly why…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 8

Some mountain trips start with a hike, and some start with a stack of pancakes big enough to…

By Caleb Whitaker · Oct 8

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