Roadfood in Tennessee

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties 
- Passing thru Nashville (again)  

I’m always going to be backed up on posts, but I’m determined to get a few more of my beyond Chicagoland adventures published before the new year. Plus, it’s that time of year when snowbirds start heading south, so I wanted to share five spots in Tennessee we stopped at on our drive down to South Florida last December. We decided to make Nashville our first stop, as it’s about eight hours from Chicago and that’s roughly as long as I want to drive in a single day. With a few new spots on my radar, it made more sense to spend the night there than push on to somewhere like Asheville, which would’ve been an 11 hour drive. We spent just one night in Nashville before continuing south to Savannah, which I’ll cover next month. But here’s how our drive through Tennessee went down.

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Sho Pizza Bar (Nashville)

We left Chicago around 6 a.m., putting us in Nashville around 2 p.m. Our first stop was Sho Pizza Bar, from well-known chef and Nashville resident Sean Brock. Combining Neapolitan-style pizza-making with Japanese technique and a few Southern touches, Sho takes its name from shokunin, a Japanese term associated with dedication to mastering a craft. The dough undergoes a 72-hour fermentation before being cooked in a handmade Stefano Ferrara oven fueled by local oak and hickory. We were seated at the counter overlooking the operation and started with a Caesar salad.

Caesar Salad at Sho Pizza Bar

I feel like a great salad is usually a good sign that the rest of the meal will also be on point, and the Caesar Salad at Sho was fantastic. Made with romaine, radicchio, croutons, lemon, Parmesan, and bonito, it puts a Japanese spin on a familiar classic. The bonito, or katsuobushi, is smoked, dried skipjack tuna shaved into delicate flakes. It brings a savory, umami-rich quality that makes for a clever alternative to the anchovies typically associated with Caesar dressing. One of the best I've had.

a peek inside

Being seated at the counter, gave us a great view of Sho's pizza-making operation. I figured we'd try the Margherita since this was our first visit, but our waiter recommended the smoked mushroom, explaining that it was one of the restaurant's most popular pies and a more unique expression of what Sho does. The toppings showcase the kitchen's approach to layering flavor through smoked mozzarella, mushroom cream, and wood-fired mushrooms. That said, it's the dough that really makes Sho stand out in a crowded field. It has a chewy texture, an airy interior, and a crisp exterior, with plenty of char from the wood-fired oven. Sho also employs a distinctive finishing technique called the salt punch, scattering salt across the oven floor to caramelize during baking. I thought this pizza was fantastic and seriously considered ordering another, but there was another spot directly across the street that I really wanted to try. Next time I'm in Nashville, though, I'll be right back at Sho.

Smoked Mushroom Pizza at Sho Pizza Bar
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Curry Boys BBQ (Nashville)

After finishing up at Sho, I walked across the street to Curry Boys BBQ, a San Antonio import combining Thai-style curries with Texas-style smoked meats. Now you understand why I didn't go overboard at Sho! I was here specifically for the oak-smoked brisket with Thai green curry, so I quickly placed my order and headed to the back porch, where heat lamps and blankets kept customers warm. The brisket was tender with a nice touch of smoke, while the curry was soul-soothing and packed with Southeast Asian flavors. Pickles brought a familiar Texas BBQ touch, while fried onions and garlic added crunch and a Southeast Asian accent. A bed of tender white rice served as the perfect delivery vehicle, soaking up the curry while letting the brisket shine. Despite this being a combination of flavors I'd never experienced together, this was the definition of comfort food. So good.

Oak Smoked Brisket with Thai Green Curry at Curry Boys BBQ
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Turkey and the Wolf Icehouse (Nashville)

Next stop on my mini food crawl upon arrival was the Nashville outpost of Turkey and the Wolf. The original opened in New Orleans in 2016 and was named Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurant in 2017. I visited the original in its early days, and it lived up to the hype, so I made a point of checking out the Nashville location, which wasn’t around the last time I was in town. T&W is known for its fried baloney sandwich and a collard green melt, but having tried both before, and with this being my third stop of the day, I was pretty full. But I had just enough stomach space left for a Chicken Pot Pie Empanada, a signature item at the Nashville outpost. The rich, creamy chicken filling had a pronounced herbal flavor from the tarragon and buttermilk, all wrapped in a crisp, flaky empanada shell. It made for a nice pairing with an ice-cold beer on a cool but not-too-cold December day. I liked the setup here, too, with the restaurant tucked into a largely residential area and a ton of outdoor space to spread out.

Pot Pie Empanada at Turkey and the Wolf
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SS Gai at The Wash (Nashville)

After checking into our hotel and having a few drinks on the rooftop, Erica went to meet an old work colleague, which left me free to choose where to go for dinner. Last time I was in town, I loved the Southern Thai-style fried chicken (Gai Tod) at S.S. Gai, so I decided to return and try the grilled chicken, aka Gai Yang, this time around. S.S. Gai operates out of The Wash, a small, entirely outdoor food hall built inside a former car wash. It’s a cool stepping stone for independent restaurants, providing six compact, equipped commercial kitchens with individual service windows and shared outdoor seating. The charcoal grilled chicken ended up being just as good as the fried chicken. I love Thai food, and the flavors here are on point. Each order comes with sticky rice, fried shallots and garlic, tamarind-chile fish sauce, and an aromatic chile vinegar alongside plenty of fresh herbs. I’ve sent a few people here since my first visit, and everybody loved it. S.S Gai is in the process of opening their own location too which is cool as the mission of The Wash seems to be working.

Thai Style Grilled Chicken at SS Gai
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Weigel's (Eastern Tennessee)

Our last stop in Tennessee takes us to the eastern part of the state, near Chattanooga. We needed gas after leaving Nashville, and I’d strategically planned this stop so I could try the sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits at Weigel’s, a regional convenience-store chain based outside Knoxville. Finding spots known for great biscuits along this stretch of the drive proved harder than you might think, but I’d read Weigel’s makes a good one and was determined to find out whether it was a legit or just another overhyped gas-station bite like the brisket sandwich at Buc-ee’s or the hoagies at Wawa.

a peek inside

I’m happy to report these were better than those mentioned above. In fact, I thought they were awesome. Weigel’s makes a distinctive biscuit with the sausage baked right inside the dough rather than sandwiched between two halves. The chain’s rolled biscuits are a signature breakfast item, made with sausage from Swaggerty’s Farm, another East Tennessee family business. I’m surprised they haven’t developed a bigger cult following like some other gas-station foods. In the future, I’ll never drive past a Weigel’s without stopping for a sausage biscuit. That’s how much I liked these.

Sausage, Egg, Cheese at Weigel's
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Previous Nashville Posts You Might Like:

Eating BIG in Nashville (2012)
Eating BIG in Nashville Pt. 2 (2015)
Roadfood in Nashville (2025)

See ya next time @chibbqking

Roadfood in Nashville

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties 
- Passing thru the Music City  

We stopped in Nashville for the night on our drive down to Florida this past December and I got to check out a handful of spots on our overnight stay. I hadn't been to the Music City in almost ten years so I went with a pretty big list of places I wanted to try but we would only be there for about 18 hours so I only got to four of them - the first stop is from a drive back from Florida a few years back. 

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Loveless Cafe

The Loveless Cafe might be Nashville's most well known restaurant and it's busiest restaurant by extension. Impressive considering it's about 30 minutes outside of the city center. They get a ton of roadtrippers even though it is a bit of a detour. But I was able to stop in for breakfast one morning when I was driving back to Chicago thru Alabama with my buddy. We didn't want to delay our return too much so we ordered to go as it was packed and there was a little bit of a wait for one of the 150 seats on site. This Tennessee landmark gets more than 500,000 visitors per year but that accounts for all the businesses on site including the motel and gift shops. It's story started in 1951 when Lon and Anne Loveless purchased an old tea room on Highway 100 and renamed it the Loveless Motel and Cafe. They originally served fried chicken at picnic tables on their front porch but they would eventually convert rooms in the house to accommodate a bigger menu and a need for more dining space. The menu is a collection of made from scratch southern favorites and as time has gone by the Loveless Cafe has become famous for their biscuits. Pictures of the famous adorn the walls, many of them with personal messages mentioning the biscuits. We still had an eight hour drive ahead of us so I stocked up on biscuits and they are indeed delicious. I scarfed down a trio of biscuit sandwiches on site including a ham and cheese, fried chicken and cheese and a fried green tomato with pimento cheese and saved some biscuits with jam for later on in the drive. I thought it was worth the pit stop for these especially if you order them ahead of arrival and skip the inevitable wait to sit-down. 

Biscuit Sandwiches at Loveless Cafe 
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SS Gai

Asian food is having a moment not just in Nashville but the rest of the south too. Quite a few of the restaurants on my Nashville “to try” list were Asian and SS Gai would be the first of the two I got to try. It’s located at The Wash which is a culinary incubator made up of multiple micro-restaurants testing out their concepts before making the leap to a permanent brick and mortar. Dare I say the Gai Tod (Thai Fried Chicken) at SS Gai is some of the best fried chicken in the south? 100% YES! Absolute best is debatable but this is every bit as satisfying as some of the well known old school spots. As they say it’s “fried chicken that hits a little by different” which is the perfect way to describe the Southern Thai fried chicken I first had at Soi Polo in Bangkok - one of those meals I’ll never forget. SS Gai hits the same high notes as far as skin as crisp as a potato chip made extra crunchy by topping it with a ton of fried shallots while the meat is extremely moist and full of flavor. It’s served with sticky rice, fried shallots, garlic, tamarind chili fish sauce, aromatic chili vinegar, and herbs and veggies like lettuce, cabbage, jalapeño, mint, cilantro, and red onions making it an absolute feast. I wish I had room for the Gai Yang (Thai grilled chicken), but after the Gai Tod and a wholesome curry made of roasted Japanese sweet potato with charred cabbage in a homemade green curry, I was stuffed.

Gai Tod at SS Gai
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Arnold's Country Kitchen

What a wonderful surprise it was to have learned Arnold’s Country Kitchen was back open in Nashville. I wasn’t aware this old favorite had returned until the week before we hit the road and it doesn’t seem to have skipped a beat. Arnold's Country Kitchen was founded in 1982 by Jack and Rose Arnold. This locals favorite for made from scratch southern food in "Meat and Three" form is setup like a cafeteria. Diners line up to choose their entree (meat) and which three sides they want to go with it (three).  I first came here back in 2012 and very much loved my visit - it’s a first ballot Roadfood Hall of Famer for sure. The roast beef is still cooked to a beautiful bloody rare and sliced to order and all the sides are equally outstanding. Arnold's Country Kitchen is must stop lunch spot. 

Meta and Three at Arnold's Country Kitchen
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Noko

I was able to secure a last minute dinner reservation at Noko - albeit an outside one in the middle of winter though it wasn’t that cold and they had heat lamps at every table. Noko is the highest rated restaurant in town by Infatuation with a 9.6 score. I liked what I saw and read - “Noko is our surest, most set-it-and-forget-it dinner recommendation we can make in Nashville. They serve ridiculously good Japanese wood-fired plates and crudos that have never let us or anybody we know down.” Unfortunately our meal was a bit of a letdown. I had high hopes for Noko which started with an absolute bang in the form of the “Burnt Ends Lettuce Wraps" made with smoked bits of beef belly with a spiced honey glaze served with carrots and bibb lettuce. This was one of the best things I’ve eaten all year but the rest of the meal wasn’t as exciting. Crispy Tuna Rice was good as was a bowl of Nori dusted fresh cut fries but the crab fried rice was a miss. It might as well have been microwaved as there wasn’t much flavor to it. I forget what the market catch was but it wasn’t anything to blog about. Would I go back? Yes but I might just make a complete meal out of two orders of beef burnt ends.

Dinner at Noko
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Dino's Bar

Nashville was a very different place when I first visited back in 2012. It wasn’t nearly as hyped up as it is today. I remember checking out what was a relatively unknown dive bar called Dino’s that served a great burger and I decided I would pay a return visit to the East Nashville dive bar that was later visited by Anthony Bourdain. From what I remembered they served a really good bare bones burger at a very fair price but that wasn’t the case on my return visit. It’s still a fair price at under $10 each but the bun was cold and the patty was a bit too compact making it a very average bar burger that was nothing like what I had remembered it to be. Oh well you can’t win them all. Until next time!

Cheeseburger at Dino's Bar
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See ya next time @chibbqking

Roadfood in Chattanooga

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties 
- Stopping in at five Scenic City favorites 

When we drove down to South Florida this last December I decided we'd stop in Chattanooga as opposed to Nashville or Atlanta. Reason being was an easy one and that was bc I'd never been to the Choo Choo City as an adult, we passed through on a roadtrip when I was a kid. It's location along the Tennessee River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains is a beauty. Since it's a part of the south I figured there was some good grub to be had and that was verified on our short two night stay. 

Sights from Chattanooga 
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Zarzour's Cafe 

I'd wanted to visit Chattanooga’s oldest restaurant (est. 1918) for a long time leading up to this trip. Zarzour’s Cafe has been on my hit list going back to the heyday of Roadfood. It was founded by a Lebanese immigrant from Syria and its currently under its fourth generation of ownership. With limited hours (11a-2p M-F) it’s a lunch only stop that according to some serves up the best burger in all of Tennessee. Actually it was named best in south by Southern Living. Burgers and hamburger steaks with gravy are always on the menu while the daily specials usually feature two entree offerings. Desserts switch by the day. A delicious rendition of the Tex-Mex favorite King Ranch Chicken casserole was on offer this visit as was some of the best banana pudding I’ve ever tried. As for the burger it was a memorable one that can only be matched with time. While there’s nothing particularly unique about the ingredients used to make these, that flattop has flavor that can only come with a few generations worth of customers. As good as that burger was (one of the best) it’s the hospitality from here I’ll remember most. The type you just don’t find too often outside of the south. I basically chose to stay 2 nights in Chattanooga bc that would allow me to finally stop at Zarzour's and it was worth it. 

Lunch at Zarzour's Cafe 
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Miss Griffin's Foot Long Hot Dogs 

While researching spots in Chattanooga I came to learn of the chopped weenie plate. It's a hyper regional dish that only a few places in town still make. Miss Griffins (est. 1939) is one of those spots. They place sliced southern style Elm Hill brand wieners on top of a bean heavy chili that's painted with mustard and hot sauce. Both Texas toast and cole slaw come served on the side. I enjoyed this dish more than I thought I would. I read it's a fave of Samuel L. Jackson who's from here originally. 

Chopped Weenie Plate at Miss Griffin's 
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Uncle Larry's Restaurant

When searching the city's best restaurants Uncle Larry's is bound to come up. It's a locally owned spot that hasn't been around as long as the first couple of spots but it feels every bit as locally loved. Uncle Larry was the designated fish fryer at family functions, which yes is a thing in the south. He was convinced to open his own fish house and did just that back in 2013. Today they have a few locations with the original on MLK Drive. The motto at Uncle Larry's is "fish so good it will smack you" and that was a pretty hard smack if I may say. Some of the best southern fried fish I've ever come across and the sides were no slouch either. Pictured is the combo plate which featured catfish, whiting, perch. 

Fried Fish at Uncle Larry's 
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Champy's Fried Chicken 

If you like fried chicken and forty's you might want to check out Champy's. It's a locally grown chain with eight locations in Tennessee and Alabama. The original is here in Chattanooga and I decided to go not for the 40 oz. bottles of beer but their other specialty which is Delta style hot tamales. These are hard to find outside of the Mississippi Delta and it would seem as though the founders of Champy's were very aware of that fact as they claim a love for the Delta is one of the restaurants inspirations. I will just about always stop for Delta style tamales when I see them which isn't all that often. Champy's makes a good one but then again I've never had a bad one. For those that have never indulged in a Delta style tamale its different than others as it's made with cornmeal and what's usually spiced ground beef. They're rolled in corn husks and cooked in liquid until just mushy. One of my favorite regional treats. The fried chicken was also good but you can find that all over the south. 

Fried Chicken and Hot Tamales at Champy's Fried Chicken 
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Sugar's Ribs

There weren't a ton of options for dinner on a Monday night so Sugar's Ribs won out over less desirable spots. The reviews were good but what constitutes good barbecue can vary greatly from person to person. I figured we were in the south and it's the ribs people seem to love so why not give them a try since I too love a good rack of ribs. Actually I enjoy both the smoked until there's a nice chewy bark type and also the fall off the bone tender variety. These were the latter with just a light touch of smoke. They had a unique setup as far as the smoker goes but there just wasn't much smoke flavor. Sides were all above average with a cup of crisply fried potato chunks leading the way. 

Rib Platter at Sugar's Ribs 
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See ya next time @chibbqking

Eating Knoxville

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties 
- Passing thru Knoxville  

Biscuits and Burgers. That's what's good in Volunteerland. At least that's what I had on my rides thru on a roadtrip to Asheville last year. Never one to let an opportunity to try a roadfood-esque place pass me by I stopped into the Roadfood recommended Litton's Market on the way down.

Locals favorite since 1946, serving burgers since '53

First thoughts upon entering is "this place is huge" as should of been evident from the parking lot, there were at least a couple hundred people dining in there for lunch on this early afternoon stop. Litton's doubles as a bakery and they bake their own hamburger rolls and get their beef patties supplied fresh. I didn't have the hunger to try and pie but I probably should have.

a peek inside

Their most popular offering is the Litton "Thunder Road" burger which comes topped with pimento cheese, sauteed onions and a jalapeno. Served with fresh cut fries for $12. Not bad but not great, they didn't ask how I wanted the burger cooked and as expected I got a medium well done one. Not sure if the option for medium rare was there or not.

Thunder Road Burger (an ode to the states old moonshine runners)

On the way back to Chicago I chose to get another one of America's classic drive-in's documented into my food folder. I don't know how I came across this place but it was on my list and somehow stopping in made our trip 7 miles shorter despite exiting the highway.

On the outskirts of town

Interesting Menu Selection

Lots of stuff I would of liked to have tried but I had other stops in mind not to mention dinner reservations in Cincinnati that evening. I asked and the Chuckwagon was just a breaded steak sandwich so I didn't need that. I enjoyed a slaw dog at the WNC Farmers market the day before. The chipped ham sandwich was tempting but I instead went with a pimento cheese sandwich and a couple breakfast sandwiches made with house baked biscuits from the all day breakfast portion of the menu.

Pimento Cheese Sandwich at a Drive-in...we must be south of the Mason Dixon

The pimento sandwich was pretty damn good. Simple but I could see how it would be comforting to many who grew up on them. I just question those who don't order one with bacon which was really all that this sandwich was missing. Some crispy hot slices placed right atop the cheese causing it to slightly melt would of won them the football game. Not that it was necessary as the biscuit sandwiches made the game a route. I had quite a few biscuits down in Asheville and while they were all very good none of them were on par with these little guys. Only thing on par I can remember eating were the offerings at the Nashville Biscuit House. Tennessee sure knows how to do these.

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Biscuit

Litton's Market Restaurant and Bakery
2803 Essary Dr
Knoxville, TN 37918
(865) 688-0429

Cardin's Drive-In
8529 Asheville Hwy
Knoxville, TN 37924
(865) 933-3251