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 Georgia

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties 
- Pit Stops in The Peach State

It’s a busy time in the U.S.A right now as we host the World Cup on the cusp of our 250th birthday coming up and with that I have a post that that fits in perfectly at this time. If you’re on Twitter or “X” as the right wingers call it you’ve probably heard of Freddy from Germany (@FreddyLA7). If not he's a German soccer fan who “unexpectedly” became one of the stories of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He’s gained hundreds of thousands of followers while documenting a road trip across the U.S. with his buddies while following Germany's World Cup matches. His posts feature enthusiastic reactions to American culture: everything from Waffle House and Buc-ee's to college football stadiums, Walmart, and our many Main Streets. It’s mostly harmless but to many of us it feels fabricated. Why are Freddy and his friends only going to corporate places as far as food goes? It feels like Freddy is a plant made to make Americans fall back in love with America. Some think it’s a psyop by our government and others think it’s an American taking advantage of the fact you can make money on X when your posts go viral. Not once have they boosted some random small town diner or a local and regionally loved eatery - it’s always places like Taco Bell and Wendy’s. To me it feels a bit off bc of that though it’s totally possible he's just a dumb European tourist. I say so bc to get a true taste for America you have to stop at the mom and pop Roadfood establishments like we’re going to visit today. The American South is flooded with these type of spots. We’re going to visit ten places in Georgia that Freddy and his friends should’ve stopped at for a real taste of America. For those of you wondering “Why Georgia?” it's because I cruise through the Peach State every year I drive to or from South Florida. 

Welcome to Georgia
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The Big Biscuit Barn (Rossville)

We’ll start north and work our way south though most of the spots featured in this post are south of Atlanta with The Big Biscuit Barn in Rossville being the exception (it’s two hours north). Believe it or not, legit biscuits aren’t regularly found in the south. It takes some digging to find the good stuff. But the area up here near the Georgia and Tennessee state line has quite a few spots making biscuits from scratch. We stopped at the Big Biscuit Barn for a quick and satisfying breakfast one morning. I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert in southern biscuits but this would easily be the best biscuit in Chicago - and it would be one of the cheaper breakfast sandwiches in the city too ($4.50 each). 

BEC Biscuit at Biscuit Farm
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Fresh Air Barbecue (Jackson)

Next stop up is the most legendary bbq stop in Georgia and one of the most historic bbq joints in the south. Fresh Air Barbecue is located in Butts County about an hour southeast of Atlanta. Established in 1929, it's recognized as the oldest continuously operating pit-cooked barbecue restaurant in Georgia that remains in it's original location. No modern barbecue trends here. Instead, it has stayed true to a very traditional central Georgia style bbq featuring chopped pork cooked slowly over hickory and oak until tender, then finely chopped. The sauce is thin, tangy, and vinegar-forward, with a mild tomato base and their famous Brunswick stew is made from a long-standing family recipe and is a favorite alongside the barbecue. For those unfamiliar, Brunswick stew is a thick, slow-simmered Southern stew associated with Georgia and Virginia. It’s typically made with shredded pork and or chicken plus tomatoes, lima beans, corn, potatoes, and onions, in a flavorful broth seasoned with bbq sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and spices. It's often served alongside barbecue and is a staple at Fresh Air Barbecue. As far as old school in barbecue goes this is about as OG as it gets. The dining room feels like a flashback to summer camp and the lights never go off in the pit room as there’s always meat being smoked since they open at 8a daily. Breakfast hits different down south! 

Chopped Pork and Brunswick Stew at Fresh Air Barbecue
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Nu-Way Weiners (Macon)

The South is rich with old school hot dog stands serving cheap wieners loaded with chili. Nu-Way Weiners is a Central Georgia institution and one of America's oldest continuously operating hot dog chains. It was founded in 1916 in Macon by Greek immigrant James Mallis, same year Nathan's Famous opened in New York. Nu-Way is known for its unique take on the classic Coney-style hot dog starting with bright red beef-and-pork frankfurters grilled on a flat-top and topped with secret chili sauce, mustard, and diced onions. Order them "all the way," and they add their signature creamy slaw. As far as the spelling: "Weiners" is technically a misspelling of "wieners." According to the company, a sign painter made the mistake in the 1930s and the owners decided to keep it because they thought changing it would bring bad luck. The spelling has become part of the brand's identity. 

Hot Dogs at Nu-Way Weiners
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Danny's Melon Shed (Cordele)

If you find yourself traveling along I-75 in Georgia, the town of Cordele makes for a great pit stop. Cordele sits on the edge of Crisp County and is considered “The Watermelon Capital of the World” as it’s consistently one of the top watermelon producing areas in the U.S. The region’s sandy soil, long hot summers, and irrigation access make it an ideal place for growing melons. At peak season, farms in the area ship well over 100 million watermelons a year to markets across the country. We stopped in at Danny’s Melon Shed. This roadside produce operation in Cordele, sits in the heart of watermelon country. It’s not a tourist attraction in the polished sense as it’s more of a working produce shed and melon brokerage spot tied directly into the local farming and shipping scene around the Cordele State Farmers Market. Picture loads of Semi-trucks, pallets, and stacked bins of melons during summer. Occasionally they’ll have a small retail stand where you can grab a watermelon off the load. On this visit they had red and yellow watermelons and they were as sweet and juicy as I've come across. 

Melons at Danny's Melon Shed
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Cordele Recreation Parlor (Cordele)

The Cordele Recreation Parlor is one of those classic Southern institutions that feels stuck in time. Located in downtown Cordele, it opened in 1939 as a combo pool hall and lunch counter, and for generations locals have simply called it "the Pool Room." The signature order here depends on just how hungry you are. For some a chili dog or two will suffice but for others a ‘Scramble Dog’ is in store. This regional specialty takes the chili dog a step further by piling on chili, oyster crackers, shredded cheese, onions, hot sauce. It's messy and filling and has become almost as famous as the chili dogs. The chili at Cordele Recreation Parlor is a classic South Georgia “hot dog chili” style, which is very different from a bowl-of-chili Texas or Midwest version. It’s almost paste-like in texture, so it spreads smoothly over the hot dog with a thin, saucy consistency meant to soak into the bun. Really fun stop. 

Pics from Cordele Recreation Parlor
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DK's Bar-B-Que (Waycross)

The small town of Waycross is the county seat of and the only incorporated place in Ware County, Georgia. It’s also the home to DK’s Bar-B-Que. Locals often describe DK's as a longtime neighborhood favorite that's been serving barbecue since the 60’s. It's the kind of place many former residents make a point to visit when they're back in town. I stopped in on the drive down last year after coming across this place and realizing it’s a bit of a hidden gem on the southern bbq circuit. This Black owned bbq joint is known for its chopped pork barbecue sandwiches served with a house-made vinegar sauce. The sandwiches are pressed giving them extra texture. I ate two and was happy with my decision to take the backroads and get lunch at DK’s instead of staying on the main highway. 

Chopped Pork Sandwiches at DK's Bar-B-Que
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Savannah Fried Chicken (Savannah)

We stopped in Savannah for a few nights on the drive down this past January. I’ll do a separate report on most of the spots we ate at but I wanted to include lunch with the locals at Savannah Fried Chicken in this post as it’s a real Roadfood type of stop. It’s considered one of Savannah's best-kept secrets - an unassuming Chinese takeout spot that’s developed a cult following for its crispy, juicy Southern style fried chicken and excellent smoky fried rice. There’s three tables inside that customers sit at to wait for their food so it’s basically a takeout joint and seemingly every city employee was stopping by for lunch on my visit. Most of them were getting some form of fried chicken and fried rice which made for a delightful combo. Both the fried chicken and the fried rice were really well made. 

Fried Chicken and Fried Rice Combo at Savannah Fried Chicken
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Willie's Wee-Nee Wagon (Brunswick)

I’m always researching spots in the towns I plan on passing thru on a roadrip and Willie’s Wee-Nee Wagon in Brunswick caught my eye. It’s ran by a widow that moved to the area from Chicago with her husband after they vacationed down here. After moving down they opened a hot dog stand that became very popular for its pork chop sandwich and hot dogs among other things. That pork chop is modeled after the Maxwell stands of Chicagoland but since we were in the South I got the fried pork chop and I also got the namesake Willie Dog which is an ode to the Chicago style hot dog. I’m glad I stopped in. I often see restaurants with some sort of connection to Chicago when I’m traveling but most of them have a connection in name only. Willie’s felt like it was plucked out of the South Side and plopped into the Georgia Lowcountry. The hot dog was ok - they’re never made in a textbook way when you’re this far from Chicago. But the pork chop sandwich is the reason to go back. It was piping hot and really nicely fried while the crisp bread with mayo and tomato was a great delivery vehicle. 

Pics from Willie's Wee-Nee Wagon
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B & J's Steaks & Seafood (Brunswick)

Shrimping is a big deal in Brunswick Georgia where commercial shrimpers harvest an average of 2.1 to 3.3 million pounds of shrimp tails annually along the Georgia coast. Because Brunswick serves as the historic hub of this regional industry it’s often called the "Shrimp Capital of the World" as a massive portion of that total is brought directly into local Brunswick docks. With that comes some great fried shrimp shacks in the area. B & J’s Steaks & Seafood is a no-frills coastal institution beloved by locals and travelers alike for its massive portions of fresh, locally caught, seafood and thick-cut steaks. I'm sure the steaks are great but you can find a good steak in alot of places. Fresh shrimp is a different story. We got a combo plate featuring a half pound of fried shrimp plus a half pound of blackened shrimp with two sides. The sides were fine but the shrimp was outstanding. When it comes to fresh caught there’s a world of difference in texture compared to the stuff you get at most supermarkets. Eating shrimp in a place like Brunswick will ruin shrimp in most other spots for you. 

Shrimp Platter at B & J's Steaks & Seafood
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JB's Shrimp Shack (Brunswick)

Last stop for this post is the most recent place I ate in Georgia. We stopped at JB’s Shrimp Shack in Brunswick before making the final push to South Florida this past January. JB's is a family-owned seafood restaurant located just off I-95. It sits in a sea of corporate entities with neighbors like Walmart, Zaxby’s, and Hilton but it’s quickly built a reputation as a standout spot for fresh Georgia seafood since opening in 2024. We popped in right around lunch time and were lucky enough to snag a table right away. Due to its location this place seems to get packed with roadtrippers meaning large families were waiting for tables during peak hours. We were here for the fried shrimp which is locally caught and truly some of the best tasting shrimp I’ve ever ate. I might even go as far as to say it’s the best fried shrimp I’ve ever had but there’s a few other spots in the Lowcountry that also come to mind. The standard breading down here is thin and brittle and the shrimp is as fresh as it gets. We also got a bowl of fish and grits made with blackened flounder that was absolutely off the charts in terms of flavor, one of the best things I’ve ate this year. On top of killer food this place had sensational service even though it was a bit of mad house, it was the holiday season after all. Highly recommended!

Lunch at JB's Shrimp Shack
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Previous Posts You Might Like:

Eating BIG in Alabama (2022)

Roadfood in Chattanooga (2022)

Eating BIG in Greenville (2024)

Roadfood in Atlanta (2024)

Roadfood in Kentucky (2025)

Roadfood in North Florida (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