Road Trip: to Nashville & Memphis and Points in Between

I just got back from a road trip that spanned seven states (some of them more than once). We had a great time visiting the mid-south. Although this wasn't primarily a food-focused trip, we managed to do our fair share of good eating along the way. Here's the first installment of a multi-part post on this trip.

Chicago to Nashville via Indianapolis and Louisville

We had an errand to run in Indianapolis, so that was the first stop in our 8 day road trip. Once we were done, it was off to Shapiro's.



I love visiting Shapiro's. Along with Manny's, Shapiro's is the torch bearer for a particular style of Jewish Deli/Cafeteria that is a dying breed. Places like this are getting harder and harder to find every day. Even Shapiro's own branch in Carmel, IN has closed. Luckily, the flagship is still running at full speed.

Shapiro's Cafeteria Line






I love the way that Shapiro's puts dessert first. They've got their priorities straight.

Our order was pretty simple, a brisket sandwich for the Chow Poodle and a combo pastrami & corned beef on rye for me.

Shapiro's Brisket on a Kaiser


Shapiro's Combo (Pastrami & Corned Beef)


The day was getting away from us and we had a long drive ahead, so we made quick work of lunch and hit the road to Louisville.



It didn't take as long as I thought it would to get to Louisville and when we arrived, neither one of us was very hungry. I had a couple stops in mind and if I had been on my own, I would have at least gotten a hot brown and/or a dinner at Proof on Main, but it was not to be on this trip. Looking back on things, I wish we had spent the night in Louisville instead of pressing on to Nashville. At least we got a chance to see this horse tied to a tree along the interstate when I stopped for gas.



By the time we got to Nashville, it was late, and we just wanted something quick to eat before turning in for the night. We ended up going to a place called Caney Fork, located within walking distance of our hotel. While it started out promising enough when walking in the door and seeing this:



As it turned out, Caney Fork was little more than a southern frat boy bar serving up food service burgers and such. I can't really recommend it, but it served its purpose for us. After finishing around 3/4 of my burger, it was back to the hotel for a nip and a good night's sleep. Our real adventure would begin the next morning.

Good Night Folks!


Shapiro's Delicatessen
808 S Meridian
Indianapolis, IN 46225
(317) 631-4041

Caney Fork
2400 Music Valley Dr
Nashville, TN 37214
(615) 724-1200

Big mistake not staying in Louisville, at least as far as food goes. Been there (and Indy and Nashvegas) quite a lot this summer. Great contrasts between 3 resurgent towns. For food and drink, Louisville for sure. I'll drop a post sometime, but I'm still visiting regularly and letting places pile up.

JeffB wrote:Big mistake not staying in Louisville, at least as far as food goes. Been there (and Indy and Nashvegas) quite a lot this summer. Great contrasts between 3 resurgent towns. For food and drink, Louisville for sure. I'll drop a post sometime, but I'm still visiting regularly and letting places pile up.

Haven't heard anyone say "Nashvegas" in a very long time...thanks for the smile today JeffB!!

Nashville - The Real Visit

After a rocky first night in Nashville, the next day dawned anew. It was Sunday, and our anniversary, so this was to be a special day. We started the morning with a true classic, The Loveless Café.





The Loveless has grown quite a bit from its humble beginnings as a motel coffee shop. These days, it’s much more tourist oriented than it used to be with waits for a table ranging up to 1.5 - 2 hours at times. We got a tip from a local that if you call ahead, they’ll put your name on the waiting list. We called ahead and when we arrived the hostess was quoting a 1 hr. wait, but we were seated in only 30 minutes thanks to already being on the list. There is plenty to see and do while you wait, so even if you don’t call ahead, the time passes quickly.

For example, The Loveless Café has a beautiful BBQ pit that cranks out several hundred pork shoulders every week. This pork is used for BBQ sandwiches on the lunch menu as well as an accompaniment to eggs for breakfast.

The Loveless Café BBQ Pit










Of course, what The Loveless Café is really known for is their biscuits.



Although Carol Fay, The Biscuit Lady, passed away under mysterious circumstances (no one has ever confirmed the cause of her death beyond saying that it was an “illness”) back in 2010, the biscuits are still some of the best you’re likely to encounter in the USA. The present day biscuit lady rolls them out in plain sight for all to see.

Loveless Café Biscuits






We were there just before lunch time, so while they were still serving up breakfasts, this gentlemen was breading and frying chicken in big batches as fast as he could move.

Loveless Café Chicken


I want to get back here someday to sample that chicken, but for this visit, breakfast was on my mind. I ordered a platter of BBQ & Eggs scrambled easy as recommended by Larry, the pitmaster.

Loveless Café BBQ & Eggs (one on the left & one on the right)


The pork was pulled in nice big chunks with a generous amount of bark. It was topped with a scintilla of sweet sauce; just enough to harmonize with the pork, but not enough to drown it out. The pork itself was served on top of a small corn cake that is barely visible in the photo. This was a truly great breakfast and well worth the wait.

After breakfast, a visit to the Nashville Farmers Market was in order. The Farmers Market is a permanent installation right smack in the middle of the city. There are several buildings comprising the market, including one for a flea market, one for produce and one for flowers.

Nashville Farmers Market








It was high peach season, and the South Carolina Peaches that we bought were outstanding; perhaps the best peaches I’ve had in several years.

From there, it was time for a bit of culture. Although I’m not the biggest Country Music fan, I had to pay my respects at the birthplace of the Grand ‘Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium. The Ryman has been beautifully restored and although there were no concerts scheduled over the summer, I still had the opportunity to go in and tour the facilities. The all wood interior lends a richness to the perfect acoustics in the room. I can’t imagine a better venue to hear a concert and that’s something I hope to do someday.

The Ryman Auditorium




I’ve got many more pictures of the Ryman’s collection of vintage guitars, costumes and memorabilia, but this is neither the time nor the place to go into much more detail, since you can’t eat a guitar.

After some R&R back at our hotel, it was time for dinner. Being a Sunday night, several of the places on my list were either closed or booked up. We ended up at The Southern, which turned out to be a great choice for our anniversary dinner. The Southern is the type of place that would be right at home in the West Loop. It’s got an eclectic menu and a decent bar.

The Southern




Dinner started out with some house made cheddar biscuits that were served as soon as we were seated.

The Southern Cheddar Biscuits


The menu itself featured everything from fish and grits, fish tacos and burgers to a range of items cooked in their wood burning oven. The real stars of the show for me, though, were the steaks. The menu includes everything from a fillet to a T-bone, but what grabbed my attention was the “Nudie Suit”, which was a custom cut dry aged ribeye. Ordering the Nudie Suit means that you have to go to the kitchen and instruct the chef on just how large to cut your steak.

The Southern Nudie Suit






This was an excellent steak, cooked perfectly medium rare and rivaling anything I have had at any of the temples of dry aged beef that I have visited. The Chow Poodle had an equally delicious fillet, of which I neglected to get a picture.

Our meal at The Southern was the perfect way to end our anniversary, and we headed back to our hotel as happy campers.

The next day, we decided to follow the lead of Da Beef and seek out the Nashville Biscuit House for breakfast. This was a great location run by a nicer than nice family.

Nashville Biscuit House


This is a no frills joint serving up some excellent biscuits and breakfast items. We loved everything about it. There’s not much else to say about this place. I’ll let some pictures say 1,000 words.

Nashville Biscuit House Sausage & Egg Biscuit


Nashville Biscuit House Sausage & Egg Platter


After this satisfying breakfast and a stop at the Country Music Hall of Fame, we were on the road again.

Country Music Hall of Fame


Our next stop was Memphis, but on the way, we had planned to stop at Scott’s BBQ in Lexington, TN, one of the finest purveyors of whole hog BBQ left in the country, according to Pigmon.

B.E. Scott BBQ


Unfortunately, Scott’s is closed on Monday and although we arrived while one of the owners was there and had a chance to briefly chat, there was no BBQ to be had, unless we wanted to stick around until the next day. Now, if I were on my own, I would have found something to do for the next 24 hours, but since I was with the Chow Poodle, and the purpose of our trip wasn’t necessarily to chase down every lead on a BBQ sandwich, we moved on.

As I said, our next stop is Memphis, and that will be my next post.

Loveless Cafe
8400 Hwy 100
Nashville, TN 37221
(615) 646-9700

Nashville Farmers Market
900 Rosa L Parks Blvd
Nashville, TN 37208
(615) 880-2001

Ryman Auditorium
116 5th Ave N
Nashville, TN 37219
(615) 889-3060

The Southern
150 3rd Ave S
Nashville, TN 37201
(615) 724-1762

Nashville Biscuit House
805 Gallatin Ave
Nashville, TN 37206
(615) 228-4504

B.E. Scott BBQ
10880 Highway 412 West
Lexington, TN 38351
(731) 968-0420

Great stuff, Steve. Happy anniversary to you and Chowpoodle!

If you want to see the Grand Old Opry held at Ryman Auditorium, you have to head to Nashville in January and early February when the main Saturday show is held at the Ryman.

After the show, don't miss the "after show", a free concert held at Midnight every Saturday night at Ernest Tubb's record store. You never know who will show up to perform.

jlawrence01 wrote:After the show, don't miss the "after show", a free concert held at Midnight every Saturday night at Ernest Tubb's record store. You never know who will show up to perform.

Indeed!

Steve,

You have the right idea, but the wrong location


TEXAS TROUBADOUR THEATRE
2416 MUSIC VALLEY DRIVE
NASHVILLE, TN 37214

The advantage of the midnight show is that the talent hangs around for a while in the record shop to greet the fans.

jlawrence01 wrote:Steve,

You have the right idea, but the wrong location


TEXAS TROUBADOUR THEATRE
2416 MUSIC VALLEY DRIVE
NASHVILLE, TN 37214

The advantage of the midnight show is that the talent hangs around for a while in the record shop to greet the fans.

Yes. The previous night's show is what's on the sign at the bottom of the picture.

Nice post Steve. I've been to Nashville five times, but I haven't been back in about 8 years. Being a guitar player and a country/bluegrass fan, I love a lot more in Nashville than most. I even bought a pedal steel guitar there in 2000. I never visited the Loveless Cafe back when I was there - looks great.

I've been to the Opry at the current location and at the Ryman. While the Ryman is historic, the wooden pews become really uncomfortable during the show (ow my tuchas). I loved shopping at Ernest Tubb's Record Store, but that's because I own around 200 country CDs (most are pre-1970's - I like the old stuff). I met Hank Williams III at one of the bars there once. Never had anything special in Nashville on the food front, though I wish I was into BBQ back then because Jack's smelled pretty good down on Broadway.

And the Nudie Suit is named after Nudie Cohn, the tailor who made famous stage outfits (and customized some cars too) for lots of entertainers. His place was called Nudie's Rodeo Tailors in North Hollywood, CA.

Gram Parsons' Nudie Suit (in the Country Music Hall of Fame)


Nudie with the car he designed for Webb Pierce behind him. The car is in the Country Music Hall of Fame too.


Looking forward to your Memphis post. I'm hoping to do Nashville and Memphis next year.

Ram4 wrote:Nudie with the car he designed for Webb Pierce behind him. The car is in the Country Music Hall of Fame too.

In that picture, Nudie looks a lot like Roy Orbison.

P.S. This one's for you, Ram4