City: White Bluff, TN

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (615) 797-4020

Address: 4991 US 70E

Description: We’ve been tempted to keep Carl’s Perfect Pig under our hats, but now that the unassuming little country restaurant has been featured on an Emeril Lagasse–hosted special on cable TV’s Food Network, we might as well just come clean. The truth is, we’d be hard-pressed to find any better barbecue or ribs around these parts than the old-fashioned, open-pit kind that’s cooked and served up at the Perfect Pig. Located about 30 minutes west of Nashville in the rural community of White Bluff, the restaurant also is a favorite stop for catfish, fried chicken, and “country vegetables” like pinto beans (served with corncakes), yellow squash and cheese, baked beans, turnip greens, potato salad, and coleslaw. Carl’s Perfect Pig is open Wed through Sat for lunch and early dinners and for lunch on Sun. If you plan to visit on a Sunday, you’ll want to get there before the after-church crowd arrives, unless you don’t mind waiting in line for a table. The restaurant traditionally closes for a week during the Fourth of July holiday and between Christmas and New Year’s.