Types of food you want to see in Nashville area (Chattanooga: home, restaurants)

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by JMT

oh, and I definitely agree with the other posters who want a non-pretentious French restaurant.

I had to look up the one N.Cal mentioned--Chelsea Bistro. It a bit of a drive for me but I'll have to try it.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by N.Cal

Mmmmmm.....yes. And in Belgium, they put the frites inside the hot dog bun with the dog. Nothing like riding your bike, then a lunch of frites and a Belgian ale. I love Belgium!

A frites and crepes place would be nice! There is one in SF and the also have mussels. Frjtz Restaurant | San Francisco

Oddly enough, in Belgium and Northern France they call that kind of sandwich "un américain." I have no idea why. The best explanation I got was from an old-timer in Lille (France) who said it was from American soldiers in WW2 who asked for their sandwiches stuffed with frites with the sauce dolloped on top. Whatever the origin, there is nothing like a merguez "américain" stuffed with frites and topped with some andalouse sauce. I would drive to the other side of Nashville every day to get something like that.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by septimus

Have you tried Kate's Kitchen in Cool Springs (Aspen Grove)?

Originally Posted by alleycat

I had to look up the one N.Cal mentioned--Chelsea Bistro. It a bit of a drive for me but I'll have to try it.

You guys have given me a couple of new places I'll need to try!

I would also like to see a good crêperie in Nashville. Nothing fancy. Good grief, Knoxville has a real French crêperie that's excellent and inexpensive--especially considering they import their flour and cheese (gruyère) from France. Why doesn't Nashville?

[andrea3821]

Excellent responses, everyone! Just what I'm looking for. +1 for everyone

A few follow up questions, if I may:

1- Are there any Spanish restaurants that are NOT Mexican? Like Cuban or other Latin style foods?

2- I'm hearing authentic Italian, authentic French, Belgian frites (cool idea!), and some other ethnic types of food (which we honestly know very little about) but nothing that would be a high price point, but also not crappy cheap stuff that you could get at a chain or fast food place. Right? And healthy but not "health food." I like that idea also.

3- So the food truck idea would likely be a no go if there are so many already? Are they all located in one area? I can definitely see how that would not be something you'd want more of, if so.

4- We are thinking along the lines of fast casual...not fast food but not sit down with a server, either. Is that something that is lacking there?

5- Would people pay more for things that are made from scratch versus frozen stuff that is already made when it arrives at the restaurant?

Thanks again, everyone, this is very much appreciated! As much info as you want to give! Location will likely end up being a major factor in what we decide.

And to those who are recommending Loveless, that is already on my list of places to visit! Just seems a little far removed from everything else, no?

[BirdieBelle]

Fast casual is definitely lacking. I have three older kids who know how to dine out and can appreciate food of all kinds, but we miss something like a Shoney's that is a step above fast food or Waffle House but not overpriced and trying to be something it's not like Ruby Tuesday's/O'Charley's. I don't want to lay down $60 every time we grab a meal like that either.

One thing you could do to improve the dining experience in Nashville is TRAIN SERVERS PROPERLY. I don't want to stand at a counter and order. I cook two big meals a day every day at home, and three on weekends. I want someone to bring the food to me.

But I have had very unprofessional service the past several times I've been out, and a great server can really "make the meal," if you know what I mean. I don't mean rude or nasty, just not very mature or "with it."

The last time we went to Puckett's Boat House, which I really want to like and support because it is local, the waitresses we had were just clueless and actually forgot items we had ordered. It gets frustrating. At one other chain place our waitress smelled like she had literally walked in from a smoke break. Bleh.

I know in some larger cities there are people who serve for a living and are pros at it. Here it seems like we get a lot of teens or just ... those who are not good at it.

[alleycat]

I'll answer your fourth question in a small way. There are cafeteria style restaurants around town (Swett's is one of the locally owned and oldest and most popular). They seemed to be more popular for lunch than for dinner (I think many people prefer to be served if they're going out in the evening; I do).

I'm not in the restaurant business, but one thing I see: if the food is good, reasonably priced, and the wait is typically not too long, they will come, whether it's Mexican, Italian, Southern, or whatever.

The Loveless is a bit out of the way for most people, but it's so well-known that they are full almost every day (it's not far for me, I live two or three miles from it).

Dalt's on White Bridge is another place you might want to visit. I used to eat there twice a week (when I worked in the area), now it's more like once a month.

[CountryGirl2b=]

I think there's room for more food trucks. And it would be not as big of an investment?

The Loveless is just about 1/4 mile from the northern terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway (Natchez Trace Parkway (U.S. National Park Service)) which is in itself a tourist destination so it's not as 'remote' as it seems. I take Sneed road from Hillsboro and am there in maybe 15 minutes? That's about how long it takes to get to Cool Springs and most ANY restaurant in the Cool Springs area is packed between 11:30 and 1:00. Roads are clogged, too.

I forgot, I'd love a good salad and soup bar. The only salad bar I know of is in Harris Teeter grocery store. There are chain restaurants (but not here, there was one but it was expensive and it closed) that have salad bars out in CA but none here. Or a soupery? Just soup? Not sure how that would go over in the summer though.

East Nashville has some wonderful eclectic restaurants
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/di...ille.html?_r=0
and these are the types of places I think would do well here.

There are quite a few places where you order at the counter and then someone brings your meal to your table. That wouldn't bother me at all. I don't know of any Cuban restaurants - that would be cool!

Check out downtown Franklin. There are a lot of non-chain restaurants there that thrive. Atmosphere is important IMHO. For lunch, I like to keep it under $10 with a soda. I often pay between $7 and $10 for lunch although I do think the food trucks are more expensive than I thought they would be considering there is no place to sit.

Here is the Cheeserie with the menu:
The Grilled Cheeserie Truck

There is an app that tells you where the food trucks are on any given day and they use Twitter a lot, too.

[Mi shots]

I definitely like Spanish and more ethnic. Need good Italian bakeries. Seems that is lacking there.

Plus lots of health food bars, juicing bars and fusion places with cool selection of eclectic tic dishes.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by CountryGirl2b=

I forgot, I'd love a good salad and soup bar. The only salad bar I know of is in Harris Teeter grocery store.

Sperry's used to have a good one, but it's been some time since I've been there.

[akm4]

I agree with N.Cal about Lucky Bamboo- so glad they re-opened. I just wish they had dim sum all the time. If a real dim sum shop opened up, we would be soooooooooo happy. And soooooooooo fat.