Nashville 2005 Best of City Search

[Holly Moore]

OK. I know it is a popularity contest compiled by users willing to take the time to fill in a questionnaire, but I've always found the Best of City Search to be a reliable source of restaurant and grease stain worthy eating.

But I gotta tell you Nashville, Famous Dave's is not the best barbecue in Nashville. And Hardees is not the best hamburger.

Hog Heaven and Jack's run circles around Famous Dave's. And Fat Mo's, Bobby's Dairy Dip, Brown Diner and countless other places beat Hardies.

Come on Nashville City Search voters. Get past the chains.

[unixfan73]

I gotta go with Fat Mo's as the best burger

Hog Heaven is probably the best BBQ, not been to Jacks...will put it on my list

[bleachboy]

Citysearch is bunk. A (slightly) better poll is the Nashville Scene poll. Even more interesting are the Nashville Scene Writers' choice awards.

Actually, the best BBQ in Nashville is Judge Bean's. It has some interesting menu items, but it's Texas-style BBQ so it's not a pulled pork paradise. For the best pulled pork (and, heck, the best brisket and ribs) in Nashville, come over to my house.

[unixfan73]

I hate to cause a ruckus

but I am pretty sure I make the best ribs in nashville

:)

[joiei]

sounds like we have a cookoff coming up here. Would the winner be invited to the Pig Pickn' over in North Carolina?

[bleachboy]

I'm down for a cookoff! However, my ribs are nowhere near as perfect as my brisket/pulled pork, so I might lose. (My ribs are pretty freakin' good, though!)

[unixfan73]

I only made brisket once...a few weeks back...it was quite good, but not up to a challenge.

ribs...I am confident...perhaps rather than a cook off, it can be a cook in.

[ruthcooks]

When I lived in Nashville, the best hamburger in town was at Rotier's: a cheeseburger with grilled onions on sourdough. Nothing else. Someone recommended it to me and it's all I ever ordered there.

I always (in 25 years, anyway) found the Nashville restaurant polls to be ludicrous. People eat at chains and vote for chains. In a related topic, I've never understood the great interest in procuring recipes from restaurant chains there is on the web: it's cheap, why don't you just go there and eat it if you like it?

My favorite barbeque place was Herbert's in Franklin, which sadly is now closed. Not the best Q, but good potato salad, deviled eggs and divine fried peach pies if you were lucky. They also had some of the sweetest cornbread I ever ate; corn "light" bread baked in a loaf.

[chefseanbrock]

I'LL GO WITH FAT MO'S FOR BEST BURGER (SO FAR), AS A MATTER OF FACT I HAD ONE FOR MY BIRTHDAY THIS YEAR,....BUT I WILL ALWAYS BE SEARCHING FOR "THE BEST BURGER IN THE UNIVERSE"........I AM ALWAYS OPEN FOR SUGGESTIONS...............

BLEACHBOY,

I'LL BE OVER TOMMORROW NIGHT FOR BBQ :)

SEAN

[Varmint]

sounds like we have a cookoff coming up here.  Would the winner be invited to the Pig Pickn' over in North Carolina?   

←

Bring it on!!!

[chiantiglace]

as a matter of fact Fat Mos was on the food networks best of.

[Holly Moore]

Got to Nashville again last Tuesday and Wednesday. Passed up City Search for some eGullet recommendations.

Tuesday Lunch: Hog Heaven. First bit of neatness is it's location. A ramble-down shack in the midst of Nashville's upscale West End - amidst the Parthanon and Vanderbilt. Beyond that, excellent pulled pork and smoked turkey with a vinegary white barbecue sauce.

Tuesday Dinner: Prince's Hot Chicken. I should have listened to the nice lady taking orders. Prince's is known for the deadly heat of their chicken. It can be ordered anywhere from no heat to mild, medium, hot, extra hot and extra, extra hot. All the chicken is pan fried. The heat is added later. In that range I figured I was playing it safe with medium. The counter lady observed, "That's kinda hot." Couldn't be that hot I thought.

First bite. Think Popeyes x 10. Down right, painfully hot. And you know how those signs say, "Wash your hands after using the rest room." At Prince's, for the men at least, they need another sign warning customers to wash their hands before using the restroom. Think highschool gym class and anagesic balm. The chicken is served on a couple of slices of white bread and I ordered sides of wonderful baked beans and potato salad - all to help cut the heat.

Wednesday Breakfast: A place I've been to a number of times, the Pancake Pantry. German potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream. So far the Pancake Pantry can do nothing wrong.

Wednesday Lunch: My biggest surprise, Judge Bean's Bar-B-Que. I figured any place selling Texas Brisket, especially with the name Judge Bean's had to be a chain and therefore mediocre. Judge Bean's is neither. I agree with those that say Judge Bean serves the best barbecue in Nashville, even if it is brisket and not pulled pork.

Also hit an ice cream chain for a snack. Maggie Moo's. One of those exceptions to my chain expectations. They do a very good job.

Another place that has blown me away, especially for a Meat and Three, is Barbara's Home Cooking. It is regretable that a lot of meat and threes seem to cook everyting hours ahead. By the time it reaches the table the food is luke warm and reminiscent of high school cafeteria fare. Not so Barbara's. I've been there a few times. Never had anything stale. The sides are super-flavorful. Their fried chicken is great. They bake their own dinner rolls. And their cobblers may be the best in the South. One of the best meat and three's I have come across.

As to burgers, it's a tough pick between Fat Mo's,

Rotier's, and

Bobby's Dairy Dip.

Edited July 19, 2005 by Holly Moore (log)