Mark F 10/11/17 Mark F 10/11/17

Best places to eat in Nashville, TN

Nashville is a really fun and vibrant city. Full of music and history. Aside from that, I was excited to try some Nashville food. I tried to find really good local spots. Enjoy my reviews!

Aside from the bar hopping downtown and exploring a new state, I looked forward to eating in Nashville. It was an interesting trip food wise.. I have never been to a heavy, southern food area. I am not the best with spicy food but I was open to trying what Nashville had to offer. It was Labor Day weekend so it was packed everywhere. Also, we had a group of 8 so waiting in lines less than 30 minutes just wasn’t happening.

Like everyone else in Nashville, we wanted to try Biscuit Love. This was by far the most popular brunch spot in the area. Unfortunately, the line was insane.

However, when one door closes, another opens. Browsing to see what brunch places were nearby and calling to see who would accommodate 8 of us, we came across Party Fowl. Yes, you read that correctly. And, it was a great find. The group was really about the boozy brunch and this spot was it. They had various drink specials including spicy Bloody Mary’s. I am not a fan but everyone else was on board with it. As for the food, this was the best place to have Nashville hot chicken and biscuits. The biscuits were so good and they served them as appetizers with this awesome apple butter. Everyone at the table ordered the “Loaded Chicken Biscuit”, which consisted of an open-faced buttermilk biscuit topped with hot chicken (southern fried, mild, medium, Nashville Hot, or Poultrygeist), sawmill gravy, two eggs prepared your way, and lyonnaise potatoes. I didn’t mess around and I went southern fried. And, that was spicy to me. Nichole had to be the only one get something different but it was damn good! She got the smoked chicken frittata. This consisted pulled smoked chicken & caramelized onion frittata topped with melted gruyere cheese.

The trip wouldn’t have been complete without a Waffle House late night feeding. We don’t have them in the Northeast and I have never been to one. It took us two different locations to find one open (not 24 hours...lies). The meal was as expected. It wasn’t bad but it was sketchy….and the roach I noticed crawling around on the floor tied my experience with a bow. Check that off the list.

The Loveless Cafe is a pretty popular location. It is about 30 minutes outside of downtown Nashville on Highway 100. This was a motel converted into shops, markets, and a restaurant. It is like it’s own little mini mall. It is definitely cool. However, it is really crowded. The wait was almost 2 hours! Luckily, Nichole found out we can just get take out and eat on the benches and picnic tables. The food was so good. We got a little of everything. We got the pulled pork, fried green tomato with pimento cheese, and fried chicken biscuit sliders along with a side of mac & cheese and hashbrown casserole. And, a slice of coconut pie. The fried green tomato and pimento cheese combo was by the far the best. The biscuits were on point too. This was worth the price of the rental car.

The other noteworthy place we ate was in the Indigo Hotel called The District Bar & Kitchen. The menu looked good and we were spot on with our choice. For starters, we had a buffalo chicken egg roll and fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese and five pepper jelly. This combo blew my mind the whole trip. Would've never expected fried green tomatoes plus pimento cheese to be absolute heaven...lesson learned. For the entree, I had the Indigo wrap which consisted of pulled pork, country ham, swiss cheese, dijon, bread & butter pickles. Nichole got a good eye. She went with a dish called the Four Way. This was a bed of rigatoni with cheddar cheese covered with tortilla chips and chili. Another good find in downtown Nashville.

Lastly, I can't forget about the ice cream. On the last night, we went to Mike's Ice Cream in the downtown area. They had many ice cream options and a variety of cone options. I got a scoop of red velvet and a scoop of butter pecan in a chocolate chip cookie cone. Oh yea...pure gluttonous.

We got to eat in popular locations and some unknown locations. All in all, another successful trip of eating. There is a lot more food in Nashville to try. Until next time!

HIKING FOR DONUTS

A blog for the outdoors foodie enthusiast

Hi, I’m Mark. I live in Connecticut. I take new trips every chance I get. A good trip has a great hike, great food, and something fun to do. My goal is to search out new trips and share them to inspire others to try something new and exciting.

If you are looking for posts in a particular place, search by city or state here.

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Best places to eat in Philadelphia, PA

Philly has some unbelievable food options.Here's my guide to eating awesome food in Philly....

Philadelphia is loaded with food options. From brunch to bagels to cheesesteaks galore to ice cream to donuts to burgers to pretzels, the choices are endless. I would need a good month to get it all in. Unfortunately, I had only had the weekend to get in as much as possible. After a significant amount of research, I succeeded. Here are some options to guide you on how to eat a weekend in Philly.

Breakfast & Brunch

Bagels were a priority on this trip. My girlfriend is from New York and, therefore, she is a bagel snob. Philly has about over 20 bagel shops to choose from. Most of them have unique types of bagel flavors, unconventional cream cheese spreads, and delicious sandwich options. We chose Chestnut Street Bagels on the way to Rittenhouse Square. The options for type of bagel and spreads were extensive. In addition, there are a good amount of intriguing options for sandwiches. The only downside would be that you have to order and leave. The shop is small and they have an inside bench that can seat at most 4 people. Luckily, we got there before it got too busy and were able to snag a spot. I selected the french toast bagel with a honey pecan cream cheese and my girlfriend went with the everything bagel and cheddar horseradish spread. The bagels were fresh and hit the spot!

I need to breathe a second before I write about the Brunch we had….. I’m ready. I came here the last time I was in Philly and I felt the same way. If there is one place in Philly you have to go, it is Green Eggs Cafe. Everything on the menu sounds dynamite. And, the specials each time sound even better. Both my meals here, I have to put in my top 5 all time breakfasts. We started with some boozy drinks, my girlfriend had a peach bellini and mine was an orange 'creamsicle' mimosa. The specials included breakfast egg rolls stuffed with bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and cheddar cheese served with a chili thai sauce. No brainer selection. I had the “Mexican Benedict” that consisted of 2 poached eggs & chipotle braised chicken with tortilla chips served on a cheese quesadilla with chipotle hollandaise sauce. My girlfriend went on the sweeter side, there was a special for a stack of blueberry pie pancakes. Note, there is always a line but it goes fast. Later you go in the morning, the longer the wait. And, they are cash only.

Lunch & Dinner

Decisions...decisions...decisions. Two of the most popular cheesesteak shops sit directly across from each other. A 15 minute uber ride from downtown will take you to the location of Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks. Both shops have lines in the streets at all times. They are both open 24 hours. We went with Pat’s. Boy, do they have this down to a science. There is no waiting once you are at the ordering windows. Customers quickly put in their order, pay, and cheesesteaks in hand. I went with provolone on mine and my girlfriend got the cheese whiz. Cheese whiz won. They both were good cheesesteaks. Also, they had pizza fries which were french fries with a red sauce and cheese on them. As simple as it may sound, they were amazing.

As in most of my travels, I try to venture to local food spots as seen on Diners,Drive-Ins, & Dives. Guy Fieri knows exactly where Flavortown is! On this trip, there were many on this list and we went with the Good Dog Bar. This cool little spot was very welcoming. To my surprise, there were pictures of dogs all along the walls of the bar. We were very hungry and started with the cheesesteak empanada and fried pickles. THe fried pickles were average but the goat cheese ranch sauce was phenomenal. I could use jars of that weekly. I even saved what we had left for fries later on. The cheesesteak empanadas were really good. However, the sauce that came with that was a watery, gravy taste. We used the ranch dip instead. For the main course, I ordered the brisket grilled cheese on sourdough bread with cheddar cheese. My girlfriend had the shrimp po’ boy tossed in buffalo sauce with blue cheese sauce on a baguette. Both were good and the cool thing I liked here is that they mix their fries between regular and sweet potato. They had good beer & drink options. The service was also fantastic here.

Reading Terminal Market

If you want to spend a whole day eating somewhere, the Reading Terminal Market is the place to be. There is a plethora of food options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. Many different ethnic cuisines are represented at this market. Be sure to check the hours as most days it is closed by 5-6pm. And, if you have your heart set on something by Dutch related vendors, they tend to close earlier and they take Sundays off. I made that mistake on Sunday. No donuts or pretzels for us. However, we still got our fair share in.

The first stop was at Franks A Lot. The go to here was their classic Polish pierogies.

Beck’s Cajun Cafe was next. There were a lot of tasty items on the menu. We ordered the fried mac and cheese balls. They weren’t too greasy and not overly cheesy, which was a good thing. I could of ate 20.

The last meal we could fit in was at Sang Kee Peking Duck. I ordered the Duck Lo Mein. The duck was a little fatty as expected, but flavorful and tender. The noodles tasted very fresh.

At this point, it was time for some desserts. I had my eyes on some cookies. The Famous 4th Street Cookie Company had plenty of options. I couldn’t pass up a black and white cookie. The last stop was Bassetts Ice Cream. A good trip always ends with some ice cream.

The Reviews:

Green Eggs Cafe: 5 out of 5

Chestnut Street Bagels: 3.5 out of 5

Good Dog Bar: 3.5 out of 5

Pat's King of Steaks: 3.5 out of 5

HIKING FOR DONUTS

A blog for the foodie outdoor enthusiast

Hi, I’m Mark. I live In Connecticut. I take new trips every chance I get. A good trip has a great hike, great food, and something fun to do. My goal is to search out new trips and share them to inspire others to try something new and exciting.

If you are looking for posts in a particular place, search by city or state here.

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CLICK HERE FOR POST INDEX