Road Food-- Day 2-- Lunch at Arnold's Country Kitchen, Nashville

Best Southenn Cookin' Ever at Arnold's Country Kitchen, Nashville, TN

Arnold's Country Kitchen in Nashville has the best Southern Style food I've ever eaten. The place is a tiny dive near downtown. The walls are covered with pictures of many celebrities who have enjoyed their food. Besides the usual Nashville music legends from Chet Atkins to the Dixie Chicks ("You can't beat Arnold's meat [+ 3]" reads the Chicks signed photo), there are pictures of Richard Nixon and Chuck Colson and a very young Brooke Shields. 

The place reminded me a lot of the old Candy Stripe Kitchen that used to be in Kingsland back when Maddy first brought me to her family cabin 27 years ago. The outstanding chicken and dumplings was made with the flat kind of dumpling that Maddy is unable to recreate and definitely is superior to the delicious plump kind of dumpling you can make with Bisquick-- just like the long gone Candy Stripe Kitchen used to make.

And Arnold's Chess pie was as good, if a bit different, from the kind I fell in love with at Lake LBJ.


Maddy had fried green tomatoes, corn pudding, a couple of other veggies, grit cakes and corn bread.She was in heaven.


The staff there was incredibly nice to us. They made a fuss that we were from "that whole other country, Texas." They really made us feel at home. Tried to buy the t-shirt, but they were sold out in my size. Guy Fieri of Diners, Dives and Drive-ins has been there and so should you.