Tennessee

A secret menu is a lot less secret when they hand it to you. Still fun, though. Breakfast…

By Gideon Hartwell · Oct 4

If we were going together, I would stop you before you touched a plate. Not because there are…

By Trevor Maddox · Oct 3

Breakfast envy is real. It usually arrives on somebody else’s plate. You were perfectly happy with eggs until…

By Clara Whitmore · Oct 3

What if the best part of the drive is the part where you never feel like hurrying? That…

By Eliza Thornton · Oct 3

Ordering the milkshake first feels completely defensible here. You can sort out the burger afterward. This old-school drive-in…

By Adeline Parker · Oct 2

Forget the sad little dented-can aisle you may be picturing. This place has produce to pick through, with…

By Eliza Thornton · Oct 2

Here is the move: ask what looks good today before you decide what dinner is. At this Tennessee…

By Adeline Parker · Oct 1

The most tempting sentence in a thrift store is, “I’ll just check one more section.” Sure you will.…

By Gideon Hartwell · Oct 1

Okay, be honest. Are you grabbing the crunchy corner piece, or heading straight for the cheesy middle? That…

By Daniel Mercer · Sep 30

Black bears are apparently not reading the same Tennessee travel guides we are. Their range stretches well beyond…

By Clara Whitmore · Sep 30

Some factories make things. This one seems better at making you wander. The brick walls still remember the…

By Lenora Winslow · Sep 25

Fresh sausage is the butcher-counter equivalent of a bad influence. You stop in thinking about dinner, and suddenly…

By Adeline Parker · Sep 24

Catfish has the headline, but the hushpuppies are already stealing clicks. That is the kind of dinner setup…

By Daniel Mercer · Sep 23

Apple butter has a funny definition of “just a little.” One swipe across toast can become another, and…

By Lenora Winslow · Sep 23

Brace yourself. With more than eighty flavors waiting in this Tennessee shop, things are about to get a…

By Daniel Mercer · Sep 22

Steak people can turn one dinner order into a full committee meeting. Ribeye or filet? Prime rib or…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 22

Butter Roll. Honestly, this buffet could have stopped the sales pitch right there. That old-school favorite is only…

By Lenora Winslow · Sep 22

Lake views are charming, but your monthly budget is less sentimental. That is where retirement planning in Tennessee…

By Renata Holcombe · Sep 21

Your calves are going to have questions. The western edge of Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau does not waste much…

By Adeline Parker · Sep 21

Somebody in Pigeon Forge apparently looked at the words “general store” and decided they were far too limiting.…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 21

How brave are you feeling at lunch? That is a useful question when hot chicken comes with six…

By Clara Whitmore · Sep 21

Cades Cove done. Mountain roads done. Suddenly everyone in the car has one very urgent opinion about dinner.…

By Renata Holcombe · Sep 19

A barbecue place that has outlived a century probably gets to skip the sales pitch. This Tennessee stop…

By Lenora Winslow · Sep 19

A few minutes behind the wheel can hide a ridiculous amount of engineering. Cross the Mississippi between Tennessee…

By Clara Whitmore · Sep 19

I am very easy to convince that pancakes count as a reason to cancel the rest of the…

By Renata Holcombe · Sep 18

Buffets are where indecision finally gets rewarded. At one Tennessee spot, more than 100 choices mean your plate…

By Clara Whitmore · Sep 18

Most campuses have a quad. This Tennessee one has caves. The university sits inside a 13,000-acre Domain on…

By Renata Holcombe · Sep 17

October starts changing color before this East Tennessee road has finished climbing. Near the river, green can still…

By Daniel Mercer · Sep 17

I never trust myself at a buffet after the first plate. That is exactly why this Tennessee spot…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 17

Some grocery stores make you think about dinner. This one might make you rethink where dinner starts. In…

By Clara Whitmore · Sep 17

Tennessee does not exactly advertise that it has a canyon hiding this close to the city. Just beyond…

By Renata Holcombe · Sep 16

Powdered sugar on a ham sandwich sounds like somebody lost a bet. Then the raspberry preserves show up,…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 16

Hospitals are eerie enough before somebody hands you a flashlight. This former Tennessee hospital has been quiet since…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 16

A black bear in the neighborhood can turn one ordinary afternoon into the only thing anyone talks about.…

By Eliza Thornton · Sep 16

Antique hunting in Tennessee is a genuine rabbit hole and that is meant as the highest possible compliment.…

By Adeline Parker · Sep 15

Biscuits that won a national award. Fried chicken that disappears from the platter before anyone thinks to ask…

By Adeline Parker · Sep 15

Tennessee is full of waterfalls. But there is exactly one that bursts straight out of a cave, crashes…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 14

This Tennessee lake has the kind of shoreline that makes you look twice. At first, the cypress trees…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 13

The supermarket shelf does not get much of a vote here. This Tennessee butcher shop keeps dinner flexible…

By Daniel Mercer · Sep 12