A Loveless B-day for me

Loveless Cafe

8400 Hwy 100
Nashville, TN
615.646.9700

the sign

This historic cafe was once a 14 room motel and tea room in the 1950s and 60s located on the terminus of the Natchez Trace. It must have been a site for sore eyes and butts to see a motel and diner after driving the 400+ miles of the Natchez Trace. In 1985, the motel was closed, and the business concentrated on the cafe.

When I first got to Nashville nearly 10 years ago, I went out ot the Loveless Cafe for breakfast twice and once for dinner in that 1st year, and never went back. Back then, when I went there, the cafe was not kept up too well, it was dirty, rundown and sticky. But because it has been such an institution for Nashville breakfast seekers, it remained busy, and nearly impossible to get a seat on the weekend without a 2 hr wait. The one thing impressed me about this place 10 years ago, was the biscuits. I dislike biscuits a lot because they are usually crumbly, crumby, and plain. These biscuits were hot, flaky, and tasty with the homemade preserves. The rest of breakfast was lack-luster in my mind, so I had no burning desire to go back for breakfast. 10 years ago, I tried dinner, and the supposed famous fried chicken. That too was terrible, dried out, stringy, tasteless besides grease, and the biscuits were hard and obviously made earlier in the day. To add insult to the injured food, the waitresses were bitchy in all the worst ways. They weren't edgy like Flo from Alice, rather they were just mean ugly biddies who did not deserve my 15-20% tip. It was disaster.

That was then, that was old owners, but now...

the entryway

Now, after new owners purchased the Loveless Cafe, and fully renovated the Cafe and the 14 motel rooms, this is a fantastic kitchy destination. I really wanted a kitchy birthday dinner, and the Loveless Cafe kept on coming up as a suggestion. I was scared because it was so bad 10 years ago, but I decided to see what the new owners bring to the table. It was WONDERFUL! The entryway waiting area has photos of all the stars who have eaten at the Loveless. It was fun to see who ate there. There was one photo of Robert Plant that was from his recent visit to Nashville when he was working with Allison Krauss. He thought the food was EXCELLENT! The wait staff were friendly, helpful and sincere. I just could not believe how they exuded that country charm and warmth. I love them all!

Matt's breakfast

The breakfast food for dinner was fantastic! They serve breakfast all day long 'til 9 pm, and that is what we got. Matt got yellow eggs and ham, and I got some hickory smoked thick cut bacon, grits, mac and cheese and some eggs. I told the waitress that it was my birthday, and is it possible to comped an extra slice of bacon for my special birthday dinner. They did it! I got another piece of bacon, yummy. The mac and cheese is made in-house too, and it is made by blending American, Swiss and blue cheeses. I can say that it was possibly the best mac and cheese I have had in a country diner setting. Fantastic! The waitress came back and said that I could have a free dessert too because the Loveless Cafe does that for birthdays. What else would you get at a good country kitchen? A berry cobbler of course. Again, another terrific dish. The food was amazing! The setting was country kitchy, and the waitresses were friendly and not bitchy! It was definitely a good birthday dinner.

dessert

I have fallen in love with the Loveless. The dining room was clean and inviting. The motel rooms have been renovated to be a shopping area with eclectic collections of bicycles, gifts, art and other stuff. They built a cute shop where you can buy Loveless products like their bacon, ham, country ham, jams and other goodies. They also built a big brick smoker to make pork smoked bbq over night, and have it be ready by 11 am for lunch. We had such a nice time walking around to see what we could see while we waited for our table. BRAVO new owners! I would love to go back to the Loveless! See you soon!

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Loveless Cafe