A Change From the Norm: Thanksgiving, Monell’s Style!
For me, Thanksgivings in the past have consisted of gathering at my Grandmother and Papa’s house in Brentwood, TN and having the typical spread: a bird, stuffing, beans, lots of bread, and lots of pie. However, this year, my grandparents decided to visit my aunt in Tampa, FL and spend Thanksgiving with her. This left my family (my mother, my sister, and my mother’s boyfriend) with a few options… none of which consisted of my mother doing the cooking.
Instead, we decided to try something new and go out to eat! The four of us went to Monell’s, a quaint, Southern style mansion-turned-restaurant. Although there are a few locations in Nashville, the one we ventured to is a huge, white, plantation type home on a large lawn. You can’t miss it in comparison to the tall office buildings and bustling roads surrounding it.
Thank God it was a beautiful day today, because we did have to wait about an hour for our table. But it was a very pleasant wait; Monell’s provided a shady tent to wait under, refreshments, live music, a luxurious port-a-potty (seriously, this thing was impressive), and friendly folks!
You’re seated with other families at a large dinner table; my family sat with two other ladies, a 
mother and a daughter. You all pass around the same batch of meat and beans and potatoes and other fixings. You chat and get to know each other, and it’s all very sweet. :) Not to mention, the food is excellent– very Southern comfort food. None of the plates or silverware matched (an adorable detail that I think only I noticed), the servers were kind, and a large, fully-decorated Christmas Tree adorned the front foyer. The rooms were as warm as the people, and (last but certainly not least) the pie was delicious!
I’d say this was a very successful holiday, and I encourage others to discover Monell’s for themselves. They’re open year-round, and I hear that they always have fairly similar and just as delicious food any time of year.
I hope all you festive Americans out there had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving. Mine was a hit! Now, to avoid the Black Friday mania…