Good Southern Food
I love food. Plain and simple. So, I’m always looking for good restaurants in Nashville to challenge and surprise my taste buds. This weekend, I hit the jackpot. When I imagined coming to a Southern school, a big part of that picture was rich, southern food. However, I was surprised to find that Nashville is actually not as southern in nature as I thought. Now, I’m not saying that there isn’t southern food, it’s just not usually the spicy BBQ that I was expecting (aside from Jack’s Bar-B-Que downtown). So, you can imagine the disappointment I felt when I discovered there weren’t a plethora of barbeque restaurants at my disposal.
Fast forward to sophomore year, last weekend to be exact. My cousins were visiting from Duke, which is located in Durham, NC, a region that is known for it’s southern comfort food. So, when I told my friend that I wanted to take them out to a really delicious dinner, he suggested an unfamiliar restaurant–Monell’s. When I said I’d never heard of it, I got a blank stare and a simple, “We’re going.”
And thank god we did.
Monell’s is a small, homey restaurant over on 6th Ave, which is still close to campus, but way off the beaten path. A simple seven minute Commodore Cab ride later, we arrived at a cute building situated in a neighborhood-like setting outside of Downtown Nashville.
For less than $20 you get “all you care to eat” coleslaw, fried pickled green tomatoes, corn pudding, green beans, ribs, skillet fried chicken, biscuits with peach marmalade, corn bread, beans, fried catfish, sweet tea, lemonade, and more. The banana pudding for dessert was absolutely to die for. The menu changes daily, but I wouldn’t hesitate to say that no matter what you get, the food will be delicious.
A really interesting thing about this restaurant, though, is that all the food is served family style. For example, we were a party of four sitting with another party of six at a table for twelve. You have an amazing dinner experience and get to make some new friends during the process.
So, if you’re ever VERY hungry or just craving a meal of delicious southern comfort food, definitely make your way over to Monell’s.