Swett's

North Nashville meat-and-three and soul food mainstay Swett’s has been owned and operated by members of the Swett family since 1954, and there has been absolutely no reason to fool with time-tested recipes. Service is cafeteria-style, and lunch in particular draws perhaps Nashville’s most diverse crowd of city officials, business leaders, blue-collar workers, and students and staffers from nearby Tennessee State University, Fisk University and Meharry Medical College. Soul food and Southern cooking staples such as fried chicken, barbecued pork ribs and meatloaf are among the best in town. Ditto for the various pies and cobblers for dessert. And the addition of a barbecue pit in the winter of 2012 has added smoked barbecue pork, beef and pork ribs, beef brisket, pork chops and wings to the mix. All the more reason to make Swett’s a must-stop on any Nashville culinary trip.

No alcohol available. Serving lunch and dinner 11 am–8 pm daily.

MUST EATS: Pork ribs, fried chicken, beef tips, pork chops, country fried steak, turnip greens, candied yams, fried apples, rice with gravy, fried cornbread, blackberry cobbler

“Now comes the real fun: vegetables. Swett’s repertoire is a Southern symphony of steamed or fried okra, fried corn, squash casserole, candied yams, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, stewed cabbage, candied apples, baked beans, turnip greens, rice and gravy, et cetera.”

— Jane and Michael Stern, Roadfood.com