Arnold's Country Kitchen

Arnold's Country Kitchen is a family-run Southern meat-and-three in downtown Nashville, opened by Jack and Rose Arnold in 1982 and continued by their children. Jack Arnold began in restaurants as a dishwasher at 12, managed a college cafeteria while studying at Vanderbilt, and opened Arnold's the following year. The restaurant received profiles in national publications and on television and earned the James Beard Foundation American Classics Award in 2009. Its reputation rests on hearty, vegetable-forward Southern sides and roast meats. Housed in a simple concrete-block building with a steam table and tray line, the space is a welcoming mom-and-pop cafeteria. Community members line up for hearty, unfussy Southern plates in a familial, down-to-earth setting. Classic Southern meat-and-three cooking emphasizes traditional techniques, from-scratch preparations and food prepared fresh daily. Vegetables and comfort sides sit alongside roasted and fried proteins. The kitchen fries in beef tallow and offers gluten-, dairy- and vegetarian options. Jack Arnold (Co-owner). Specialties include long-simmered collard greens, fried green tomatoes, cooked-to-order cornbread, roasted haunch of beef and classic Southern pies and puddings.