Posted by Michael Stern on April 28, 2009
Little changed since it opened over sixty years ago, Elliston Place is a soda shop and much, much more. Yes, you can get wonderful milk shakes, malts, and sundaes, but this is one of the best opportunities in Nashville to enjoy the ritual midday meal known as “meat and three.” Choose sugar-cured ham, salt-cured country ham, southern-fried chicken (white or dark meat), a pork chop or liver 'n' onions, then select three vegetables from a daily roster of at least a dozen. Or if you want to skip the meat altogether (Elliston Place vegetables are so good, you might just consider such a strategy), there is a four-vegetable plate, accompanied by hot bread, for about three dollars. The vegetable repertoire includes whipped potatoes, turnip greens, baked squash, fried bite-size rounds of okra, black-eyed peas, baked squash, and congealed salad (the local name for Jell-O).
For dessert, if you can resist a banana split, there is silk-smooth chess pie or a frosty wedge of the simple and nearly breathtaking Dixie classic, lemon icebox pie.
Breakfast at the Elliston Place Soda Shop is terrific. Great biscuits are a given, and the country ham is superb. Many apparently blasé locals ignore the ham and choose fried balogna as their meat of choice!
A handsome, well-weathered place: green upholstered booths, red and white décor, and a crisp-outlined tile floor. Tables are equipped with their own juke boxes, and the musical selections are, suitably enough, country classics.
Overall: Worth driving from anyplace
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Reviewers "Must Eats" List
Ham & Egg Biscuit
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country ham
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chess pie
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milk shake
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"Country ham, grits, biscuits, and eggs: here is breakfast sure to get you whistling "Dixie.""
Michael Stern
"In the world of "breakfast sandwiches," this country ham and egg on a buttermilk biscuit is king. Note that there is a slab of ham both above and below the egg."
Michael Stern
"We love the interior of the Elliston Place Soda Shop, with its tiny-tile checked floor, vintage counter, and nostalgic signs touting favorite soda fountain specialties. Among the decorative charms is a "stereophonic" juke box at every booth."
Michael Stern
"Note the tiny-tile floor and vintage upholstery. Elliston Place is genuine Americana."
Michael Stern
"This is an interior picture of the Elliston Place Soda Shop in Nashville, TN."
katmaan
"Below this handsome sign is one of the Music City's premier cafes."
Michael Stern
