Elliston Place Soda Shop

Posted By Michael Stern on November 16, 2011 6:40 AM

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 Rating

Banana Pudding

country ham

chess pie

Ham & Egg Biscuit

Key Lime Icebox Pie

biscuits

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Posted By Brent Kulman on December 18, 2005 10:44 PM

Until recently, I hadn't been to Elliston Place for many years, and I did have fond memories. So it is with much disappointment that I have to report about the very ordinary ham and egg biscuit and less than mediocre service I experienced on a recent visit.

The biscuit on the Roadfood webpage bears about as much resemblance to the one I got as those photos in the fast food joints compare to the actual food one receives. To me a biscuit should be light and airy, but still buttery and flavorful. In order to combine those virtues, they need to be fresh. I cannot say whether the Elliston Place biscuit I was served was fresh or not, but it was very ordinary. Unlike the photo, my ham and egg biscuit only featured one slice of ham. And it sure didn't taste like country ham, which I thought I would be getting. On the plus side, the egg was well cooked.

My waiter managed to screw up an order for a cup of coffee and a ham and egg biscuit, bringing out only a ham biscuit. Normally, when an error is made, the correction takes place almost immediately. After all, how long does it take to fry an egg, particularly when at 7:00 AM, there are only two other tables occupied in the restaurant? If 10-15 minutes sounds about right to you, then you would have been happily satisfied.

I'll give Elliston Place another shot someday, as I do have good memories and any place can have an off day. But to me, a ham and egg biscuit is 85% about the biscuit and 10% about the ham, and I was disappointed on both of those fronts.

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Posted By Lynne Vogt on December 14, 2003 11:41 AM

Elliston Place is kind of an oasis in a small, funky strip of business very close to downtown Nashville.

Unassuming from the outside, it has just enough neon to beckon small town folks looking for a bite of home.

The decor is classic soda fountain with just enough dirt to turn away more highbrow eaters. And the food echoes the atmosphere...funky, and just like home.

I first spotted the place as a homesick college student. I missed the soda fountain in my hometown's drug store so much I just had to get a shake. I stayed so long I missed a class.

The turkey plate is terrific. But I have to admit, the cheesburgers and fries are what kept me going back. And the chocolate shakes are textbook: creamy, thick and very chocolaty.

The burgers and fries were what I'd expect: hand-pattied and fried with onions...and fries from the store, sizzled up in a big vat of grease. They're excellent.

When I was there, there treats were served on oval plates with the usual lettuce garnish. To top it off, the banana splits were sensational, with hot, hot fudge melting a gooey drool into the ice cream. The best part: it's not soft-serve that melts when you look at it sideways, it's great traditional ice cream (Breyers?) that holds up well under the toppings.

I have since moved away and really miss the place and am sad I never had a chance to sample a breakfast. It's just another good reason to head back to Nashville!

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