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No. 1 — Arnold’s Country Kitchen
Were you expecting something more refined? A tasting menu, perhaps? When considering the restaurant that best exemplifies this city’s current dining scene, and one that we all hands-down love, Arnold’s simply nails it. The cafeteria-style, steam-table meat-and-three has been doing for more than 30 years what many today only attempt to get right: a fully from-scratch menu made with fresh, local ingredients, and a love for the customers that you just can’t fake. Owners Jack and Rose Arnold are still dining-room staples but their second son Kahlil now runs the kitchen, carrying on the family tradition by putting out soulful, country fare like the café’s sliced roast beef, slabs of meatloaf, long-simmered collard greens, home-made yeast rolls, candied yams, and those world-famous fried green tomatoes. What’s more, it draws fans from every corner of the city and beyond, who all stand patiently in line and wait their turn for a heaping scoopful of turnip greens and a pass at that legendary hot chocolate pie.
605 8th Ave. S., 615-256-4455
