There are hundreds of reasons to go to Nashville and all of its surrounding communities — entertainment, shopping, sight-seeing galore.  But, even if you can’t think of a thing to do or buy or see, you might still want to work in a visit to the Loveless Cafe for breakfast, lunch, or dinner sometime soon.

I did my homework before my Silver Fox and I visited recently — which meant that I studied the website, double-checked directions, took note of suggestions (including one to arrive after 2:00 p.m. to avoid a long wait), eagerly perused posted recipes, and stared hungrily at the menu.  You might enjoy doing the same thing.  Only beware.  We arrived at 2:00 p.m. on a Friday, and the wait was still over an hour.  This is a VERY popular place.

The cafe itself is relatively small, which helps to explain the wait times.

But, there are other places connected to the cafe to check out while you wait.

I would have to compare the menu at Loveless to that of Cracker Barrel, only cranked up another notch.  And, be prepared to spend a little more money for your meal.  I’m not sure why they decided to serve alcohol, but it is available if you want it.

Fried chicken is a specialty, but I didn’t want to go TOO FAR off of the Health Wagon, so I opted for a veggie plate with fried green tomatoes being my splurge.  It was very tasty.

Silver Fox chose the veggie omelet.  I’m not sure why he waited so long in line just to order an omelet, but the point is that their ARE healthy options if you choose to take them.

The Loveless Cafe served its first batch of fried chicken and biscuits in 1951.  According to the paper placemats on each table: “Today the Loveless Cafe serves more than 450,000 guests a year and makes up to 7,000 biscuits a day — still using Annie Loveless’s original recipe!”

When you walk into the lobby of the Loveless Cafe, you will be impressed by the floor to ceiling photos of celebrities who have visited this iconic Nashville cafe.  I wanted to know more.  After being served in a friendly, timely and helpful way, I asked our cute waitress Katie: “Who are the most famous people you have ever served since you started working here?”  She thought for a moment and then said (rather modestly, I thought): “I’ve seen quite a few celebrities, such as Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney, but the ones I remember waiting on personally were Al Gore, Paula Deen and Martha Stewart.”  I don’t know about you, but Paula Deen and Martha Stewart rank among the Food Royals in my book. The moral of this story?  If Loveless Cafe is good enough for them, then it’s probably good enough for the rest of us.