Nashville's Loveless Cafe... Franklin's Best-Kept Secret?
FREE Biscuits... details below!
It is widely known that the Loveless Cafe is one of Nashville's hottest attractions. What is NOT so widely known is the fact that the Loveless Cafe is actually in Franklin, Tennessee Bellevue, Tennessee. (...see comments below)
It's located about 15 miles south of Nashville on Highway 100 -- near the Natchez Trace bridge -- in Franklin Bellevue. And I bet the majority of the locals (like us) often forget about this little gem.
World-Famous Biscuits
The Loveless Cafe is best known for their made-from-scratch biscuits and down-home country charm.
They serve:
- hot biscuits
- steak biscuits
- biscuits 'n gravy
- biscuits with preserves
- country ham 'n biscuits
- sausage biscuits
Almost as famous as the biscuits themselves are the hands responsible for mixin' the ingredients & rollin' the dough for all those biscuits.
Those hands belong to none other than Carol Fay... a.k.a. "The Biscuit Lady".
(...it appears that GIN is the "secret ingredient" in those Loveless Cafe biscuits!)Check out this video of "The Biscuit Lady" Carol Fay on Ellen.
Biscuits! Get Your Free Biscuits!
If you haven't been to the Loveless Cafe in awhile... don't miss this unique opportunity:On Saturday, October 1, 2005, the public is invited to the Loveless Cafe to try their FAMOUS biscuits (...for FREE!), plus lots of other fun stuff for kids of all ages.
There will be:
- Live bluegrass music
- Pumpkin patch and kid's pumpkin painting
- Free bike rides from MOAB Bicycle & Outdoor Store
- A chance to try the new Purity ice cream flavor
- Carol Fay "The Biscuit Lady" booksigning
- Cash bar for adults
- Face painting and balloons for the kids
- Arts & Crafts demonstrations
- Silent auction benefiting Friends of Warner Parks
- Free hot spiced tea samples
- Southern recipes from Martha White
- Biscuits, Biscuits, and more Biscuits!
Fun Stuff About Loveless Cafe
Here are some more video clips featuring Carol Fay "The Biscuit Lady" and secrets about how those biscuits (and the gravy!) are made.
The Loveless Cafe's Rich History
There's a lot of history to this place... from their famous fried chicken and biscuits served on opening day in 1951, to the Loveless Motel and Cafe's "Hams & Jams" mail-order business and catalog in the early '80s, to the Loveless Cafe's major renovations which took place in 2004.
Today the world-famous Loveless Cafe is bigger and better than ever, and the items on the menu are one-of-a-kind.
Yes, the renovations were significant, giving the place a much-needed face-lift. Still, the unique charm, personality, and historic value of the Loveless Cafe have been preserved -- inside and out.
Thankfully, it's the same 'ol place that it once was... and it's the same 'ol biscuit recipe that keeps the people comin' back.
UPDATE 10/13/08: Here's the recipe for the Loveless Cafe's famous biscuits and gravy, as prepared by Carol Fay ("the biscuit lady") on The Early Show in this video.
Someone sent me some Loveless biscuit mix as a gift and it made the BEST biscuits I've ever tasted. Ordering on line is a bit pricy but the mix is the best.
I wholly agree that Loveless is absurdly overrated. There are plenty of "real" southern restaurants in Nashville, and I also agree that Cracker Barrel is sadly far better than Loveless - and cheaper too! If you're looking for REAL southern food in Franklin, try Dotson's!
Don -
I don't see any pear preserves listed on their site:
http://www.hamsandjams.com/products.asp?dept=2
I also did a site-search for "pear" and nothing came up.
mjennings -
It's kind of buried on their website, but here's the link to their menu & prices:
http://www.lovelesscafe.com/supper.html
From there, you can view the .pdf:
http://www.lovelesscafe.com/pdfs/supper.pdf
We are going to Loveless cafe next week with a church group.
I was wondering about prices. Are they comparible to Craker Barrel, more, or less.
Thanks.
i would like to see or read something about the jams, jellies and preserves they are supposed to sell. tell me how much and for what size container. i reall am looking for true pear preserves from the south. i don't dind them in denver. thnx and let em know don
Hi Carol, While I was on vacation in Florida, I happen to see you on Martha's show, which I never watch. I was ready for my biscuit and pork chop, and hush puppies. I would like to know if it would be possible to send a sample of you biscuit mix. And, the next time I'm in Jackson TN I'm going make sure I don't leave without coming to your restaurant. I will be there In October for Lane's home comming.
How anyone can say Loveless Cafe is overrated is beyond me. I was willing to wait an hour just for a cup of their coffee. Luckily I didn't have to wait. The shop that sells the jams and various other goodies had some made fresh and sold me a large cup. It's a great place to go early on a Saturday morning and sit on the "veranda" and have coffee and biskits....best biskits I've had since I quit making my own!! And yes...it IS in Bellevue.....and it's time the citizens of Bellevue take pride in the establishments in our great little town!!
I no longer live in Nasville,however I still cook
that great southern way which is the only way to go. Saw carol on the Martha Stewart show... and enjoyed it very much..I need to remind you, don't try to take anything from Martha. SHE IS GREAT!
Virginia from Northern Virginia
James --
Thanks for the clarification. I really thought that end of the Natchez Trace was considered Franklin. I've heard it referred to so many times that way.
Apologies for the confusion.
I still think the Loveless Cafe is a great icon, no matter which town it falls in... Bellevue is great too!
Time for a geography lesson. Loveless Cafe is in B-E-L-L-E-V-U-E and that's in Davidson County. Funny how Franklin Residents like to claim places like this cafe or Chaffin's Barn and Warner Park (both also in Bellvue) but never seem eager to claim the various trailer homes betwixt these landmarks and Franklin.
The cafe is EXTREMELY over-rated anyway, owned and operated by the slick cityfolk behind "TomKat's" catering. We like to call Loveless "Country from a Can" much like what the town of Franklin has become in recent years actually. No, Country food is made by Country people, the kind of people who USED to live in Franklin before city folk jumped on the band wagon and property values spiked and the locals were forced to the hills.
Craker Barrel is a better choice if you need a "country" dining experience. If you want the real deal your going to have to find REAL country places not some martha Stewart "We're going to make country food" clones. Of course you don't want to live around these people. But if you want to move over to their quaint little towns you'll have to establish cookie cutter subdivisions with strict neighborhood codes. That will take care of that.