A plate-lunch tradition: one Southern protein plus three vegetable sides, with cornbread and sweet tea. Counter ordering, cafeteria lines, lunch hours only.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
The meat-and-three is Tennessee's plate-lunch tradition, descended from boarding-house cooking. Lunch counters serving working Nashvillians codified the format by the 1950s. Arnold's Country Kitchen, which won the James Beard America's Classics Award in 2009, runs the canonical version. The 'three' refers to vegetables but typically includes mac and cheese; the protein rotates daily. Most counters are lunch-only, Monday to Friday, with prices still under $15 in 2026.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Make the vegetables in advance; the protein is the easy part. The plate is about the sides as much as the meat.
Arnold's meat-and-three lunch in Nashville delivers a protein plus three vegetables and tea for under $15. Located in The Gulch. At 605 8th Ave S.
Try: Meat-and-three plate
Tip: Lunch only, Monday to Friday 10:30-14:30; cafeteria line moves fast. Cash and card.
Monell's family-style Southern dining in Germantown, Nashville has run since 1995, seating strangers at communal tables in a Victorian house north.
Signature: Family-style Southern lunch, Skillet fried chicken
Order: The full family-style spread: fried chicken, country ham, mac and cheese, greens.
Tip: Reservations available; tables seat ten. Sunday brunch is the marquee meal, books a week ahead.
Elliston Place Soda Shop near Vanderbilt in Nashville plates a meat-and-three lunch for $11 and a hand-dipped milkshake for $5. Since 1939 in Nashville.
Try: Meat-and-three with milkshake
Tip: Hand-dipped chocolate milkshake plus a meat-and-three plate keeps the lunch bill under $15.
More cities are in research. Want meat-and-three covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.