Ranked by TableJourney editorial score.
A plate-lunch tradition: one Southern protein plus three vegetable sides, with cornbread and sweet tea. Counter ordering, cafeteria lines, lunch hours only.
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.
3 editor picks for Meat-and-three in Nashville, ranked by editorial score. All Nashville signature dishes · Meat-and-three across every city.
Also in: Chattanooga.
The Arnold family's Gulch meat-and-three lunch counter in Nashville won the James Beard America's Classics Award in 2009. Located in The Gulch.
OrderRoast beef or fried catfish with three vegetables, sweet tea, banana pudding.
TipCafeteria line, lunch only Monday through Friday 10:30-14:30. A North Nashville sit-down location opened in 2025.
Monell's family-style Southern dining in Germantown has run since 1995, seating strangers at communal tables in a Victorian house seven blocks north.
OrderThe full family-style spread: fried chicken, country ham, mac and cheese, greens.
TipReservations available; tables seat ten. Sunday brunch is the marquee meal, books a week ahead.
Elliston Place Soda Shop near Vanderbilt University in Nashville has poured hand-spun milkshakes and a meat-and-three lunch since 1939, recently restored.
OrderMeat-and-three lunch
TipHand-dipped chocolate milkshake is the move; the meat-and-three plate runs $11 on weekdays.
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