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Country Ham
Tennessee's country salt-cured ham-broiled, boiled or fried-retains a distinctive, delicious salty taste. In pioneer days, meats were salted, peppered and smoked before hanging in the smokehouse to "cure." Today, it's that salt, pepper and smoky flavor that we find irresistible in country ham.
Enjoy a fried piece between a warm, golden-brown biscuit. Pair it with freshly fried apples, and be smitten with the combination. Top it with preserves, jam, honey or jelly. And, do not miss the chance to break apart a biscuit, spread it on your plate and spoon over some red-eye gravy, made from pan drippings, water and coffee. (Although, there are as many debates about fine tuning red-eye gravy as there are Tennesseans!) The ham is also an excellent accent for flavor in a pot of long-simmered green beans.
Tennessee boasts some of the finest purveyors of country ham, among them: Benton's Smoky Mountain Country Hams, Madisonville, available unsmoked or hickory smoked; Tripp Country Hams, Brownsville, available whole or in slices; Clifty Farm, Paris, available whole, half or sliced; Rice's Country Hams, Mt. Juliet, whole or half. If you are looking for something unique to serve--or you would like to send a Tennessee flavor to someone special--order some country ham. Southern supermarkets also stock country ham in sealed packages in the meat department.
Bite down into vividly fruity blackberry preserves piled atop a split biscuit on a backdrop of country ham at Beacon Light Tea Room in Lyles. Homemade apple fritters, apple butter and cider greet you at Carver's Applehouse, Cosby, in preparation for an out-of-this-world center-cut country ham entree. Mouth-watering country ham, biscuits, gravy await you at the Log Cabin Pancake House in Pigeon Forge, or have your ham with pancakes. Any way you order it, Tennessee's country ham is a delectable adventure in taste.
Hancock House
A spacious 15-room colonial revival log inn. Hancock House is a pre-1878 stage coach stop and toll gate house that was known as Avondale Station on the famous Avery Trace. ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Gallatin, TN
Phone: 615-452-8431
Jim Olver's Smokehouse
The Oliver family has served travelers and locals for 28 years and more than 400,000 meals.
They specialize in country ham, pit BBQ, smokes meats, homemade biscuits, and fruit cobblers. ...more
Region: Chattanooga & Southeast
City: Monteagle, TN
Phone: 800-489-2091
Log Cabin Pancake House
Many varieties of pancakes and egg specials, as well as country ham, biscuits and gravy, and all-you-can-eat country lunch and dinner buffets, are featured at this restaurant that serves a breakfast menu all day long and has a wonderful, relaxing antique atmosphere. ...more
Region: Smoky Mountains
City: Pigeon Forge, TN
Phone: 865-453-5748
Lookout Mountain - Cafe on the Corner
Welcome to Cafe on the Corner. What was once the town grocery in the early 1900’s has been repurposed as a place of community — a comfortable atmosphere in which to enjoy food. ...more
Region: Chattanooga & Southeast
City: lookout mountain, TN
Phone: (423) 821-6714
Lunch House
Locals and knowledgeable travelers fill up this east Knoxville spot for breakfast and lunch. Home cooked vegetables; blue plate specials (get there early on turkey and dressing days!); fried, thick-cut bologna sandwiches and burgers; biscuits and sausage gravy like your Mama made. ...more
Region: Knoxville & Middle East
City: Knoxville, TN
Phone: 865-637-5188
Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House & Restaurant
Since 1908, Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House has been a place for true Southern hospitality and traditional home cooking.
The house no longer accepts boarders, but it does serve one of the best noon day "Dinners" in Tennessee. ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Lynchburg, TN
Phone: 931-759-7394
Monell's, Gallatin
A member of Nashville's comfort-food royalty, Monell's at Fitzgerald Manor occupies an 1860s home located on 2 and 1/2 acres. Featuring the best skillet-fried chicken in Nashville, Monell's offers communal, southern-style dining. ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Gallatin, TN
Phone: 615-230-8335
Monell's, Germantown
Located in a beautiful Victorian 1880s home in historic Germantown, Monell's offers an all-you-can-eat spread. Long wooden tables seat up to a dozen people, making for a family-style dining experience. ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Nashville, TN
Phone: 615-248-4747
Natchez Trace State Park
Along with vast scenic woodlands, the Natchez Trace State Park includes four lakes, a swimming beach, a 47 room inn and conference center with over 3000 square feet of meeting/banquet space, a restaurant, 17 cabins and 10 villas, a group lodge, 208 campsites, 5 air conditioned camping cabins, picnicking sites, playgrounds, a ball field, a regulation pistol firing range, picturesque hiking trails, a wrangler camp, 250 miles of horse riding trails, a park store, and an archery range. Located at I-40, exit 116, this area is composed of a State Park, State Forest and a WMA with a total of 48,000 acres. ...more
Region: Southwest
City: Wildersville, TN
Phone: 731-968-3742
Overton Square
Multi-block entertainment district featuring 15-plus restaurants, a brew pub, unique shops, an art house film theatre, plus professional theatre all within walking distance. ...more
Region: Memphis & Surrounding Areas
City: Memphis, TN
Phone: 901-278-6300
Paris Landing State Park
Paris Landing State Park sits on the western shore of Kentucky Lake at its widest point. With three miles of water from shore to shore, there is plenty of room for boating, skiing, swimming, fishing and soaking up the sun. ...more
Region: Northwest
City: Buchanan, TN
Phone: (731) 641-4442
Rice's Country Hams
Tennessee State Fair Grand Champion Winner, Rice's Country Hams are cured the old-fashioned way. They hang in the smokehouse for many months before ready to be sold. ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Mt. Juliet, TN
Phone: (615) 758-2362
Swett's Restaurant
One of Nashville's oldest minority-owned restaurants, Swett's is still the benchmark for homestyle comfort foods such as pork chops, slow-simmered green beans, cornbread, and macaroni and cheese. ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Nashville, TN
Phone: 615-742-0699
The Catfish Hotel
Check into The Catfish Hotel for fresh catfish cooked in a variety of preparations--from lightly breaded & fried to seasoned with lemon & cracked pepper to Cajun style. Try the baby back ribs for tenderness & flavor, or the country ham steak, served with home-style biscuits and red eye gravy. ...more
Region: Southwest
City: Shiloh, TN
Phone: (731) 689-3327
The Hamery
Artisan Country Ham since 1969. rnFamily owned and run since day one. ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Murfreesboro, TN
Phone: (615) 893-9712
