Friday, March 27, 2009
Restaurants Nashville's Old House Restaurants
Posted by Nicki Wood on Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 6:36 AM
Nicki's Panjandrum of Old Nashville Stuff continues. Did I mention I've been writing a local history book?
It's taking me back to the time that so many Nashville restaurants were housed in ... houses. A restaurant in midtown in the 1970s was likely as not to be in an old house. I'm thinking of Faison's, Ruby Tuesday (which was called Shenanigan's at the time), Julian's, B Palola, Tavern on the Row.
In the case of the house in the photo, it was the governor's mansion and it was torn down to make way for a fried chicken restaurant.
But to me, the spookiest house restaurant was Maharajah on West End, across from the gates of Acklen Park. It must have been an enormous house, because it was a big, rambling restaurant. It was dark, with moody lighting and drapey batik decor that looked like ghosts. There were foreign smells and foreign foods that we kids didn't like.
A few house-restaurants remain. Virago, Jimmy Kelly and Café Coco keep the skeletons of their houseness. Bound'ry was a rock-and-roll hotel called Close Quarters, which had been an apartment building before that.
Do other cities have districts where the houses became restaurants? And what did I leave off the list?
Comments (19)
Showing 1-19 of 19
Ellendale's in Donelson is in an old house, albeit one that has had a new section added on to it. It used to house the Grecian Inn, and I'm not sure what it was before that.
like
dislike
One place that comes to mind was simply called
"The House." ---located on Division, past the IHOP.(maybe across from the Red Dog Saloon? the structure doesn't exist anymore)Opened around 1971, they offered a variety of burgers served with baked beans on pewter plates. Food was so-so, but we high-schoolers of the time thought it was the cool place to go.
B. Palola's (though really more bar than restaurant) on Hayes, in the Mambu area.
Monell's.
It seems there are a few in East Nashville.
Pizzereal
Red Door Saloon
Rumours East
Lipstick Lounge (?)
The distance-learning gig I did for Vanderbilt last week was done in a studio in the basement of the former Villa Romano, off 21st by the Baker Bldg. A fine old Victorian pile it is.
I think there were one or two failed restaurants that followed Villa. By keeping the house full for as long as they did, those restaurateurs may have protected the place from meeting the fate of several nearby mansions flattened by either VU or the Diocese in the past couple of decades.
Andrew Chadwick's was in a beautiful old house. What about Mad Platter? I assume that was a house. Monell's. Cupcake Collection. Maude's Courtyard, DaVinci's, Mambu.
I understand New Orleans Manor is back up and running. And we can't leave off the Cupcake Collection in Germantown. Does The Standard count?
Isn't Close Quarters where Elvis Costello wrote some of the songs for Imperial Bedroom (like "Almost Blue")? It shoulda been made a shrine.
City House in Germantown used to be a house, in fact I think I heard there is some connection with the LeQuires. Or maybe it was a home turned art studio?
What about the building on Music Row that used to be the home for Figlio's next to Emerald Studios. I remember getting long client lunches there when I first started on the Row years ago.
Thank you, Nicki! My husband didn't believe me about Ruby Tuesday. I was a kid at the time, so I couldn't be sure my memory served. Was it in the row of houses on West End between Tin Angel and Orleans Ave.?
Ruby Tuesday was in a house at the corner of Murphy Road and West End, so across the street from where you're thinking. The Maharajah was in the spot you're talking about. It was probably something after the Maharajah, but I can't recall.
Was Lipstick Lounge a house? Discuss.
There used to be this fantastic Thai place on that street around the corner from the old Goten off of 21st, across from Vanderbilt, sort of behind the old iHop. It was called The King and I and it was a big huge brick foursquare house - I think it was painted green. They had great food but there was always a disconnect between what was happening on the plate and these big drafty ghosty drawing rooms.
King and I was in the same house that was the location of Villa Romano, mentioned above.
The old Ruby Tuesday location is now occupied by a giant curved silver office building.
Yes, Mr. Pink. Close Quarters (now Bound'ry) was where Elvis Costello and the Attractions (and manager Jake Rivera) stayed during the studio recording of Almost Blue. His Imperial Bedroom was in final stages of production and post-production. As was the custom of his traveling crew, their registered names at hotels were sea-themed. Mr. Costello was registered as Mister Lawrence Whelk.
1) The Mad Platter used to be a butcher shop. The front room was the sales floor, and I think the back of the house was where they whacked animals into their subcomponents.
2) The King and I was a regular lunch spot of mine ... first time I ever went 5-star on the spice level. My favorite waiter said "oooh, once you go five-star, you never go back!" ... and he was absolutely right!!!!! (The special that day was "Prince's Evil Jungle Curry" -- that was my sign to dare it!)
3) As a side comment, the Fort Lauderdale area had (probably still has) two **excellent** restaurants, named Casa Vecchia (near Bahia Mar) and La Vielle Maison (closer to boca). Both of these names mean "old house"!!!!! La V.M. was a Mobil 4-star, the only one in the area. And wow, yes, they deserved their stars! (Their chef explained to me that the fifth star involved picky little detail stuff that didn't really reflect on the food itself, and as far as I know he was correct.) Casa Vecchia, don't know their stars, but they grow their own herbs out back ... that kind of place. Eat there if it's still there. I am Not Kidding.
