I spotted a vanity license plate near Hillsboro Road that was partially obscured. It read either "Yaptist" or "Yartist." And I thought, "That's so Nashville: Baptist or artist." I'm sure there's an explanation for the "Y."
One place on Hillsboro Road that Baptists and artists can always agree on is Fox's Donut Den. Great doughnuts, value-priced cappuccino, and a fantastic neon sign, the only one left in Green Hills. Except that over the past decade, fewer and fewer of the doughnuts have lit up.
It's understandable—the Fox family bought it from Harlow's Rockin' Doughnuts in Memphis and hauled the pre-owned sign to Nashville 30 years ago, according to Norman Fox. Over the years, various distractions and delays, plus a scarcity of neon repairmen meant it wasn't regularly operating properly.
The Foxes found a fixer named Patrick Hostettler, and the vintage sign once again features its five cascading doughnuts. Here are four of them—you'll have to trust me on that middle doughnut.
There's more to come: The second set of letters will soon be repaired, so the word "donuts" will flash in two shades of red and at two angles. The doughnuts will be rocking again!
Fox's Donut Den, 3900 Hillsboro Road, 385-1021.
