Prince's Hot Chicken (not vegetarian)
It’s the end of the year, and I’m short on inspiration, so I thought I’d write a list post. Folks love a list post, don’t they? Best this, hottest that. But that’s not what I want to do. I want to write the anti-list; the list no one wants to be on (or do they? There’s no such thing as bad PR!). I had several ideas, but I thought a fun one to start with would be about vegetarian dining in Nashville. People ask me all the time for recommendations. Nashville is really vegetarian-friendly, though so recommendations really need to be narrowed by location and type of cuisine. But there are a few places I avoid. So, here you go, the worst restaurants (unranked) in Nashville for vegetarian dining.
1. Peg Leg Porker. No surprise that a barbecue joint would be on the list. Vegetarians aren’t their target market. But owner Carey Bringle said he thought he was the target of vegetarians when his shed was vandalized. Now, to be fair, he may have been joking, but his fans didn’t see it that way. And really, the video shows the culprit, who appeared to be a frat bruh, not a vegan activist of any sort. I wonder if anyone was ever charged in this incident? Anyway, I’d send barbecue lovers with a vegetarian friend to Martin’s instead. Even though I've never been there. Actually, I just tell people to go to Memphis for barbecue. But you all know that already.
2. Prince’s Hot Chicken. Again, not a surprise that a hot chicken restaurant would be on the list. And that’s OK. They have a good business focusing on what they do best. But I wouldn’t recommend it to a vegetarian. I’d recommend Hattie B’s instead, which has a slightly more robust menu of side items (and banana puddin’).
3. Swett’s. Pork put the soul in soul food, so vegetarians are best getting their vegetarian soul food at Jamaicaway, which offers a great selection of meat-free veggies as well as meat substitutes such as a soy-based fried “chick’n” and jerk gluten (seitan). Or get a veggie plate at Sunflower Café.
4. Lockeland Table. Sure, they have vegetarian items on the menu, but the chef is a big fan of meat and not a big fan of vegetarians or vegans, based on his tweets. Certainly, some veg*n patrons are not terribly courteous when they visit restaurants (I’ve overheard some obnoxiousness myself many times over the years), but it’s not cool to lump us all in together for a social media bashing (I’d link to it, but it was probably close to two years ago now, and yes, I do hold a grudge). Vegetarians are welcome there and have several options (which change seasonally), but for the love of all that’s holy, don’t ask for something off-menu or you may be shown the door and ridiculed later.
5. Tofu House. Someone inexperienced with Korean food (as I am) might assume this to be a vegetarian-friendly place, full of tofu dishes. It’s not. It is, according to reviews, one of the best Korean restaurants in the city, but specializes in beef and seafood dishes. You can definitely get tofu there, but it’s not going to be vegetarian. Vegans in town generally recommend Korea House, for veg*n-friendly Korean food.
6. Green Hills Grille. I visited the new Green Hills Grille during a preview dinner and was surprised — shocked, really — at the vegetarian-unfriendliness of the restaurant. I shouldn’t have been; their main goal seems to have been to re-create the experience from the '90s, which was not a particularly vegetarian-friendly time (even outside of Nashville). At the time of my visit, there were 12 salads on the menu and only one was actually vegetarian, and there were no vegetarian entrées. Since that time, they’ve updated the menu to include two main dishes that are vegetarian (as well as some other vegetarian items). The salads are still almost all not-vegetarian, though getting the house salad with the cilantro vinaigrette (a really fantastic dressing that I hope is still available) instead of Caesar helps. Regardless, the place is busy every time I drive by, so I think they’re probably not sweating the lack of vegetarian and vegan diners too much.
Meanwhile, Midtown Cafe (also a torch-bearer for the simpler, less “it” times of the '90s) used to be very vegetarian-unfriendly, but has since updated the menu to appeal to vegetarians.
Any place I missed? Any objections? If so, let me know in the comments.
