In this week's issue of the Nashville Scene, restaurant critic Carrington Fox
gives her takeon
Puckett's Boat House, a seafood-themed establishment at 94 E. Main St. in downtown Franklin, a labor of love from the Marshall family, known for their popular Puckett's cafes in Franklin and downtown Nashville. Fox says:
It's hard to put a finger on why this hybrid oyster bar/bait shop/music venue recalls the ease of a seaside crab shack, when it sits two blocks off the square in landlocked Franklin. But history would suggest it has something to do with the Marshall family, who imbue their country-store-casual Puckett's restaurants — including eateries in the downtowns of Nashville, Franklin and Columbia — with an easygoing hospitality outside the band of the daily grind. Another explanation could be the whimsical design, cribbed from so many Gulf Coast joints brined outside with ocean air and wallpapered inside with the dollar bills of sentimental spring breakers. Somehow, the Boat House captures all that patina without being ticky-tacky.
She describes the fare: "The made-from-scratch menu scratches the itch for Southern-style beach cuisine — battered, fried or on the half-shell."
Of special note is the selection of Gulf oysters: "Apalachicola oysters get their own section on the menu, headlining with a half-dozen raw for $8 or a full dozen for $14. If you're suspicious of raw shellfish, or superstitious about months without R's, there's an array of grilled oysters, with toppings such as cheese, chorizo and cilantro; cheese, bacon and jalapeño; and Rockefeller-style spinach."
Fox also enthuses about the cafe-market on one end of the long restaurant, with marble-topped tables and a fridge full of pastries. "The playful pièce de résistance hangs overhead — an elaborate light fixture fashioned from an upside-down rowboat."
What do you say, Bites readers? Has anybody charted a course to Puckett's Boat House?
