Biscuits, Burgers, & Cupcakes

I don't think I ate one thing in Nashville I didn't like...surprised? I didn't think so. I love trying local restaurants wherever I go, and honestly, that's sometimes one of the best parts about a trip! {Clearly I'm not hiding the fact that I love to eat} Some of my favorite food experiences I had in Nashville, I just had to capture on film. The first night I was there we went to dinner at cute corner restaurant in a neighborhood near Cary's apartment called Burger Up. It's an "upscale" burger joint, but they use fresh organic ingredients for all of their food, and they also have 10 farms in Tennessee that source their meat, cheese, and produce.

Oh.em.gee y'all - YUM. I think it ranks #1 as my favorite meal while in Nashville.

This delicious drink was served in a mason jar {which of course I loved} and it tasted like a pina colada on the rocks. I forget what it was called but it was one of their drink specials that night and I couldn't pass it up.

The burger I got {well all of us got} was called the Woodstock. It had bacon, white cheddar, and Jack Daniel's maple ketchup. I loved that on the menu, by each item, they list which Tennessee farm all of the ingredients came from. The burger was by far the best I've ever had, and it was cooked to perfection. After dinner we were all so stuffed, and we debated splitting the krispy kreme donut pudding {umm, yes this was really on the dessert menu, yum} but decided against it for the sake of our poor arteries.  

For lunch one afternoon, we drove about 20 minutes down Highway 100 to visit the legendary Loveless Cafe. Loveless is best known for their ham, fried-chicken, homemade preserves, and biscuits {I didn't try the ham, but the fried chicken and biscuits, so worth the hype}. It's been a landmark since they opened over 60 years ago and they are a landmark recognized for their Southern food and hospitality. When they opened in 1951 {first as a motel}, they used to serve chicken from picnic tables on the front lawn to travelers on Highway 100.

They serve hot biscuits and homemade preserves to every table, and I wasn't complaining. For lunch I tried the hand-breaded fried chicken tenders, mac n' cheese, and fried green tomato's...with sweet tea of course! They don't skimp on the portion sizes, as you can see, and our waitress was shocked when neither of us finished even half of what was on our plates.

I had read/heard about Gigi's Cupcakes in Nashville when I saw it on a blog I was reading, and I knew I wanted to try them if we had the chance. After the marathon on Saturday, we made went to lunch and bought some cupcakes at Gigi's to bring home for an afternoon treat. It's hard to go to a cupcake shop and get just one. There's so many delicious flavors, I always want to try a couple! At Gigi's, I got the Champagne cupcake and the Kentucky Bourbon Pie. Holy icing {never seen cupcakes with more icing than those} The champagne cupcake was light and fluffy, and bourbon pie cupcake {which may/may not have been what I shoveled my face with after coming back from the bars on Saturday night} was a lot more dense, full of pecans and chocolate chips. Amazing.

If you ever get the chance to visit Nashville, I would not pass these three places up!