Toast Of Music City Tastes A Little Burned

July 28th, 2008 · Comments

Predictably, Nashvillians are a bit defensive of their favorite places to eat. When we posted AOL’s City’s Best list last week, the feedback suggested two things; First, that we should all try to convince the tourists that the “local slang” for the Pancake Pantry is “PanPan,” and second, that no list of bests will ever please everyone.

The Tennessean has totaled the votes in their own version of City’s Best, The Toast of Music City. Shame on Nashvillians for voting three national chains into the top 3 Italian spots, and double shame for Olive Garden actually being one of them. There’s a lot of the same boring chains scoring top spots (Baskin Robbins & Maggie Moos for best ice cream?) with no mention of some of the best local spots - Pied Piper Creamery, anyone? In this sense, AOL actually did a better job at uncovering some of our local gems. The Toast of Music City is good for a hearty laugh, though. Our favorites are:

Shoney’s - 3rd Best Breakfast & 2nd Best Meal Deal
Golden Corral - 2nd Best Buffet
Loose Leaf Tea Bar - 2nd Best Bar
PF Chang’s - 1st Best Chinese & 2nd Best Asian

We promise never to do this again, but we’ve just got to say it: LOL.

Tags: Food & Drink

Viewing 12 Comments

Brandonjames 11 months ago 1 point
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This town is full of suburbanites and they love their chain food! Shoney's??? thats terrible!

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Morgan Levy 11 months ago 1 point
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@Brandon - I threw up in my mouth a little when I read that. Seriously, gross.

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http://www.morganautumn.com

Dave Delaney 11 months ago 1 point
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My wife and I love Nonna's for Italian. It's tiny and romantic, the food and service is awesome. The site sucks, but it appears to be getting a makeover: http://www.caffenonna.com/

Enjoy.

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http://www.davemadethat.com

Jad 11 months ago 1 point
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Jimmy Kelly's didn't make best steakhouses but LONGHORN did? Are you kidding me?

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http://jaddunc.wordpress.com/

Lowell 11 months ago 1 point
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There seems to be no pride in locally owned restaurants in Nashville. I can't say I never eat at chains but it sickens me to think that people would choose a chain over a local spot. One other thing though, I have to say that I have eaten at a lot of bad local places in Nashville much more than in other places so maybe its not just the suburbanites but the restaurateurs as well.

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Laura 11 months ago 1 point
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Shoney's, serisously? Who even eats there? Besides my grandmother, and that's because she lives in a small town where Sonic is the only chain restaurant. And two of the "major" restaurants in town are located in gas stations. They could have at least picked Cracker Barrel. :-)

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WheeeGuy 11 months ago 1 point
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I will again continue to shake my head. Points for the creative categories, slow clap for the results.

Quoting another review I read: "So I'm trying to figure out if there was some kind of ballot box stuffing that took place, or if the Tennessean's readership really is that devoid of good taste." from http://www.ulikafoodblog.com/2008/07/bbq-in-new...

PS. The second link to the actual Toast results missed: http://data.tennessean.com/v2/bin/toast/2008-wi...

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http://www.nashvillehotchicken.com/

saraclark 11 months ago 1 point
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I think this list is very representative of the types of Tennessean commenters/voters. You know all the cool kids have already weighed in through The Scene's Best of Nashville.

Way to jump on the bandwagon there Tennessean, 10 years too late.

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Danica 11 months ago 1 point
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Maybe all the Scene writers went over and voted in mass droves....certainly makes their list look better.

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Timothy 11 months ago 1 point
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Ugh, chaoin restaurant food is packaged food shipped in from thousands of miles away. There is less nutrition in it too. I wish more folks were into the whole local food movement, where you buy your produce from places that grow within 100 miles of your home..

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Jim 11 months ago 1 point
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Hey @Dave, thanks for the advice on Nonna's, I've been looking for good Italian.

Hey @Nashvillest, you rock.

But I will admit I am a sucker for Shoney's breakfast. But I'm also from the North.

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herman the german 11 months ago 1 point
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I hate to push this whole thing along down a slippery slope, *but* Nashville Scene writer Carrington Fox would just love to see Wild Ginger, Wildwood, and just about every stand alone place she has reviewed morph into chains growing like kudzu to satisfy her need to see these creative chefs be able to make a ton o' money while spreading their vission of the fine dining experience.

Of course many many moons ago, I betcha even Shoney's was respectable, thus spawning the chain in and of itself.

Stay tuned for the Loveless Cafe and Theme Park! Ride the biscuit roller coaster!

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Nashvillest

All you ever wanted to know about the Music City.