17 Tennessee Restaurants Serving Holiday Plates Just Like The Old Days
In Tennessee, they know how to do holiday meals right.
Across the state, restaurants have been serving up plates that remind us of simpler times when families gathered around tables piled high with roast meats, casseroles, and pies baked from scratch.
These spots don’t just cook food; they recreate memories.
Some have been around for decades, passing down recipes and techniques that taste exactly like what your grandmother used to make.
Others lean into tradition with family-style service, where strangers become friends as they pass bowls of mashed potatoes and cornbread dressing.
Walking into any of these restaurants feels like stepping back in time.
The smells, the sounds, the way the plates arrive overflowing with comfort – it all takes you back to holidays before takeout and microwaves.
You’ll find fried chicken that crackles, greens simmered low and slow, and desserts that could win any church bake-off.
Whether you’re craving a taste of home or just want to see what all the fuss is about, these Tennessee restaurants deliver holiday magic year-round.
1. The Cupboard Restaurant — Memphis
Walk into The Cupboard and it feels like visiting the relative who always hosted Thanksgiving.
Since 1943, this Memphis institution has been dishing out plates loaded with baked meats, casseroles, and what locals swear are some of the best vegetables in town.
Glass cases of pies tempt you from the moment you step in, and the servers move with the easy rhythm of a place that’s been feeding the same families for generations.
You might sit down to a plate of country-fried steak, squash casserole, green beans, and cornbread, then realize you’ve accidentally recreated your grandmother’s holiday plate.
Breakfast is served all day, but it’s the old-fashioned Southern dinners that keep people coming back whenever they’re craving the way the holidays used to taste.
Address: 1400 Union Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
2. The Four Way — Memphis
At The Four Way, the line between Sunday dinner and holiday feast pretty much disappears.
This historic soul-food restaurant in Memphis has been a community anchor for decades, feeding everyone from locals to civil rights leaders.
Step inside and it feels like walking into your favorite aunt’s house after church: no frills, just warmth, chatter, and the smell of something good simmering in the kitchen.
Plates might hold fried chicken or blackened catfish alongside braised collards, candied yams, macaroni, and cornbread – the same kind of spread that shows up on Thanksgiving tables all over the South.
Regulars talk about how the food heals and comforts, and the short hours – just lunch, Wednesday through Sunday – make it feel even more like a cherished family ritual than a typical restaurant.
Address: 998 Mississippi Blvd, Memphis, TN 38126
3. Brooks Shaw’s Old Country Store — Jackson
Brooks Shaw’s Old Country Store in Jackson is the kind of place where you bring the whole family – and usually leave talking about how full you are.
Attached to Casey Jones Village, this restaurant leans into nostalgia with its world-famous Southern-soul food buffet, antique-filled dining room, and the feeling that time slows down as soon as you walk in.
The buffet changes, but think roast meats, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a lineup of casseroles that could easily headline a Christmas potluck.
Add in cobblers and pies that look like they were baked in a church kitchen, and it’s easy to see why regulars use words like legendary and a highlight of Jackson when they talk about meals here.
Holiday or not, it always feels like a special-occasion spread.
Address: 56 Casey Jones Ln, Jackson, TN 38305
4. Loveless Cafe — Nashville
Out on the edge of Nashville, Loveless Cafe glows like a welcome porch light at the end of a long drive.
For more than 70 years, families have made the trek out Highway 100 for biscuits, country ham, and big plates of homestyle sides that taste like the holidays any time of year.
In recent years, Loveless has doubled down on that tradition with full Thanksgiving meal packs and everything but the turkey kits – pan after pan of dressing, casseroles, and pies ready to take home.
Inside the café, the vibe is part roadside diner, part family reunion, with servers weaving through rooms carrying platters of fried chicken, pot roast, and creamed corn.
It’s the kind of place where you can easily imagine three generations sharing the same table, arguing over who gets the last biscuit.
Address: 8400 Highway 100, Nashville, TN 37221
5. Swett’s Restaurant — Nashville
Swett’s is what people picture when they think classic Nashville meat-and-three.
Open since the 1950s, this cafeteria-style spot attracts everyone from students to politicians, all sliding trays down a line that looks like the world’s coziest buffet.
Fried chicken, beef tips, baked chicken, ribs, and pork chops share space with mac and cheese, creamed corn, turnip greens, yams, and cornbread – exactly the kinds of sides that crowd Southern holiday tables.
The dining room is simple and lived-in, described by some as feeling like a church basement after a big community meal.
Swett’s has even demonstrated cornbread dressing recipes on local TV around Thanksgiving, leaning into its role as keeper of how Grandma did it.
If your idea of a holiday plate is meat, three sides, and a slice of pie, this is your place.
Address: 2725 Clifton Ave, Nashville, TN 37209
6. Arnold’s Country Kitchen — Nashville
Arnold’s is the kind of meat-and-three that inspires road trips – and, in this case, a James Beard American Classics Award.
The red-brick building near downtown Nashville houses a cafeteria line where locals queue for roast beef, fried chicken, country-fried steak, and a rotating cast of sides like greens, black-eyed peas, and cornbread.
Around Thanksgiving, Arnold’s rolls out special holiday to-go menus with sugar-cured ham, turkey, casseroles, and pies, helping Nashvillians recreate a full Southern spread without turning on the oven.
The family has weathered closures, reopenings, and now a planned second location, but the heart of the place hasn’t changed: scratch-made food that really does taste like a relative has been cooking all morning.
One plate of meat, dressing, and banana pudding, and you’ll understand why people talk about Arnold’s in the same breath as home.
Address: 605 8th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203
7. Monell’s Dining & Catering — Nashville (Germantown)
At Monell’s in Germantown, there’s no menu to agonize over – just a long communal table and a steady parade of dishes that feel like a holiday potluck curated by someone’s Southern grandmother.
Bowls of fried chicken, cornbread dressing, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, salads, and desserts make lap after lap around the table while strangers pass rolls like cousins at a reunion.
On Thanksgiving Day, Monell’s serves a special holiday menu and stays first-come, first-served, often with lines forming down the sidewalk.
They also offer catered Thanksgiving meals to go, so locals can take home the whole spread without lifting more than a fork.
Between the historic house, the clatter of dishes, and the chorus of can you pass the, it’s one of Nashville’s most reliable ways to experience old-fashioned holiday abundance.
Address: 1235 6th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37208
8. Puckett’s Restaurant — Franklin
On Franklin’s charming Main Street, Puckett’s feels like a mash-up of country store, music venue, and holiday dining room.
Wooden tables fill with meats and three plates – pulled pork, smoked turkey, fried chicken, or brisket with mac and cheese, collards, and sweet potatoes – while live music drifts from the stage on many nights.
Around Thanksgiving, Puckett’s leans hard into the season with all-you-can-eat holiday meals at its locations and a popular to-go program featuring smoked or fried turkeys, spiral hams, classic sides, and pies.
The feeling is the same no matter how you order: rustic, relaxed, and deeply Southern.
It’s the kind of place where you can picture a holiday plate balanced with turkey, dressing, and a little bit of barbecue sneaking in on the side.
Address: 120 4th Ave S, Franklin, TN 37064
9. Miller’s Grocery — Christiana
In tiny Christiana, Miller’s Grocery looks like an old country store because it was one – now converted into a restaurant that feels tailor-made for nostalgic holiday cravings.
Inside the creaky wooden building, locals tuck into plates of fried chicken, meatloaf, and vegetables, or time their visit for one of the restaurant’s extended Thanksgiving lunches.
Miller’s has become known for its Thanksgiving family meals and turkey packages: smoked turkey, dressing, gravy, casseroles, cranberry sauce, and pies boxed up for pickup so families can take the feast home.
Online ordering pages list quarts of broccoli casserole, sweet potatoes, green beans, and fruit tea by the gallon, basically a full Southern holiday menu ready to heat and serve.
Sit at one of the mismatched tables, listen to the screen door bang, and it feels wonderfully stuck in the best parts of the past.
Address: 7011 Main St, Christiana, TN 37037
10. Brumley’s Restaurant — Greeneville
Brumley’s, tucked inside the historic General Morgan Inn in downtown Greeneville, is where holiday dinner puts on its Sunday best.
The dining rooms – each with their own character – set the stage for Modern Appalachian cuisine built around seasonal ingredients.
The menu changes, but you’re likely to find roasted meats, rich sauces, and sides that nod toward mountain comfort: think mashed potatoes, local vegetables, and bread baskets that disappear quickly.
It’s a favorite spot for special-occasion meals, and around the holidays, families book tables to avoid cooking but still get that tradition-heavy feeling.
White tablecloths, flickering candles, and servers who remember your dessert preference make it feel like an elevated version of the big family dinners you grew up with – just with someone else washing all the dishes afterward.
Address: 111 N Main St, Greeneville, TN 37743
11. The Farmer’s Daughter — Chuckey
The Farmer’s Daughter sits along a country highway in East Tennessee, but the real journey happens once you’re seated and the platters start arriving.
This family-style restaurant is famous for serving meals the way Grandma did it: two meats, more sides than you can count, and baskets of biscuits and cornbread that appear like magic.
Fried chicken, country ham, seasonal vegetables, and fruit cobblers are common headliners, and the cozy grandma’s kitchen vibe has been noted by reviewers again and again.
You don’t order individual plates; instead, the table shares everything, passing bowls back and forth just like a holiday gathering.
Cash-only and decidedly old-school, it’s the kind of place where people drive an hour or more to sit down to a meal that feels like Thanksgiving and Sunday supper rolled into one.
Address: 7700 Erwin Hwy, Chuckey, TN 37641
12. The Old Mill Restaurant — Pigeon Forge
The Old Mill Restaurant sits beside a working gristmill on the Little Pigeon River, and everything about it feels storybook-ready for the holidays.
Guests climb the stairs into a big, wood-beamed dining room where servers carry trays loaded with chicken-and-dumplings, pot roast, country-fried steak, and plates anchored by mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn fritters.
The mill still grinds grains used in the recipes, adding to the sense that you’re eating somewhere with real history.
Visitors talk about stopping here every trip to the Smokies, often timing it for cold-weather visits when the fireplace and twinkling lights in Old Mill Square make the whole area feel like a Christmas village.
If your ideal holiday plate involves comforting gravies, slow-cooked meats, and scratch-made sides, this riverside landmark more than delivers.
Address: 164 Old Mill Ave, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
13. Mama’s Farmhouse — Pigeon Forge
At Mama’s Farmhouse, you don’t order – you just sit down and let Mama decide what’s for dinner.
This family-style, all-you-can-eat spot in Pigeon Forge serves rotating menus built around Johnson family recipes: fried chicken, chicken-fried steak, turkey with stuffing, casseroles, vegetables, biscuits, and cobblers that hit the table in big bowls.
Staff bring out a bit of everything, then keep refilling whatever the table demolishes first.
The whole concept is built around recreating those big, multi-dish meals families once shared nightly – and now mostly see at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Add in the homey décor and that constant clatter of dishes and laughter, and you get an experience that feels less like going out to eat and more like being invited to someone’s Smoky Mountain holiday table, complete with loosened belts and promises to never eat again.
Address: 208 Pickel St, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
14. Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen — Pigeon Forge
Perched above the Island in Pigeon Forge, Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen is basically engineered for holiday plate enthusiasts.
Guests choose combinations of classic Deen family recipes – think fried chicken, pot roast, glazed ham, creamy casseroles, and a spread of sides like creamed corn, collards, and mashed potatoes – then everything arrives family-style with endless refills.
Dessert, of course, is included, just like at a real family gathering, where saying no to pie is considered rude.
The brand has shifted its focus toward these Family Kitchen locations, and the Pigeon Forge spot leans into that mission with big dining rooms, Smoky Mountain views, and menus that read like a Thanksgiving wish list.
If your idea of the holidays includes groaning tables and someone insisting you just try a bite of three different desserts, this place will feel very familiar.
Address: 131 The Island Dr, Suite 8101, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
15. Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant — Sevierville
Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant, Sevierville’s oldest restaurant, sits in a white farmhouse wrapped in porches and rocking chairs.
Every meal starts with warm apple fritters, apple butter, and a chilled Applewood Julep, setting the tone for the kind of comfort you’d expect at a family holiday gathering.
The menu leans hard into Southern classics: country ham, fried chicken, meatloaf, chicken and dumplings, vegetable soup, and cobblers that taste like they came straight out of a church cookbook.
Seasonal flyers and local write-ups highlight their role in Smokies holiday traditions, with many families making it an annual stop.
The combination of history, generous portions, and that grandma’s kitchen atmosphere turns even a random Tuesday into something that feels a lot like Thanksgiving Eve, right down to the debate over whether you can squeeze in another bite of dessert.
Address: 240 Apple Valley Rd, Sevierville, TN 37862
16. Five Oaks Farm Kitchen — Sevierville
Five Oaks Farm Kitchen was built to honor a real Sevierville farm known for its hospitality, and the restaurant leans fully into that legacy. Inside, high ceilings and farm-inspired décor frame tables piled with portions so big they’re practically holiday platters by default.
This place is famous for hearty Southern breakfasts – thick griddle cakes, biscuits and gravy, chicken and waffles – but lunch and supper bring out roast meats, fried chicken, and rib-sticking sides that taste like something a relative spent all afternoon preparing.
Stories about the original Five Oaks farm emphasize laughter, love, and down-home cooking; the menu here deliberately channels that memory.
Many guests leave with leftovers, much like the containers handed out after a big family gathering, making it an ideal stop when you want that we definitely overdid it holiday feeling.
Address: 1638 Parkway, Sevierville, TN 37862
17. The Greenbrier Restaurant — Gatlinburg
Tucked up a winding road in the woods above Gatlinburg, The Greenbrier feels like the mountain lodge you’d choose for a special holiday dinner.
The historic building now houses a chef-driven steakhouse, with a menu built around hand-cut steaks, game, and seasonal sides that elevate familiar comfort food into something celebration-worthy.
Winter brings out its best side: trees bare around the property, lights glowing warmly from the windows, and guests lingering over meals while rich entrées and shareable sides arrive at the table.
It’s more refined than a casual meat-and-three, but the spirit is similar – abundance, care, and dishes built to be savored slowly.
It’s easy to imagine gathering here in December, watching the woods grow dark outside while you work your way through a meal that feels like a grown-up version of the holidays you remember.
Address: 370 Newman Rd, Gatlinburg, TN 37738