Lovin’ from the oven

The delicious biscuits and preserves served at Loveless Café are almost as well known as the country music singers Nashville is famous for. It’s more than a restaurant; it’s a place both tourists and natives have been going for six decades.

In 1951, the Loveless Café and Motel began as a pit stop for hungry travelers when Lon and Annie Loveless opened their home on Highway 100 to serve fried chicken and biscuits. It wasn’t long before the Loveless home became a restaurant and the menu was expanded, offering country ham prepared on the property. Since then, the café has changed hands several times, but the recipe for the famous biscuits and preserves remains untouched – and a secret, although they do say that Purity milk and Martha White flour are essential for the biscuits.

Regardless of the modernizations, renovations and general changes Loveless Café has weathered, walking into the eatery still feels like entering a cozy home. Mismatched chairs and tables tucked away on the small front porch immediately let diners know that this experience won’t be fancy – but it will be authentic. After stepping through the front door, diners are greeted by beat-up hardwood floors, autographed photos of country music stars and a smiling face that asks, “How many?”

Beyond the entryway, the restaurant includes several dining rooms, each offering bright walls decorated with paintings available for purchase, tables with checkered cloths and the pleasant sound of laughter and conversation. Waitresses move swiftly about the bustling restaurant, dressed casually in jeans and t-shirts with the question, “Got biscuits?” printed on them. The fluffy, famous treats and a variety of preserves – blackberry, strawberry and peach – are immediately served when diners are seated.

Then comes a difficult task: to choose from the mouth-watering menu, which offers breakfast all day every day and supper beginning at 11 a.m., even though it might be lunch in the city. The breakfast portion of the menu includes some predictable options, such as omelets, bacon and sausage, but also offers more specifically southern eats, like pit-cooked barbecued pork, country ham and red-eye gravy.

Those hungry for supper have an equally perplexing challenge, as they must make a choice among fried chicken, pork chops, meat loaf, catfish and more. In addition, supper-eaters have to select two side dishes to accompany the meat of choice, and with choices of macaroni and cheese, fried okra and mashed potatoes – just to name a few – the decision is even more taxing.

After making final selections on eats, diners are free to let their eyes and minds wander, observing the atmosphere of the restaurant. Folks of all ages are enjoying meals, including a pair of elderly men in the corner, a trio of college-aged girls chatting nearby and a large party composed of a family, with a young boy celebrating a birthday, contemplating dessert after their waitress asks, “Y’all want pie?”

However, finding room for dessert at the Loveless Café is another trick to the dining experience. After multiple biscuits slathered in preserves – because no one can eat just one – and a meal so large one wonders if the cooks even consider the idea of appropriate portion sizes, one more bite of food might prove to be impossible. The options are tempting, though, and include a variety of pies and cobblers, in addition to banana pudding and homemade vanilla ice cream.

While some customers are eager to eat and run, others take full advantage of the Loveless experience and wander into the shops next to the restaurant, which used to serve as the rooms of a ‘40s style roadside motel. The Loveless Motel Shops are locally owned, offering merchandise such as paintings, gadgets and handmade pottery. In addition, the Hams & Jams Country Market is open to the public, and customers can purchase the ever-popular preserves, as well as other Loveless food and gift items.

It’s true that the idea of tasty biscuits and home cooking may originally lure first-time-folks to the Loveless Café, but the warm, inviting atmosphere keeps them coming back, enticing city slickers to leave the bright lights of downtown Nashville and enjoy a more rural experience. The pull of the eatery stems from more than the promise of grandma’s cooking; it’s the comforting aromas, the friendly faces and the reminder of simpler times.