A Note on The Rudder

The Rudder was one of the restaurants I was the most eager to visit for the Lakeside Chowdown. I recently went there in hopes of writing an entry, but it seemed as though everything went wrong. It took too long to get seated, and when I did get a seat, it took way too long for my food to arrive. It turns out the staff was one person short and the kitchen was running out of food.

Everyone has off days. I decided that, rather than write a review of the event, I would hold off and save an entry for The Rudder for another day. I really like The Rudder- when the food arrived, it was delicious- so I’m looking forward to going back and writing a proper review sometime in the future.

Café Rakka

A sight for sore eyes on the gloomy, rainy day I went here.

For a while, mediterranean food was one of my least favorite kinds of cuisine. I think this had to do with the use of cucumber, which I personally can’t stand the taste of. Long ago, however, Café Rakka opened my eyes to the world of good mediterranean food.

Café Rakka has earned multiple “Best Restaurant in Sumner County” awards, but I haven’t been there in what feels like years. Is it still as good as I remember? Is it still worthy of those awards today?

You know what? I’m going to answer that right now. Yes. Yes, it is.

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The Lakeside Chowdown Podcast #1

The hot wings at Jumbo & Delicious. How are they? You’ll have to tune in to find out. Or just try them for yourself.

Time for something new: the Lakeside Chowdown Podcast.

In the first segment, I’ll be going over the history of what was one of my favorite local restaurants, Barefoot Charlie’s, and what ultimately led to its demise.

After that is a segment I call “Lakeside Showdown Leftovers”, where I go back to a restaurant previously featured here and try something else they’re known for. This time, I went to The New Jumbo & Delicious, which I featured in the very first entry, and gave their hot wings a try (which you can see in the picture above).

Go ahead and give it a listen!

Safari’s

Simple, yet stylish. A good restaurant starts with a good sign.

For Safari’s, I had to do a bit of homework. I was unsure whether or not the restaurant was actually a chain, which I avoid on the Lakeside Chowdown. However, I discovered Safari’s was once a local restaurant in the Rivergate area, which closed its doors around 2004 or 2005. Just a year or two ago, it reopened in the building where Tilted Kilt used to be (which also used to be an Applebee’s). With that made clear, I knew I would have to feature it here.

At the risk of saying something I’m 99% sure someone else has already said, it’s time to put on my pith helmet and get this dining expedition underway.

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Old Hickory Steakhouse

A view of the Old Hickory Steakhouse… from the hotel room balcony.

You’re in for a treat today. Over the weekend, I stayed at the Gaylord Opryland hotel and managed to get into the Old Hickory Steakhouse for dinner. The resort has a number of unique independent restaurants, all of them listed in a pamphlet detailing their hours and approximate price range, indicated by a number of dollar signs. Not only is the Old Hickory Steakhouse the restaurant with the most dollar signs, but it’s also the only restaurant listed with three dollar signs.

Suffice to say, this is the most expensive restaurant I will review for this blog.

I want to make it clear that this is where I ate.

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Myers’ Front Porch

The whole restaurant is the front porch!

The history of the Myers’ Front Porch building goes as such: Twenty years ago, when I moved here, there was a restaurant called Pizza Inn. It was a ghastly nightmare of a restaurant that I only remember by secondhand accounts of the worst pizza possibly ever. Then it was torn down, and a new White Castle went up. Then White Castle closed down and was replaced with a frozen yogurt place. But alas, the frozen yogurt place also closed down, and now we have Myers’ Front Porch. I genuinely miss that frozen yogurt place. But can Myers’ Front Porch hope to fill that frozen yogurt-shaped void in my heart?

Well, maybe not the frozen yogurt-shaped part, but I’m pretty sure this place filled a void in my heart I don’t even think I knew it had.

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Southern Juice & Beverage Co.

Established about four years ago? That feels like yesterday.

Southern Juice & Beverage Co. is a little place tucked away in the heart of Gallatin. In fact, it’s so tucked away I couldn’t tell you where it is. I’ve been here once before after reading about it in the local newspaper, and all I remembered of it was that the place was exactly what I imagine when I think of local food. When I started the Lakeside Chowdown I definitely had this place on my mind.

So let’s see what it’s like, shall we?

Soup on a cold day? I’ll take a bowl.

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Sax Deli and Grill

The Comic Sans can be a turn-off, but don’t let that scare you off.

Sax Deli and Grill (which I will probably almost always refer to as just Sax Deli) is in the same building as the Hendersonville Performing Arts Center (or HPAC, formerly Steepleplayers). Like with Jumbo & Delicious’ new location, it’s changed hands quite a few times. First it was a burrito place, then it was a Greek restaurant, then it was “Nooni’s Bistro”. In fact, if you look at the Sax Deli sign in the right light, you can still see the sign for the last place, which is the only reason why I remember it to begin with. I seem to recall Sax Deli being here the longest, so they’re clearly doing something right.

So let’s tune in and hear the melody that Sax Deli plays.

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The New Jumbo & Delicious

When I first started the Lakeside Chowdown, I knew exactly where I wanted to go first: Jumbo & Delicious, a little burger place down on Walton Ferry Road. I’ve only eaten there twice, both rare occasions, and both before the restaurant moved to its new location.

What’s interesting is that this exact suite used to house a restaurant called El Puente, one of my family’s favorite Mexican restaurants when I was a kid. I remember eating there many times over the years… and I remember discovering when the suite was up for lease. Then it became a place called “2 Country Home Cookin”, which I do not recall lasting particularly long. The suite changed hands quite a bit since then, but I’ll skip the details because I’m only here to tell you about its most recent tenant.

Suffice to say, it’s been many years since I’ve walked into this building. Now that one of the Hendersonville’s favorite burger places has moved in, now calling itself “The New” Jumbo & Delicious, I thought now would be as good a time as any to see what’s cooking here now.

I’m sold.

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