West End Ave restaurants

oh there's a really good Italian place across the street. crap. maybe someone will remember? It's so good, and for someplace nice it's surprisingly family friendly

I love Calypso. We're getting one on my side of town pretty soon. There is a salad with their rotisseried chicken and mandarin oranges--yum.

You could have your girl go to Rotiers. That place is basic Nashville. Around since god. It is narrow, dark, and pannelled in pine that is smoked dark from years of cigarettes and hamburgers. They do a great cheeseburger--crusty bun. Cold beer. Good milk shakes, too, if I remember correctly. Dark booths--either red or green leather, red, I think.

Too bad the Soda Shop is a little too far. It is a bit more down Elliston Place.

Nola's--that's a cute little half-New Orleans, half_Uruguayan place in old the strip just across and down a bit from Tin Angel. Jazz-flavored decor, bright yellow walls.

Hog Heaven--would be a totally off-the-wall idea. Behind the Mcdonald's that's being remodeled from the ground up, there is a little building next to Springwater, the bar. It 's a pretty good barbeque joint. There are a couple of tables out front, but it is mostly takeout. You could have her get a sandwich and walk over to the park, which is a couple of steps across the road. A low stone wall. If it's in the summer, a very nice shady place.

WOODLANDS INDIAN VEGETARIAN CUISINE is down toward I440 from TA. They have a buffet for lunch. There aren't many vegetarian restaurants in town. This one is a winner on all counts. It is just a little bit expensive, but the ingredients are fresh. No decor to speak of.

If you get hard up, you can look up restaurant reviews in the Scene. Sometimes you can get an idea of the atmosphere from them.

As luck would have it, Jane's friend Grace just orderd the salad with the oranges that you described. lol! I don't eat half the stuff on their menu, but it sounds good.

It's really sad that I've not heard of most of these places.
I've certainly never been to them.

Nola's is friggin expensive, too.
I think she might go for dinner with the professor there, though.

Thanks for the ideas I've gotten so far...

Please keep them coming..

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And, for your reading pleasure:
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From Callipso:

“Well, you don’t know what you’re missing. I for one vote for an appetizer with the Black Bean Nachos. Sound good?”
“Lets see.” Jane scanned the menu, quickly finding the listing. “Loaded black bean nachos; tortilla chips smothered – not just topped but absolutely smothered – with bean dip, cheese, tomatoes, jalapenos, sour cream, and your choice of chicken, beef or rice.” She paused for a minute. “Okay, I’m already drooling. I love the prices here, too. I mean, all of that and it’s under seven bucks. Why in the world haven’t I eaten in here before?”
“Because you’re crazy?” Grace asked. “I vote for beef. I don’t know why, but I always chose beef if it’s on nachos.”
“Loaded Black Bean Nachos, dear. Beef’s fine with me. I was looking at Chicken for my entrée. They’re certainly good at it here. And look at how good this stuff sounds. Their Jamaican Curried sauce has apples, onions and spices, plus I get two side dishes.”
“I was looking at the Island Burger. I’ve never had beef cooked on a rotisserie before, but I bet it’s good. My mouth’s watering just reading about Caribbean seasonings and juicy perfection.” Jane actually had to lick her lips at this. “Have you ever had the Martinique Callaloo?”
“That’s the seasoned Mustard Greens isn’t it?” asked Grace. “I’ve had it before. They’re interesting, but really good. I think I’m going for a salad today, though. Their Lucayan salad is to die for, with it’s marinated chicken breast, mandarin oranges, toasted almonds. Plus, they make all their salad dressings here specifically for their salads.”
“I almost feel out of place being the only person not getting chicken.”
“Don’t worry about it, Jane. If that’s all you’ve had here before, it’s fine time that you tried something else.”
“The salads do sound good. Maybe instead of my chips I’ll see if they can substitute a side salad. If their house vinaigrette is famous like it says here, it must be good, right?”
Their waitress finally appeared. “Hey, Grace!” She put three glasses of water down on the table in front of them. “Sorry it took so long. We’re really busy today!”
“It’s okay. We spent our time drooling on your menus.”
“Ready to order?”
“Of course we are.” Grace spoke up, hardly pausing to take a breath. “I’ll take the Lucayan Salad, and I’d also like a side of Boija Muffins. Lilly wants the quarter side of chicken, white meat, with the Jamaican curried sauce, spiced sweet potatoes and the bean and corn salad. Jane is going to have the Island burger, with cheese, on a pita, and a side of the St. Lucian Rice. Can you substitute the small house salad instead of the chips? And then we want the Loaded Black Bean Nachos with beef as an appetizer, with extra beef. And we’ll have three fruit teas for drinks. Thanks.”
“Um, Can I get my burger on a bun instead of a pita?” Seriously, there was but one thing a burger was supposed to be on and that was a bun.

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and, in case you're not hungry enough.... from the Tin Angel...

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The two were quickly seated, led past the freestanding fireplace, exposed bricks and long sleek bar to a table for four in a corner. Beside them, brick poked out from a crumbling plaster façade, an authentic tin ceiling over their heads completing the old feeling. Scott opened the wine list and had a look. “Anything in particular, or should I just pick one?”
“You pick better than I do at a place like this.”
“A place like this?” He chuckled.
“Oh come on. You know my taste in wine. If I can’t buy it for ten bucks or less, I don’t buy it. Period.”
“So they don’t carry Little Penguin. I’ll order the wine.”
“I’m starving. Want to split an appetizer?”
“They have fried green tomatoes.”
“Um, no? Actually, they’re okay, but not exactly my idea of something I want to eat a whole plate of.” She watched as his face fell slightly. “You can get those, too. I’ll have a piece. But seriously, a piece. Let’s see.” She studied the menu again. “Salad would probably be out, yes? And there is absolutely positively no way in hell we’re getting calamari and mussels.”
Scott laughed heartily. “I absolutely promise we will never get calamari. Anywhere. Let’s see... lamb meatballs? Flatbread pizza? I’m not in the mood for carrots, really, you want to split a pizza?”
Jane agreed as the waitress approached their table. “Hey, guys, what can I get you tonight?”
Scott ordered for them, getting flatbread pizza, fried green tomatoes, and a bottle of Chenin Blanc from a winery in South Africa, before waving the waitress away and turning back to the menu. “The menu changes here so much, I never know what I want. I had the Chicken Schnitzel last time, right?”
“Um, something like it, I think. The apple chutney on the Cha-Cha Chicken sounds good, but I think I’m leaning towards the Angel Louie. The menu looks so good I can’t chose.”
“Well, chose for me. Inside Out Eggplant Parmigiana, or the Berry Nice Pork Chops?”
“Tell me what a lingonberry is, first.”
“Yeah, I can’t say I’ve ever had one. Okay. Eggplant it is.”
With that settled, conversation fizzled very quickly.

Fun.

btw there is a big diff between Nola's (N) which is casual, and Zola (Z) in the same area, on the classy side. That is the place somebody takes you if you are really lucky.

You're right, and I was thinking of Zola... (The expensive one)
I told you that I didn't know anything about the restaurants down there. I've been to Boscoe's once and that was it.
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ML for the Nashville, TN region, but here for everyone!
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Ok, I'm sitting here trying to figure out what a shrimp mole is because it's in one of the entrees at Zola.... and searching for it opens up porn sites.. Good thing I'm doing this ON CAMPUS in CLASS right now. *hides under desk*

This is getting frustrating.

That's a hoot. Of course, food is sexy. And chocolate, very sexy. Spicy mexican chocolate sauce on naked crustaceans. I'll be darned, it is porn.

Maggiano's is right across the street from Tin Angel and is filled with all sorts of deliciousness.
Could she walk as far as Hillsboro Village? I mean, there you've got Jackson's and Fido and Bosco's and Provence and it's like a little piece of heaven all within a couple of blocks. It's only about half a mile down... oh what is that road right there, is it Woodmont? Not far from West End at all.

If you Google any of the restaurants you'll find some sites that provide normal-people critiques as well as the website for the restaurants. Usually they have actual menus listed: You can always call to get a better description of a particular dish (be nice and call during off-hours). The comment sections are really useful for writing as they're full of real stuff rather than hype, things like "I don't know why they hired a waiter who's missing a finger; all through lunch I searched my chili to see if I could find it for him." (I made that up---not on a site that I know of)
I used to make a really good living fact-checking for top magazines. You can get whatever information you need without leaving your computer and phone.
Good luck with the restaurants. BTW, Stony River is just down the street, but pricey. There's a Japanese restaurant, Bricktops, I forget which fast-food place, and I think a Rum Bar, though that may have closed already. Those are immediate, and she'd be more likely to walk across Blakemore than across West End to get to Maggione's....just due to traffic patterns over on that corner. If she'd go to Maggione's she'd probably also go to Outback, which is in that same area.

---Batya

I thiought you had to be kidding about the porn - but nope, right after on recipe from the food network, there were half a dozen food sites? How do they pick out those search items? How many people are into Mole sauce and porn? Don't answer that!

Also, it may be too far, but there's Samurai on Elliston, right across the street from Exit/In; I've never eaten at any of the other restaurants right there, but Samurai's sushi is fabulous!
And Cafe Coco...

I wish I *had* eaten at some of them.
This is getting bad. I mean really really bad.
On a good day, I can knock out the day's tally in about an hour to two hours.
Today, I've been at the comp for three hours and have done about 478 words.
ARGH...

No wonder i'm 15k behind!