Nashville Restaurants

Starting small sounds like a negative and yet in the restaurant business a concise, well-considered menu is a great idea for start-ups. It means the restaurant is focused on quality and the kitchen has time to craft a few really good dishes, and not a bazillion mediocre ones. With that in mind we welcome Luna as one of the newest thoughtful eateries in town.

Step inside the tiny and colorful dining room and you’ll see right away that the owners and staff like to have fun. Luna can be a loud and boisterous place, even when relatively empty and when it fills up…watch out. There’s a joie de vivre here that can be a bit overwhelming at first until you join in with a grin and relax. You won’t find more than a few tables and chairs. Much of the business is take-out.
They bill themselves as a gourmet meat and three. The daily menu, which revolves according to the whims of the kitchen, actually spans much more than standard meat and three, ranging from Italian one day, to Cajun the next. The common theme is comfort food. They offer just three to five entrée items and a few sides each day. Sometimes they’ll whip up a new batch during service, but quite often when they’re out- that’s it. That can limit options quite a bit towards the end of the daily lunch service. Take a look at the serving line to see what’s available and the staff will lovingly describe each dish. It’s clear they don’t just serve the stuff, as everyone chimes in with their favorite.

One day brings roast beef with mushrooms. It’s quite good, if perhaps a bit meager in portion. The so-called Denise’s Ghetto Green Beans are a stand-out side with what appears to be hot sauce and bacon. On this day I get a heavily salted patch. It’s awesome anyway. Creamed corn hits the spot and bread and butter are welcome for mopping up the rest of that roast beef juices. Desert is gone by the time I ask. The dream pie is already a customer favorite.

They call the pan-fried chicken Yankee Fried Chicken and the delicate fry and pleasant seasoning make it a sure-fire success. It’s one menu item that seems to reappear on a regular basis. Corn pudding has whole kernels. Baked beans prove to be some of the better in town with chunks of bacon, onion and peppers