Cafe Monell’s

We decided to try Monell’s because I had a hankering for good olé southern food! Got the chicken and dumplings, green beans, and corn casserole with s side of chocolate cake. Loved that there was a healthy serving of chicken. Green beans was nice and tender, and what’s not to love about corn casserole. But that cake! So moist and delicious! Getting in-​and-​out and parking can be a challenge, but just avoid congested lunch hours.

Yummy! The chicken is oh so good cooked just right moist inside and crisp outside. I had cucumbers & onions very good, and broccoli salad yum! My husband says best cornbread he has ever eaten. Table next to us I hear the lady say now this is how fried chicken is suppose to be!

I wasn’t blown away by Café Monell’s. I expected quite a bit out of this place since all of my friends raved about it. It was good but it’s not anything I crave now that I live out of town. The chicken was good, it wasn’t dry and the mac and cheese was okay. Other than that I can’t even remember what else I had… maybe mashed potatoes? The cornbread was not as exceptional as I wanted it to be. I was expecting a semi-​sweet, moist, delicious piece of cornbread and what I got was cafeteria grade; so disappointing. Overall, I had an all right experience.

Excellent home cooking in a very fast paced and friendly environment. Several awards on the wall proving they’ve earned the praise of the everyday patron to the occasional travelers. Very clean restaurant and to back that up their showing 100% on posted health score. Definitely would recommend stoping by and trying anyone of the Monel’s

Great typical meet and three. I got fried chicken which was awesome. Curve ball, I looked up and Yelawolf walked in sat down and ate right next to our table. Never know who you might run into in Nashville!

The other Monell’s restaurants always have a lot of rigamarole. I was expecting that here, but was very happily proven wrong. They’ve taken a meat and three concept and added the great taste of Monell’s food to the mix.
The parking may be a bit tight, and I’m not entirely sure that you can always get a spot. However in our case we did not have a problem.
The line was not unusually long, but pretty consistent with other meat and three experiences.
I was very happy with my Fried Chicken, and there were plenty of choices overall.
I highly recommend giving it a shot.

Fried chicken here is so good! good portion, good taste! Friendly staff just makes it more enjoyable.
I believe Friday is the Cat-​Fish Day, I usually try to avoid it, since the restaurant gets so busy, and I don’t eat cat fish. lol

Got there just as they opened on Friday so were seated immediately… good call as they filled up quickly. We joined a larger group to complete their table, everyone was friendly! cold food was on the table and hot food started coming out quickly. Everything was very good! Chicken was great… as was the fish (Friday). Vegetables were also great as were the rolls & corn bread! Just a great casual dining experience!!! Will go again when back in Nashville
It is a little noisy… but just from folks enjoying themselves

I love coming to this place. Being raised in Mississippi, I love having a good meat and three to take my family to when they visit. I’ve never been let down on the food here. The fried chicken is gonna taste as good as your grandmother’s did. And some of the best Fried Catfish I’ve had in tennessee.
Give the Broccoli salad a good taste. It’s sweet and crunchy! And I love their corn pudding! I promise you won’t be let down here!

Best meat and 3 I have ever been to. Hands down. Best Mac and cheese as well. Great place to eat. Always fresh, fast and clean. A++++

Really not certain what all the fuss is about.
I like the idea of a classic meat-​and-​three… but aside from the tasty fried chicken, my sides (mac+cheese and mashed potatoes) were sub-​par. The mac+cheese tasted like velveeta and the mashed potatoes were bland. I’m glad to say I went, but am definitely not rushing back. Furthermore, the table we sat at was dirty, despite the fact that the restaurant was slow and mostly empty.
Maybe the other Monell’s locations are better? I might give one of them a try, but honestly, won’t be making any immediate plans to head back to Café Monell’s.

Having heard much about Monell’s, we decided to try it while in the area. Our trip was to Café Monell’s on Bransford near 100 Oaks. They serve skillet fried chicken each week night with two or three other main dishes each night, so check their website to know what they are having. Everything is served cafeteria style, there is no table service.
Both my wife and I chose fried chicken, with green beans and hash brown casserole. The chicken was excellent, very crispy and moist on the inside. The vegetables were very good. We also had pecan pie, which was good, not great.
Overall, very good food at a very reasonable price.

If you need a carb refuel, this is an awesome choice. This location anyway, was no frills. The mac and cheese was solid, the corn side dish (corn casserole?) was amazing and the cornbread was darn good, with actual pieces of corn in it. I really liked the french fries, because they were the steak fries that are big as the length of the potato. Mmmmhmmm. Also had chess pie, which is the best way to get a sugar high, IMHO. Parking lot is a bit of a fluster cluck, though – just sayin’.

Great fast food with southern friendliness. I can see why they are rated so high. I got fried chicken, mac & cheese, and corn bread. Mmmm mmmm good. Fruit tea is delicious too!

If you love southern dishes and comfort food, you won’t want to miss Monell’s. This place is a gem. Food is served family style where all you can eat fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and such are absolutely delicious. The staff if always attentive and friendly. I’ve grown to enjoy the family style seating where you can get to know others at the table. This is out go to place for out of towners who are looking to try something southern.

[Disclosure: Monell’s sponsored our meals during this visit]. The fried chicken was very moist and great aromatics; even for the white meat. The turkey and sauce were good as well. The sides were hit or miss. The corn pudding, green beans, and pineapple casserole were well seasoned and flavorful. The pea and broccoli salad were bland and dressy was too liquidity. The French toast was a little too dense, but was prepared with right flavors. Cornbread was very good. Great service of what you expect from Monell’s.

Monell’s is a Tennessee establishment. We checked out Café Monell’s meat and three (1 meat + 3 vegetables) since we didn’t have time to go to the family style one closer to downtown Nashville. Café Monell’s seems like it is a house that was converted into a restaurant. It felt like I was eating in a family’s sunroom. The food is served cafeteria style, where you walk up to a counter and give your order to a woman in front of heating trays filled with food. The woman behind the counter was very straightforward and fit the cafeteria lady «no funny business» stereotype perfectly.
I went all out and ordered skillet fried chicken (meat), cornbread, mac and cheese (vegetable 1), corn pudding (vegetable 2), and mashed potatoes (vegetable 3). (Interesting how mac and cheese and mashed potatoes are considered vegetables.) For the fried chicken, I got two huge pieces (a chicken breast and wing). The chicken had a semi-​crunchy coating to it. i would have preferred something a little crunchier for fried chicken. The mac and cheese reminded me of Kraft mac and cheese and was extremely cheesy. The mashed potatoes were very light, fluffy, buttery and had hints of chive. The corn bread didn’t have a huge corn flavor but it was very thick and dense.

Friday’s for me are catfish, white beans and cornbread. If that don’t make you love being country. not much will. Lol.

I really liked the original Monell’s so I stopped here with my parents one day while in Nashville visiting my sister.
This is kind of your typical meat-​n-​three set up found throughout the South.
The food was good but it didn’t have much variety. It was dead on a weekday morning, though they serve breakfast. The breakfast casserole was pretty good but the potatoes were not cooked through. The sides were decent as well.
This is a good place, but I think it benefits too much from the Monell’s name and brings down the brand. If you want real Monell’s you have to go to the original location in Germantown.

The only meat and three I know of with a large water feature outside.*
Good solid comfort food in a clean, bright Nothing that blows me away, but a lot better than some others.
The fried catfish, fried chicken and meatloaf will all satisfy cravings for them, and I would assume that would be the case for most of the other entrees as well. Where Monell’s falls into mediocrity is on the sides and desserts. Mac and cheese is bland, corn pudding is bland, mashed potatoes are okay but sort of watery. The green beans, however are flavorful. Desserts are too small for the price and very mediocre.
There are only a few parking spots in the front, but there are more behind the building, across from the Cat Shoppe.
*The water feature is left over from the previous tenant, a plumbing company.