Monell’s Dining & Catering

Came before 11am on a Thursday and the place was pretty much empty. The wait staff were very pleasant and lively. The food started to come shortly and it is over whelming. The fried chicken was the best among all the dishes served. I would recommend this place for people visiting Nashville. Got to meet very nice people as well.

Really liked this place — it was like sitting in your grandparents house with a bunch of family you don’t know! Food was all incredible.
**Note for management — we were very disappointed to hear that all the food from our table that wasn’t eaten was to be thrown away — we couldn’t take any and it wasn’t going to feed those in need. There was enough left over to feed at least 2 families. Disappointing.

My fiancé and I were on vacation in Nashville. We decided to give Monell’s a try because it was highly recommended by a colleague at work.
This is one of the best places I’ve ever been to! I enjoyed the family style dinner very much. The meatloaf was hands down the best I’ve ever had. Corn pudding was so good. Fried chicken was awesome. Corn muffins with peach chutney so yummy. Banana pudding was the dessert for the night and it was so delicious! If you are in Nashville, Monell’s is a absolute must try!

Do u wanna talk about Real SOUTHERN FOOD? This is the real deal.
My family and i traveled from Michigan to eat here and took us in like we were family. Incredible Southern atmosphere along with the hospitality.
Now the food is everything and awesomeness. Probably the best food i ever ate. The greens and corn pudding were delicious. The fried chicken, PERFECT. they would pass around 10 bowls of unbelievable deliciousness. So much variety. I can keep going on and on but u will have to go there yourself to experience a once in a lifetime kinda southern hospitality. ENJOY
Oh and the sweet tea, OMG

A great place to meet some new friends and enjoy homestyle cooking. The food was good and the service was friendly. The family style dining makes you meet new people as you pass bowls and plates to the left.

Monell’s is an absolute Nashville favorite. Look at all these five-​star reviews, they aren’t lying!
There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t been said. The food is delicious and it truly is a southern experience that everyone from any walk of life can truly appreciate. Make sure you keep your phone on silent and in your pocket, they are serious about it! Every time I come to Monell’s I’ve made great conversation with the people I sit with and have had an overall great experience.
You won’t be disappointed! You got to go!

YOU GOTTA GO!!!
Came here on my visit to Nashville for breakfast. All you can eat, family style. It was just me and 1 other person but we sat at a table with a bunch of other people. It felt like I was in a dining room with a couple of other tables and I really liked the friendly environment they created.
There was about an hour wait, but we knew before we came. They have a cute patio where you can wait.
I’m coming from SF so maybe I’m biased by $ 16 for all you can eat is an amazing deal! Breakfast was eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, fried chicken, biscuits, etc.
You should definitely check it out if you haven’t been there.

Friendly, fun, fantastic food. You’ll feel like family and leave way too full. Southern food at its best.
I love the cornbread pudding, greens and sweet potatoes. Make sure to use the vinegar sauce with your chicken and potatoes. I just wish the leftovers were repurposed or given to the needy.

Heard so many good things about Monells prior to my Nashville trip so naturally it was in my top places to check out with the family. I love the concept: put down your cell phones, share some great food, and make some new dining friends. I felt like I was seated at a friend’s house for dinner having some soul-​warming southern home cooking. On the menu this evening was fried catfish, meatloaf, pulled pork, fried chicken, mac n cheese, corn soufflé, biscuits and gravy… Need I go on? For dessert banana pudding with bits of vanilla cookies in it. All for $ 20. Price is great and the restaurant is so charming in the middle of Germantown. I knock a star down because everything was über salty but it is this style of cooking. Definitely a must check if you are in town.

Yaas! So glad we followed the reviews and came here! I feel like we one-​uped anyone who visited Nashville and didn’t find Monell’s.
We love family style dining anyway, trying a bit of everything, and this was fun with strangers that felt like friends. My husband about put himself into diabetic shock from the delicious homemade peach preserves. All the southern staples were delicious, I’ve never had such good food. We went home stuffed and happy.
Do yourself a favor and go to Monell’s when you stop in Nashville, it’ll be your new tradition.

For my 200^th review, I figure it would be apropos to share my experience at Monell’s which is located a stone’s throw away from Nashville’s BICENTENNIAL Capitol State Mall Park. Believe me when I say after one eats here, you will definitely need a place to walk off them calories.
Located within a Victorian style mansion with an outdoor garden and koi pond, one feels like they received an exclusive invite to a Nashvillian socialite’s fancy Southern thanksgiving smörgåsbord as you and any additional guests are seated at a communal table for 10 so if you’re coming alone, you have 9 other guests with whom you get to know fairly well in the course of passing a wide array of Southern classic foodfare in a clockwise fashion until you turn in your ticket where it fittingly states «I’ve eaten and I can’t get up!»
I came in for the lunch option on a weekday since I was drawn to the daily special of chicken and dumplins’, a personal favorite of mine growing up in the South. The meal proceeded with the following progression:
Starters: Fresh biscuits and cornbread squares– the biscuits definitely are the standout as they are hot, flaky, and punctuated with delicious sawmill gravy or house-​made peach preserves whereas the corn bread is decent but nothing to write home about
Beverages– options include both the traditional Southern sweetened brew (always brewed with the sugar so that it has some time to caramelize with the tea), the unsweetened option, and lemonade. Feel free to titrate sweetness to your liking or go wild with some Arnold Palmer action.
The «Salad Courses” — perhaps the least unhealthy portion, try not to waste too much room in your stomach since there are much more exciting options to follow. Our meal consisted of cole slaw and broccoli salad with pecans and raisins, but other options may pop up include a pea or macaroni salad, all with the collective theme of a mayonaise-​based dressing.
The «Warmup Round” — corn pudding, squash casserole, green beans, baked beans; hearty sides that really hit that comfort zone of overcooked veggies done right to absorb the flavors from the cooking liquid
The «Contenders” — a murderer’s row of stick-​to-​your-​ribs comfort foods including meatloaf, slow-​cooked pork shoulder, the aforementioned chicken-​dumplings, along with sidekicks of creamy mac and cheese and buttery mashed potatoes; brace yourself and loosen your belt, this is why you skipped your previous meal in order to make room for the heavy-​hitters. Meatloaf is as juicy as it could possibly be with the perfect accent of ketchup to bind all the flavors together, the pork shoulder is fork tender breaking off like fresh fallen snow with each successive bite titivated by the decadent mac and cheese/​mashed potatoes. As for my beloved chicken and dumplins’, I have to say it was a slight letdown for me since I was hoping the dumplins would be the hand rolled squares of dough dropped into the boiling cauldron of chicken stock rather than pieces of biscuits that is the lazy-man’s version since I’ve already had the biscuits earlier and the best part of that dish is the mother-​f-​ing dumplings since they have that al dente/​qq quality that everyone loves in a solid Italian gnocchi or Korean dukbokki (team chewy prevails over team fluffy in terms of my personal preference).
«Crunchtime” — Just when you think you’ve reached your limit, that’s when they bring out the piece (s) de resistance, classic Southern fried chicken. Succulent meat that has been seasoned/​brined in buttermilk, perfectly crisped skin, and some closely guarded secret mixture of herbs/​spices bastardized by a neighboring colonel, the real McCoy resides here rather than Kentucky. I think every diner reaches that epiphany where they regret having eaten everything before since there’s only so much room left in the belly for the amazing fried chicken.
«Overtime” — The desserts usually consist of banana pudding or a slice of chocolate fudge/​chess/​pecan pie. Fairly traditional, but clearly outmatched by the previous dishes. Don’t feel bad if you can’t get in a bite, since if you get a second wind upon departure, The Cupcake Collection a few doors down is the perfect sweet epilogue with their array of sweets.
Monell’s is definitely a Music City must-​do and quintessential Nashville experience since it hits all the high notes of Southern hospitality– warm, sweet, welcoming, decadent, charming, communal, gracious, traditional, satiated… done and done.
The figurative cherry on top: all this can be had for under $ 15 for lunch/​breakfast (except for Sunday lunch ($ 21) and dinner (Tues-​Thursday $ 16, Fri-​Sat $ 19).

COME HUNGRY!
Yes, it’s pricey ($ 18 per person), but man… you get soooo much food. For as busy as they are, the staff is really friendly! Be prepared if you are meeting friends here, they will not seat your party until everyone has arrived. This is a family style (social seating) restaurant, so they seat you in any available seats at any table. Meaning, you will be dining with strangers and making new friends! The food is fabulous… and heavy! You will have a food coma after, but well worth it!

Sweet God. This place was pure joy and felt exactly like going home to grandma’s.
For $ 16 for breakfast you sit down at a large dinner table and begin a real family style meal. Not shared plates, an actual family style meal where plate after plate of delicious food is brought out to be shared amongst whatever strangers you find yourself beside.
The fried chicken was great. The biscuits were buttery and the gravy was nice and thick. The cheesy grits were some of the best I’ve ever had. The corn pudding was the unexpected hero of the meal. Every single dish that came out was delicious. The coffee came endlessly and there were pitchers of sweet and unsweetened iced tea on the table. We went on s Thursday morning and were seated immediately.
We had a fun conversation with other couples visiting Nashville while enjoying an amazing Southern breakfast. This is a place you cannot miss when coming to Nashville. I literally came right here from the airport and it was a great decision.

This is one of my favorite family style restaurants. Everyone is very friendly and the food just keeps coming until you literally cannot eat anymore. All of the food was hot and fresh. I do not mind sitting with other people, but some are uncomfortable with that; in that case, just bring a big group and fill your own table :)

This is a GREAT place!
Lunch start from 1pm and we came around 12:45pm. There was around 15 people waiting in front us, and we put our name down and walked around the district for a while.
The decoration of the place is very interesting.
The food and style is AWESOME! People all sit down in a big table like a family, although you don’t know each other before. You are not allow to use your phone so that you can focus on the food. What you are going to eat is depending on what they have for the day. We had pork chop, hot chicken and meatloaf. I’m not a big fan for the pork chop, but my friend loves it. The meatloaf is very tender and flavorful. The chicken is the best among these in my opinion. It’s very juicy and tender, and the seasoning doesn’t cover the natural favor of chicken itself.
The sides are the best part. Must try the corn pudding! Mac & cheese, biscuits, corn bread bite and baked beans are good too, Mash potato, green beans are OK. Our dessert is banana pudding, it was great too. Everyone on the table had a lot of food and liked it very much. I’d strongly recommend this place.

Whenever I asked people before and during my recent trip to Nashville to give me a list of places that I cannot leave without trying, Monell’s was listed every single time. So on that note… We were not going to miss this place
We came on a Saturday morning for a traditional country breakfast. As many have stated here, it’s a family style affair. You’re seated with other groups and pass the food around to one another. This was def a new and cool experience for us. We especially enjoyed that they essentially force you (shame you?) into not using your cell phone during your meal. They want you to speak to people in your own group and (gasp!) strangers at your table. This was great — probably not for the socially awkward though
We arrived around 9:30am and after a nice 1.5 hour wait were seated — yes this is a long wait but totally worth it. The courses flowed fast and furiously. The biscuits and gravy were amazing, the fried chicken crispy and delicious, the bacon/​ham/​sausage platter… oh dear god, my keyboard is wet with saliva thinking about it. They tell you to pace yourself but… yea no thanks, I’m pretty sure that was 2 pounds of food (and sweet tea) put away within a matter of minutes. We didn’t eat again until much later in the evening, and even then not all of us were hungry (But we couldn’t miss Hattie B’s!)
To sum this up as simply as possible… if you’re going to Nashville (or if you’re a local) GO. NOW. This place was truly remarkable

I spent this weekend in Nashville and for at least a month leading up to the trip, one of my travel buddies mentioned Monell’s and insisted we HAD to go for breakfast. She’d been before and had so many good things to say that I felt like they couldn’t all possibly be true. Oh, how wrong I was…
We had planned to get there right around 8:30am when it opened for breakfast, but our group had some slow pokes so it was closer to 9:30am when we finally arrived. Turned out to be perfect timing, and our group of 5 got seated immediately at one of Monell’s legendary gigantic tables. A big extended family of 10 was already seated, and they welcomed us warmly (you gotta be friendly to eat at Monell’s). A waiter quickly came over to explain the rules (no phone calls at the table, pass to the left), and then they started bringing out the food — so, so much food.
Homemade cinnamon buns, biscuits and gravy, peach preserves, pancakes, fried chicken, sausage, bacon, cinnamon apples, corn pudding, eggs… holy moly. There were so many dishes passing around that it was hard to keep track of everything, but I can tell you I had about 4 biscuits and at least half a bowl of cinnamon apples. I’m usually not a meat eater, but I even had the fried chicken because it’s clearly a specialty of theirs, and I was so glad I did.
After about an hour, everyone at the table was completely stuffed. By this time quite a crowd had gathered in the garden (yes, there’s a garden), waiting for a table, so we headed out. There’s an individual card system for paying up front, and breakfast is a total steal — for $ 15, I was full for the entire day.
If I’m ever back in Nashville, you can bet I’ll be going back to Monell’s!

I love this place! The ambience is nice and cozy. Sharing a meal with complete strangers can be a fun experience though when I was there I didn’t have a chance to talk to anyone outside my group.
The food was amazing! I’m not a big fan of Southern food, which is too cheesy and greasy in my opinion, but the dishes they served me (I think it was a Tuesday menu) didn’t make me feel bloated though I ate a lot haha.

What a perfect Southern Experience! Come HUNGRY!!! We had a group of 25 — 2 tables and the food just keeps coming! When we sat there wEre cold apps already out for us — broccoli salad (sweet) and Coke slaw (vinegary): I liked the broccoli! Then the hot food rolls in: mashed potatoes, corn «pudding», baked chicken, fried chicken (most of us loved this the Best!), fried pork chops (2^nd fav), stuffing (least favorite) Mac n cheese, biscuits, gravy, and I think that’s it!
Dessert was a strawberry shortcake –homemade of coarse and a perfect end to a filling meal!
It is BYOB so keep that in mind. Everyone enjoyed the experience and Said it was a perfect souther choice!

I don’t know how to write this review. Really, I don’t. Monell’s isn’t a restaurant – it’s an experience. As such, this will be a very long review.
My friends and I went to the top rated (by locals) restaurants in Nashville over a week’s span, and Monell’s was an undisputed #1.
Our party of four went on a Sunday afternoon, and waited about 45 minutes for a table as there was a party of 30 (!!!) and several other large groups that had just gotten it of church. The scenery is gorgeous. Bright and vivid flowers in the garden with chairs, benches and a gazebo, you won’t mind relaxing and listening to the music while you wait for your name to be called. And once it’s called? Man oh man oh man.
Unilocalers, be very aware. Leave. Your. Phones. In. Your. Pockets. Do NOT take your phone out when you are seated. The sign by the front door expressly tells you that phones are not permitted in the dining room, and for good reason. This is a family style restaurant where the tradition of the Sunday meal reigns supreme. That means you engage in conversation with your party and with whomever else you may be seated, and you enjoy the experience. Do not selfie, do not tweet, do not hashtag.
All food is passed to the person on your left for the first round, but once everyone has had their first serving, the dishes move upon request.
The fried chicken? I had four or five pieces of the best fried chicken I have ever had in my life. Entirely different animal from Hattie B’s hot chicken or Loveless Café’s skillet fried chicken. But the greatest non hot chicken I have ever had.
Cole slaw — HOW DO YOU MAKE COLE SLAW THIS AMAZING? Seriously?! We raved about the coleslaw as we took second and third and fourth helpings of it. Crunchy, so perfectly seasoned with a hint of tang and sweet.
Pot roast — no words. There are no words. Why bother describing the bliss of perfectly cooked meat melting in your mouth?
Green beans — one of the best recipes I’ve ever had
Pork chops — I had three. THREE.
Mashed potatoes — what dreams are made of
Corn pudding — world famous. What your dreams dream of.
Slice of pineapple pie — instantly regretted not asking for more.
Biscuits — second best biscuits in Nashville (sorry!)
Gravy — oh you’re going to drink this gravy, it’s so good.
Mac and cheese — I’m lactose intolerant, but this was one of those dishes that was worth the pain and suffering.
I wish I had kept a food diary because I’ve forgotten what else we ate but the table was packed.
Sweet tea made my eyes roll back and the fruit tea is very very delicious and interesting. Couldn’t really tell which fruits were used but you definitely need to try it.
Four people, all the food in the world, $ 90 bucks before tip. That’s a deal.