Franklin, Tennessee: Restaurant Guide & Truly Unique Hotels (Only the Best!)
Get your mouth watering with my Franklin restaurant guide below, and scroll to the end for some very unique hotel recommendations!
With excellent Southern food (and not only), live music, fascinating history, and a couple of the most interesting places to stay I’ve ever found, Franklin, Tennessee is truly unique. This smaller and quieter Nashville-alternative has everything you need for a great weekend getaway!
>> More Trip Planning Inspiration: Don’t forget to check out my list of the top things you can ONLY do in Franklin.
Where to Eat Well in Franklin, Tennessee
If you’re new to Tilted Map, you should know I’m notoriously picky when it comes to quality – especially when it comes to food! And I didn’t have a bad meal in Franklin. (Despite visiting over a holiday weekend, Sunday through Wednesday, when several restaurants I wanted to try were closed.)
Still, there were some restaurants I’d go back to, and others where once was probably enough.
(You should also know I’m also a dedicated omnivore – I’ll try anything, even if I lean toward plants to give the environment a break. Plants are certainly not the star of the show in Tennessee, but there are options, and dishes worth straying for.)
These are the best Franklin restaurants I tried, and ones I plan to go back for next time.
Breakfast & Lunch Favorites:
Honest Coffee Roasters – an “ethical coffee” roaster with a few locations in Nashville and Franklin, including one in The Factory at Franklin. They buy beans directly from farmers, and the espresso even impressed my picky Italian husband.
Triple Crown Bakery – one word: Butter. Excellent pastries, definitely not light, but great for a sweet breakfast or a fun stop for a fancy tea service.
Coffee and the butteriest quiche
Perenn Bakery – legit, French-style pastries, plus a couple of good palate-cleansing salads, if you’ve hit your quota of barbecue and heavy Southern food. (And they do DINNER, too!)
Dinner Favorites:
Gray’s on Main – this place is Franklin-famous for a reason. Live music, history, and better food than I expected. The shrimp and grits, a Southern classic, were recommended by a trusted source, and were excellent. (But the fried chicken didn’t really impress.) The house cocktail is a must for lovers of brown liquor.
Excellent shrimp and grits at Grays!
Singer Rhonda Funk on stage at Gray’s
Culamar – small plates that far exceeded my expectations! They call it a seafood restaurant, but there were lots of options. I hear there’s a good sunset view from the rooftop, too.
1799 Kitchen & Bar – I never expect much from a hotel restaurant, but I’d fully recommend this for an upscale dinner for meat eaters. I had a rib-eye steak from a local family farm where the cattle live their entire lives in pastures, not feedlots. (It’s meat as it should be: as a once-in-a-while treat.) If you’re all about the sides, you’ve got great options, too. The potatoes cooked in beef tallow were excellent, as were the carrots. The barrel-aged old fashioned, made with whiskey from Leiper’s Fork distillery, was one of the best Old Fashioned cocktails I’ve ever had (which is not a short list).
NOTE: You wouldn’t think you’d have to, but this is the South, so be sure to ask for it without pork belly if you don’t want it.
A steak I’d go back for…- and the best carrot cake… ever.
Cocktail Favorites:
Amendment XVIII Cocktail Club – a classic speakeasy, worth the effort (and fun) to find your way into.
Leiper’s Fork Distillery – fantastic cocktails in the downtown Franklin outpost of the nearby small-batch distiller that’s truly local. Almost all of their ingredients are grown within a few miles of town. (They have wine and other options, if you’ve had your fill of liquor.) The distillery is on my list for a tour next time, too!
Hop House Tennessee Taps – dozens of local and semi-local brews on tap in this very friendly, very casual spot. We sat at the bar, made friends, and almost even stayed for dinner.
Crown Winery – if you’re looking for a winery that’s anything but stuffy, this spot in Leiper’s Fork is so special. Where else can you sip local wine with your feet in a creek? It’s totally family-friendly and serves local beer, too. (We’re not in Italy anymore; even the wineries have beer here.)
Kimbro’s Pickin Parlor – come for the music, stay for the music. As you read at the top of my Franklin guide, Kimbro’s is definitely more dive bar than restaurant or cocktail spot, but absolutely worth visiting for the musical acts on the front porch and/or on stage inside. You never know who you might find performing! I think they can also feed you a hotdog or nachos on a paper plate, if needed.
Good to Know:
Puckett’s Restaurant – this small Tennessee chain wasn’t one of my favorite meals, but it is a fun stop for Southern diner food and Southern kitsch.
- I swear this pulled pork for breakfast was an accident… but a delicious one.
Stable Reserve Distillery – espresso by day, cocktails by night. I love the concept of this place, but we stopped by looking for a cocktail and decided not to stay because the vibe felt more coffeeshop-like. I’d definitely give it a try if I had more time here though!
Top of the List Restaurants for Next Time in Franklin:
Red Pony – probably the most interesting looking restaurant in downtown Franklin, for a foodie looking for “elevated Southern” cuisine.
January – the Michelin Green Star fine dining restaurant at Southall is definitely on my list! (Details on my visit to Southall in my detailed Franklin guide.)
Note: sadly, Michelin ended the Green Star program in May, 2026. Restaurants that earned the honor for their sustainability practices aren’t allowed to advertise it anymore… but I’ll still tell you they earned it, because it’s quite rare! There were only about 36 restaurants in the US with the distinction, mostly in California, and definitely not in small towns in the South.
Fox & Locke – this Leiper’s Fork institution is famous for its open-mic (details in my Franklin guide), but they also serve southern specialties like fried pickles, BBQ sandwiches, collard greens, and catfish. (I also saw at least one veggie item on the menu!)
Country Boy Cafe – across from the Fox & Locke, the front window of this local southern diner serves as a message board for births, deaths, and other local news. And in true Tennessee fashion, they have a speakeasy in the basement that I’m dying to try, plus a campfire ring in the back yard.
Unique places to sleep in Franklin
It’s hard to believe, but Franklin currently only has one downtown hotel. At least one other is in the works (a freshly announced Marriott at The Factory at Franklin scheduled to open in 2028) which is likely a sign of another small-town growth spurt.
So now might be the best time to visit Franklin, while it’s still relatively off the beaten path.
- Dark Horse Recording Studio (starting ~$300/ night total for 4 people) – want to sleep where every artist from Taylor Swift, to Neil Diamond, to Evanescence has recorded? From bunk beds to a whole mansion, they’ve got space. The unique bonus is watching artists record through a glass wall.
- Southall Farm & Inn (starting ~$800/ night) – as described in my full story about visiting Franklin, this is one of the most impressive sustainable resorts I’ve found.
- The Harpeth (starting ~$300/ night) – this is where we stayed, and is currently the ONLY hotel in historic downtown Franklin. The location is perfect and 100% walkable, and they have free whisky tastings for guests every afternoon.
Which of these hotels and restaurants is calling out to you? If you’ve been to Franklin before, what would you add to the list?
