Search All
Current Reviews
If you have a question or a comment, you can contact me directly at tel. 259-8233, or via email at
npendleton @NashvilleBanner.com
or by mail at:
Nicki Pendleton
The Eat Beat
Nashville Banner
1100 Broadway
Nashville, TN 37203
| NASCAR Cafe: Go there for ambience, not food`
By Nicki Pendleton,
Banner Food Writer
(pub. Nov. 28, 1997, Nashville Banner)
 | | | Darrell Waltrip autographs t-shirt at opening of NASCAR Cafe(Banner photo by John Russell) |
It's an accident of fate that I think a room full of over-refreshed journalists, such as seen at the Swine Ball last weekend, is normal, but watching cars drive in circles strikes me as not normal.
A room full of cars suspended from the ceiling is not normal.
The word ``octane'' on a menu is not normal.
But that's NASCAR for you. It's an alternate reality, as far as I'm concerned. I can walk outside this newspaper and see cars zooming by, and in fact, have a first-person experience of nearly being run down by a zooming car. So it's beyond me why anyone would pay money and drive somewhere to see cars zooming.
I have a hard time getting my brain around NASCAR, so I have a hard time getting my brain around everything about NASCAR Cafe. It's a shrine to NASCAR, plus bad food.
The entryway is lined with the names of NASCAR greats, and you're confronted with two race cars at the doors to the cafe. The whole first floor of the cafe is given over to stuff: a souvenir stand, a roomful of NASCAR cars, a glassed-in case of memorabilia such as clothing worn by famous drivers. Pictures of dignitaries with NASCAR drivers. A dozen NASCAR-inspired video games. And at the very back, a NASCAR simulator.
The main dining room is upstairs. The food ranges from virtually atrocious (the dry, chewy Pit Pig sandwich; $7.99) to not good (the Superclash catfish; $8.99) to bizarre (the pimento-cheese topped Thunder Road burger; $7.99) to poorly cooked (rubbery grilled shrimp for $12.99; overcooked ribs for $14.99).
The one reliably good item was the French fries: light, crisp and nicely seasoned.
The music is loud, the general noise level is high, and even the Muzak played while you're holding on the telephone is ear-splitting. The number of tables is modest considering the massive volume of space in the restaurant.
But my brother, knower of All Things NASCAR, says both of these approximate the overall NASCAR experience, which is both noisy and uses voluminous amounts of space, a luxury only we in America really have.
Of course, there is talk about a NASCAR track coming her to Music City. This town and the Midstate in general is filled with drivers and fans. And NASCAR is said to be the fastest-growing spectator sport in the land.
NASCAR fans say once you get the smell of fuel in your nostrils and the roar of engines in your ears, you're hooked. And that's fine; I'm not in the business of telling people what to like. My job is to tell you what I like in a restaurant: good food. And I didn't find it at NASCAR Cafe.
location:
NASCAR Cafe
305 Broadway, Nashville, TN 313-RACE (7223)
Nicki Pendleton's "Eat Beat" is a regular feature of the Nashville Banner's Friday Backbeat section. All reviews are based on two or more visits. The Banner pays for all meals. We welcome your comments. Copyright 1997, Nashville Banner |
