It’s not often that I think about going back and sitting in a high
school classroom. And, thinking about having lunch in the school
cafeteria is typically the furthest thing from my mind. Yesterday,
however, was one of those days when the thought of a lunchroom meal
drove me into action. That drive took me down Interstate 65 south of
Nashville, to Spring Hill, Tennessee’s Old School Café
[
http://www.meatandthree.com/tn/oldschoolcafe/].
I invited my friend and former boss, Randy, along with me on this trip
to
Spring Hill, where the Saturn
automobile plant is located. Housed in the old Spring Hill High School
building, along with several other small businesses, this café offers
typical meat and three fare, and other items like big hamburgers, that
tastes much better than the high school food that I recall from “a few“
years ago. Walking into this school’s cafeteria is not quite the same
experience, thankfully, that it might have been back in the day.
The chalkboard menu on the wall revealed several meats and a good
variety of vegetables. My choice consisted of sweet tea, catfish,
hushpuppies, white beans, mashed potatoes and sweet tea. Randy also
chose the catfish and ordered sweet tea to go along with his macaroni
and cheese salad, mashed potatoes and fruit salad. The lunch was topped
off with a really moist piece of chocolate chess pie for me, and a
great looking piece of Derby pie for Randy.
I think the person in charge of the lunchroom at the Old School Cafe
must be into history a bit, because the room we were in is full of
historical pictures and maps and other items that would have stirred
young, inquisitive minds. However, the TV high up in the back corner
was probably not there when this school was educating the youth of
Spring Hill.
Like most school cafeterias were/are, this café is not fancy but it
gets the job done well. I am glad to see that the old building is still
being put to good use in this fast-growing city where a lot of new
businesses, buildings and homes are being built. If the size of the
crowd coming in and out of this medium-sized meat and three restaurant
is any indication, this building should continue to be in use for many
years. That hopefully means you will have plenty of time to check it
out. But, why wait? Go ahead and visit the Old School Café this coming
week. And, drop me a line or comment on this article if you have a
great story or some history about this café or the school cafeteria, or
any other meat and three, for that matter.
