With a name like “
2 Country Hot Spot” [
http://www.meatandthree.com/tn/2countryhotspot/] and a location in Middle Tennessee, you’ve got to figure that this meat and three restaurant would have something to do with Country Music. And, if you know anything about the beautiful town of Hendersonville, situated about 25 minutes northwest of Nashville on Old Hickory Lake in Sumner County, you are aware that several music stars and industry folk live there.
Well, you probably would not be surprised when you enter the door to this interesting little place, located in the K Mart shopping center on Main Street. On the opposite side from K Mart, around the L-shaped corner, there are several locally-owned businesses, and
2 Country Hot Spot (kind of fun to keep saying) is one of them. I walked into
2 Country Hot Spot for a business lunch with my mother a couple of days ago, and I wasn’t really surprised.
Country music was softly playing in the background and there was quite a bit of memorabilia on the walls. Album covers, photos, two large blackboards on either side with country/western art work, glossies, some knick-knacks, a pole painted with boots, etc. It’s not overwhelming, but just enough of a touch of country that you understand where you are - it just makes sense to have this kind of meat-and-three in the heart of Hendersonville. It’s not like this is the only place like it in Middle Tennessee, or in other places, for that matter, but it does seem to be a good fit to me.
There are a lot of choices on the menu, which is a white board located behind the steam table/counter where you order your selections. There were about 7 meats and 17 veggie choices on Monday, with burgers, sandwiches, salads, and desserts rounding out the menu. Mom’s veggie plate consisted of broccoli, green beans, and squash casserole with a diet coke. Baked chicken, lima beans, broccoli, jalapeno corn bread, and sweet tea filled my plate.
Side note: Have you noticed that I must be addicted to lima beans? Not sure why that is, but I can’t stop ordering them.
Regarding the rest of
2 Country Hot Spot's décor - the hardwood floors in the front part of the restaurant, the black-and-white tile in the rear section, the silver-and-black folding chairs, the light green/yellow painted pole I mentioned before, the glass coca-cola salt-and-pepper shakers on our table - it all lended itself to a nice lunch. Nothing fancy, but just a good place for people of all types, income levels, etc., to come and have lunch. The 13 or so tables, including one larger (community) table, were never completely full, but there always seemed to be someone in line ordering their food for the hour-plus during our meal. What appeared to be students (high school is across the street) were there, along with some executives, blue-collar guys, casually dressed groups of 2 to 4 people, family groups, etc.
This is one more example of the American spirit alive and well and at work. If you live in the area or are coming their way, check out one of the many great meat and threes like
2 Country Hot Spot. You never know who you might see at one of them. And, no matter where you go, there are many of these hidden gems out there. We have many of them listed on
MEATandTHREE.com, but know there are many, many more. If you know of one that serves a Meat and Three (or Meat and Two) plate as part of their regular menu, please let me know about it and we will put their information on the site for more people to find. You can reach me at
phil@meatandthree.com.
Also, feel free to leave a comment below about
2 Country Hot Spot, especially if you know some history about it or have a fun or interesting story that you want to share. I'd really like to hear how they came up with their name.
Phil (mn3guy)
P.S. Here’s a link over to the
Photo Gallery page, where you can find a picture of
2 Country Hot Spot along with over 70 other ones, taken during my Middle Tennessee Photo Tour.
