This Small-Town Tennessee Cafe Has Some Of The Best Food In The South
A good plate of pasta or a hot, cheesy slice of pizza has the potential to up the ante on any regular evening. There’s something so comforting about a warm meal, one that’s hopefully adorned with a heavy-handed shake of parmesan or topped with rounds of pepperoni. Nick’s Pizza and Pasta, now known as Nick’s Railway Cafe, is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it restaurant located in the small town of Cowan, Tennessee, but the locally owned eatery is one of the state’s best-kept secrets. The next time you’re in the greater Tullahoma area, we know exactly where you need to stop for dinner.
You may find that Nick’s Railway Café, formerly known as Nick’s Pizza and Pasta, doesn’t have an expansive online presence. Instead, the low-key eatery is mainly shared by word of mouth. Here you can see the exterior of the restaurant, in one of Cowan’s historic buildings downtown.
There are small touches throughout the restaurant that hearken back to Italy, the inspiration for its menu of Neapolitan pies and pasta. The atmosphere is warm and inviting and is great for small parties or intimate date nights.
Doesn’t the checkered tablecloth make you feel like you’re dining somewhere in the Tuscan countryside? Nick’s keeps it simple, with a well-honed interior design that offsets an explosively flavorful menu.
Nick’s serves classic pizzas like pepperoni and cheese, or you can order the Southern Express that’s topped with pepperoni, sausage, onions, peppers, olives, and mushrooms. There is a soup of the day, as well as a handful of sandwiches and burgers.
Appetizers include chicken wings flavored with hot, teriyaki, regular, or sweet & spicy sauce, and you can snag an order of fried mushrooms or mozzarella sticks to round out the menu. Folks also rave about the fries! Pasta like spaghetti and fettuccine are also on the menu, and the manicotti is a dream.
Nick’s is also open for breakfast throughout the week, offering classics like biscuits, sandwiches, and omelets. The breakfast platters are generous, so make sure you bring an empty belly! Ask about daily specials while you’re visiting, too. You never know what the creative culinary team may have dreamt up.
Nick’s opens for breakfast at 7 a.m. every day of the workweek, and it reopens for lunch at 11:30 a.m. Hours tend to differ, so make sure you take a look at the official website for Nick’s here or its official Facebook page.
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Address: Nicks Pizza And Pasta, 106 Tennessee Ave S, Cowan, TN 37318, USA
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Meghan Kraft loves to travel the world, but she makes her home right here in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a degree in English, and has worked in the digital marketing realm with companies such as Apartments.com, USA Today and HarperCollins Publishing.
