Coco's Italian Market- Nashville, TN

I loved Coco's.  I'm not sure that I've ever been in an Italian market outside of Italy.  There are so many great foods that come from Italy, I'm not sure why.  It was really a market, bakery and restaurant.

When you first walk in, you are in the market.  The market had all kinds of canned and jarred foods, cakes, cookies, you name it.  They also had huge jugs of Nutella with a sign next to it warning people because people have evidently dropped them before probably making a huge mess.

There are a few cold cases.  One had really delicious looking gelato, another one had meats and cheeses.  Yet another had cakes and another chocolates.  They did entice me to try a slice of one of the cakes.  More on that later.  They also had a bar with all kinds of olives, probably for take-out.

The menu was pretty extensive.  They had all of the pasta dishes that you would expect.  I'm told that their pizza is also really good.

I started with an Italian salad; spring mix, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes red onions, roasted red peppers, topped with a vinaigrette.  They claim that they believe in garden to table.

I ordered the vegetable lasagna.  It was served in a baked dish that was incredibly hot when it was served. There was no meat in the dish but, it was filling like there was.  From their menu, the ingredients were "pasta, mushrooms, carrots, sun dried tomatoes and spinach baked with mozzarella, ricotta and egg mixture, Romano and parmesan."  It was really delicious.

So, I went with the veggie lasagna so that I could really indulge with the godiva chocolate cake.  Wow, that was a decadent indulgence.  You can probably get that at the cheesecake factory, but this place just put me in the mood.

Overall, I would rate coco's 9.3 on a 10 point scale.  Service was also really good.  Our server was really friendly and fast.

There was also a bonus.  They had a bocci ball court outside and signs that look like they must sponsor a bocci ball league.  So, this looks like a fun place.

Coco's Italian Market
411 51st Ave N
Nashville, TN 37209
Phone (615) 783-0114
italianmarket.biz

Arnolds Country Kitchen - Nashville, TN

Arnolds definitely put the "dive" in Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives but, the food was really good.  It was comfort food and comfort environment at its best.  There were family members yelling at each other, miscallaneous stained posters on the wall and cutomers coming in being greeted by their first names.  It felt like home. 

I had the roast beef with macaroni and cheese.  The meat was cut right in front of me off of a big hunk.  The combination of juicy protein with the savory cheese was down home comfy.  Luckily there were paramedics in the house to revive me from my comfort food induced coma.  Also, teh chess pie helped out.  Chess pie is a sweet tangy, vanilla creation with cinamon on top.  I asked what was in it and I remember hearing "vanilla wafers" somehow.  I don't really understand how they were included but, whatever they are doing, I'm okay with it.

Well worth checking out if you are in the neighborhood.  I'd give this an 8 out of 10 on the Triple-D scale.

605 8th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 256-4455

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