City Cafe

This old school traditional country breakfast and lunch restaurant has been here since 1900. That says a lot. If you come in the mornings you will frequently see one on one business meetings and groups of people who have met here on the same day at the same table for years. It's clean and the service is good. I have no doubt it will be here for years to come.

What a find! We were so thrilled to find this yummy Cafe. I had the roast beef and loaded potatoes. The roast beef melted in my mouth. It had to be the best I've ever had and that is high praise. My husband had the fish and fries. He said it was tender and expertly cooked. We shared the cinnamon roll. It was delicious. Yummy, yummy, yummy.
Stacey was an excellent server and took great care of us. It's worth the trip.

Now open for Dinner and yes we'll worth the visit, homestyle cooking at it's finest, hot fresh made to order and great tasting. Service was attentive and gracious. Took the whole family and everyone thoroughly enjoyed. Country Fried Steak added Mushrooms, Turnip Greens with Mashed and a fresh roll.

This little unassuming cafe is such a fantastic spur of the moment find. As a lover of diners, the real test is a classic. The American Cheeseburger and fries. I walked in and sat, the server was so kind, despite it being a to go order.

To start, the pickles were a perfect crunch. The lettuce was a little soggy, but the rest of the burger was so good. I kind of expected it to be underwhelming by the look of it. I was proved wrong. It won't knock your socks off, by any means, but if you want that nostalgia...get it. This is a true American Cheeseburger. No frills, nothing extra.

The fries left much to be desired, I would've loved some seasoning. Luckily, I got plenty at home. That burger itself, I'd definitely go back and get.

It's a quiet atmosphere on a weekday, lots of older folk eating their breakfast or lunch. I've come to find out that most people are generally very nice and mind their business. It's not a rowdy place. Excellent to bring a pair a headphones and eat in.

We went two days in a row. First time just for peach cobbler and the next morning for breakfast. I was a little disappointed that the food didn't seem very homemade, maybe frozen biscuits? But all in all it's charming and decent.

Always love going to City cafe! The patty melt was fantastic, and BlackBerry cobbler was great as well. So happy City cafe is open for dinner until 8 now! If ya didn’t know, know ya know. lol

My food might have been good if it didn't have a long curly hair in my eggs, or a small black hair on the rim of my plate. I ordered a breakfast with eggs, bacon, grits, coffee, etc. I ate 1 piece of bacon and the eggs when I found the hair in my mouth. I just could not eat anymore. My friend informed our server and I just asked for my meal to be removed from the ticket. I'm not usually a big complainer, but I felt that was a fair request. I had already lost my appetite, so to remake my food would have been a bigger waste. Later, I found out she discounted my food by only 10%. Just not cool at all, considering how other people might have reacted. Also, no visit from the manager with an apology or anything. Not professional at all. It was my first time visiting this restaurant, and I can't say I will return. There was 4 of us, & we were all going to be paid together, but our bills were all handed to us separately, which I thought to be odd and inefficient, but it is just the way they keep orders from being mixed up I guess. On another note, I just want to add that my friends had the country fried steak meals and they said it was delicious & perfectly satisfying!! I hope this review is met with some changes on proper food handling & a better customer service.

After not being seated at another restaurant around the corner I came in City Cafe. I was greeted with a smile. Ordered my meat and 3, was served the food nice and hot quickly. Both the food and the service were excellent. Large portions too. Cecil

Had a fantastic dinner with a buddy last night! The country fried steak and gravy with mashed taters, white beans, and corn bread was FANTASTIC! I forget city cafe is now open for dinner but we will be back, not going to Cracker Barrel anymore. Ha

My wife and I chose to make a day trip to the City Café in Murfreesboro on March 7th. It had been 10 or 15 years since I had dined there and my wife had never been. While driving to Murfreesboro from our home in Gallatin, I shared warm memories with Janene about my many trips to the City Café back in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. I told her about the crowds, sometimes having to wait for a table outside on the bench under the front window; about the 6 or 8 guys who were always holding court at the "Men's Table" near the front door; I prepared her for the best cloverleaf, yeast rolls she had ever had; the dilemma we would face deciding whether to order the chocolate meringue or the coconut cream meringue pie; the wide variety of country-cooked vegetables - I told her she was about to be treated to some of the best food Middle Tennessee had to offer. As we walked across the street toward the Café, I showed her the front window that once was part of the lead-in to the intro to Monday Night Football, with the theme being sung by Hank Williams Jr.

Then we walked in. We arrived at 12:30 - right in the middle of the lunch hour. The Men's Table was empty and there were fewer than a dozen customers dining in the restaurant. A voice from behind the rear counter announced that we could sit anywhere we wanted. The entire plate-lunch selection was written on a chalkboard on the wall, consisting of 2 meats and 6 sides (photo included). The desert selection included 3 cobblers, 1 pie option (chess) and cinnamon rolls - that is it! (also photo included). The remainder of the menu is a below-average selection of sandwiches and salads. Apparently, there was not a single meringue pie available, which for the City Café is some sort of sacrilege.

The quality of the food is barely average. Gone are the magnificent, cloverleaf yeast rolls. The yeast rolls we were served were small, pillow-shaped rolls that were dark brown (over baked), probably received by the Café, frozen. The chicken-fried chicken breast (with white gravy) was good; the chicken was moist and the gravy was good. The vegetables were average, probably coming out of a #10 can delivered by a Sisco truck. The sweet tea was good, but for more than $2.00, it should have been.

Service was adequate - the young lady that served us was sweet and friendly.

And last, but not least - the prices are very high. Janene and I each had a lunch plate (1 meat and 2 or 3 vegetables - no desert) and sweet tea with lemon. We added a 20% tip and the final bill was a few cents under $40.00 - ouch!

To say that we were disappointed is an understatement. The current City Café is not even a blurry shadow of its former self. Way beyond being a disappointment, considering the magnificent, culinary history of this venerable landmark situated at the geographic center of Tennessee, our experience was a dining disaster. If you are considering a trip to the City Café, don't expect much, because it is no longer the City Café that we have all known from the past.

Bill T.