Nashvillians have long cherished our local home-style cooking joints, so when a car lot is replaced by a meat-and-three, it's cause to jump up and down with glee.
At Tom's Elite Carryout in East Nashville, there's a twist. It's a meat-and-three where nothing's fried. The focus is on smoking and grilling, with sides that are fresh and homemade.
The venture is the realized dream of partners and friends Tom Harper and Reuben Perrian, who latched onto the "Elite" name - the former resident was Elite Motorcars - and have applied it to making quality, affordable food to go.
They have spruced up the building's exterior with red, white and blue paint, installed a full kitchen with grill and added limited indoor and patio seating. Smoking is done on site, the telltale chimney from the smoker rising from behind a fenced area next to the restaurant.
Inside, it's unpretentious, with clean, white walls, gray concrete floors and a walk-up counter with a large window opening into the kitchen. There you'll be greeted with a waft of savory kitchen smells: hickory-smoked pork shoulder just pulled from the pit, simmering beans and greens in great pots on the stove. And you'll be greeted by one of the friendly Tom's Elite staff.
Daily lunch specials are listed on the menu board: For $5.99, you get the meat of the day, served with two side items, plus either a corn cake or slice of Texas toast, and hot off the grill. Beef brisket was the featured Thursday special; in the kitchen the cheff was chopping up a hunk with a cleaver.
Tom's Elite also offers chops, steaks and burgers and, from the smoker, whole and half chickens, pork shoulder and Reuben's Rockin' Ribs.
The name was irresistible, and the pork rib plate, priced at $9.50, came heaped with six meaty pieces. They were dry rubbed with a light hand, well-smoked, juicy - not greasy - and falling off the bone.
The brisket deserves special mention. The slow, slow cooking in the smoker and the thick outer charring that was further hand-chopped throughout the slab (and then generously mounded on the plate) combined to make this beef so richly flavored, it was soulful.
Cole slaw, a marriage of shredded green and red cabbage and carrots in a sweet-sour mayonnaise dressing, had crunch and the right tart note to enjoy with the pork. The potato salad, made by Reuben's mom, was fresh and cooling. It's prepared in a traditional Southern style, folded with mayo, yellow mustard, diced hard-boiled egg and sweet relish. The mac and cheese came bathed in a creamy pool of cheddar. Divine.
But the fresh turnip greens were the stars of the sides. Flecked with red pepper, diced garlic and onion, these were cooked down to be tender and yet toothsome, respecting the raspy integrity of the leaf.
You can phone in your order or fax or e-mail it. Advance notice is needed for catering.
Address: 501 Gallatin Ave.; 615-891-1496, fax 615-891-1497; e-mail tomscarryout@yahoo.com
Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
