The aroma of baked goods and coffee fill the air, greeting visitors entering the eatery known as Three Mothers Cuisine & Bakery on Murfreesboro’s busy Memorial Boulevard.

Expansive glass cases filled with freshly baked items stretch to the back of the room, displaying big cakes, Danishes, cookies, cannoli, muffins, pastries and all sorts of treats. A good-sized crowd of customers having lunch one recent sunny mid-day filled the small dining room.

“There are tons of baked goods. You’ll want one of each!” said local customer Jessica Pulcifer, commenting on Three Mothers.

There’s pineapple upside-down cakes, flan, croissants, scones, cupcakes, tres leches cake and many other sweet options at the locally-owned restaurant and bakery with a passion for sharing fresh pastries with the community.

“Lots of great variety of pastries, cakes and cookies at a reasonable price,” Lori Glaze said after a visit, saying Three Mothers provided a “great opportunity to try something new without spending a fortune.”

Find some fantastic French toast at the bakery, made with thick, fluffy, fresh house-made brioche bread.

“That bread is something else; superb!” one diner said. “The best French toast I’ve ever had.”

Special French toast options include a berry-topped dish and a banana caramel French toast creation.

If a guest wants something savory before diving into all of the cakes, pies and whipped cream-topped waffles, Three Mothers Cuisine & Bakery offers plenty of good options there as well—soups, salads, wraps, sandwiches, breakfast plates, tamales and avocado toast.

Anna Bilderbach complemented the restaurant’s “preparation and presentation of each meal,” and said that she and her husband both enjoyed their omelets there.

“Each ingredient was diced finely and topped with fresh Mexican cheese and a hearty portion of avocado,” she reported, adding that the coconut cake “must have had fairy dust in it! Light, fluffy, not too sweet; it just melted in our mouths.”

Lunch options include chicken salad on a croissant, a flavorful chicken tortilla soup loaded with corn, and a strawberry pecan salad containing thinly-sliced chicken and julienned strips of pear, a colorful blend of fruits and greens.

“Outstanding service and delicious food. We had the soups (potato was fabulous!) and club sandwiches,” Yvonne Lowe Norton posted after an experience at Three Mothers. “Brought a huge slice of bread pudding home for breakfast with coffee; it was delicious.”

The chipotle aioli served with many of the wraps and salads has a good zing to it—not overly spicy, but very tasty.

“The avocado turkey club sandwich was gigantic and delicious! Baked potato soup was packed full of flavor,” according to Monica Restrepo. “I will be back for my second visit soon!”

Numerous customers have commented about the high level of cleanliness at the restaurant.

The eatery’s name serves as a tribute to the mothers of the restaurant’s three owners, a large photo of the ladies displayed on the wall near the entrance.

“That’s my mother in white,” Three Mothers co-owner Luis Talavera tells a guest looking at the photo of the Mexican madres who inspired their sons’ culinary journeys, leading to the establishment of the Middle Tennessee bakery.

Talavera grew up in Mexico City, he says, but has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years, now in Murfreesboro by way of North Carolina.

Three Mothers Cuisine & Bakery has been a hit in the area thus far; the owners recently announced they will soon open a second location on the other side of town, in the Franklin Road building that briefly housed Hwy. 55 Burgers.

This could be a good thing for the business and its customers; the original location doesn’t have a huge amount of seating.

“The chocolate on the cannoli is fantastic!” one customer says; “Best tiramisu I have ever had,” says another.

However, some don’t care for the drier, crumbly texture of Hispanic style pastries. Some of the few who have had disappointing experiences at Three Mothers say they found the pastries hard and dry, perhaps even they sat too long in the display case.

“Everything looks so good from photos online. We got a box full of desserts and everything was so hard and tasted extremely old. The frosting was so hard you couldn’t eat it,” one customer, Ashley L., posted in a review. “It seems the desserts are sitting for days until they sell.”

But plenty of others appreciate the array of Three Mothers creations.

“I can not recommend this bakery and cafe enough. High-end items at extreme savings,” Danielle L. said in another online review.

Three Mothers Cuisine & Bakery opens early for breakfast, opening at 7 a.m. every day other than Monday, its day off.

Give it a try for coffee and fresh pastries, as a date spot for something sweet, for a light lunch, for avocado toast, brioche bread, cannoli, Danish, eggs, French toast and more. Or order a full cake for a special occasion. Three Mothers delivery is available through DoorDash delivery service as well.

“Coming to this delightful bakery each weekend always proves to be the highlight of my week,” Chris Register said. “The delicious food and pastries they make are wonderfully and artfully crafted.”

Three Mothers Cuisine & Bakery
1002 Memorial Blvd.
Tues.–Thurs., Sat.: 7 a.m.–6 p.m.; Fri.: 7 a.m.–7 p.m.; Sun.: 7 a.m.–5 p.m.
629-201-5985
Tres leches cake: $5; Banana or berry French toast: $12.99; Strawberry & pecan salad with chicken: $12; Slice of red velvet or chocolate cheesecake: $3; Western or chorizo omelet: $12.99; Cannoli: $3
three-mothers.com