In the old Versailles Grocery building, located in the Versailles community about 10 miles from downtown Murfreesboro, Melissa and Elijah Wright have opened the Fried Tater Cafe.
With a vintage country store vibe, the small but comfortable eatery contains only six tables. The structure is so small, the proprietors had to put a food truck out back to serve as the kitchen.
Still, the Fried Tater Cafe and its antique atmosphere draw customers from near and far with its fried catfish, biscuits, chicken, meatloaf, veggies and, of course, fried taters.
However, know before you go: The Southern meat and 3 options are currently only available on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights.
So, don’t expect to go in for a lunch of meatloaf, chicken and dressing, okra, fried taters and beans.
During lunch hours on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the establishment serves sandwiches and fries. These selections include burgers, a Philly, a Reuben, grilled cheese and a chicken tenders basket.
“The hamburger I had was great. It covered the bun, which was also soft and tasty,” Ralph Parks said after a recent meal. “My wife had the Philly cheesesteak sandwich and it was also delicious, juicy and tender. She said it melted in her mouth.”
For lunch, the fried taters are French fries—fries with a tasty seasoning coating them.
The Tater serves a very good patty melt, greasy and cheesy, loaded with grilled onions and Thousand Island dressing.
“Best patty melt ever,” patron Jonathan Herrold said.
This routine—serving sandwiches for lunch and then moving to meat and vegetable plates for dinner—seems to work well, considering the business’ limited space, time and workforce, Melissa Wright said.
“A good burger is hard to find,” Melissa said. “We became known for our burgers more than fried taters, pinto beans and cornbread, which was supposed to be our style.”
One customer, Kenneth Morphew, went so far as to call his Fried Tater lunch the “best burger I ever had in Tennessee.”
The cafe also sells hand-breaded strips of chicken breast fried to a crispy finish.
Dinner starts at 4 p.m. these nights, when the menu broadens to offer other vegetables and daily selections.
On Wednesday night, Melissa can change the menu up from week to week, creating pasta and Italian dishes on occasion.
Thursday is fried chicken night, and Friday is fried catfish night.
On Saturdays and Sundays, from 8 a.m.–2 p.m., the Fried Tater serves breakfast.
Trey King was quite pleased he could get bacon, sausage, a pork chop, eggs, fried taters, and two biscuits and gravy for under $11.
Melissa had planned to open a restaurant with her father in 2015, but he lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in December of that year. She and her husband continued developing plans to launch a restaurant in honor of her father, as well as Elijah’s grandparents and other inspirational Southern cooks, and the Wrights signed the lease for the early-1800s building—just before the COVID pandemic.
But the Fried Tater has made it to 2022, and the owners are still experimenting with what works and what customers want.
Melissa said she plans to add a waffle station for weekend brunch and the cafe is also in the process of obtaining its beer permit.
Additionally, in late December Wright was surveying customers to gauge interest in the establishment adding pizza to its menu.
Whatever the time of day of the menu pattern, when the Fried Tater Cafe is open, it can be a “great place for a destination lunch or dinner,” as Todd Lake says. “Great food and atmosphere.”
The space has vintage items all over the place, not unlike a Cracker Barrel, but the nostalgic decor feels more justified in this place rather than in a modern, massive Cracker Barrel. A diner wonders if some of the items on the shelves were actually for sale in the store in the 1930s, or if the tools on the ceiling were used in the field outside generations ago.
And, to cap off a meal, don’t forget to try the excellent Fried Tater banana pudding.
___
Fried Tater Cafe
11088 Versailles Rd., Rockvale, Tennessee
Wed.–Fri.: 11 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sat.–Sun.: 8 a.m.–2 p.m.
615-722-1151
Patty melt and fries: $11; Fried catfish platter: $10.99–$15.99 (depending on how many fillets and sides); Banana pudding: $5; Reuben and fries: $12
___
