Bedford County, TN

Bedford County's restaurants run the gamut from upscale dining to casual‚ down-home cafés. Combined with a variety of homegrown products, the food scene here adds up to rich local flavor. 

Favorite Local Restaurants
Delicious dining spots may be found in Shelbyville, Wartrace, Bell Buckle and virtually all parts in between throughout Bedford County, leaving hungry diners only to decide their preferred fare and environment. Cortner Mill, located on a 300-acre farm in Normandy near Wartrace, is described by its owner, David Hazelwood, as “elegant country.” Situated within a rustic, 1825 grist mill, the reservation-only, white-tablecloth restaurant often is considered a top pick for special occasion meals, serving dishes such as quail, rack of lamb, Cornish hen, grilled duck breast and trout. The restaurant is open by reservation only for dinner Tuesday through Saturday and a champagne brunch on Sundays.

Bell Buckle Café is another hotspot in Bedford County’s dining scene. Located on Railroad Square in the tiny historic town of Bell Buckle‚ Bell Buckle Café has been known to attract diners from every walk of life‚ including country music artists and other stars. Specialities include smoked, grilled pork chops, smoked barbecue, fresh-squeezed lemonade, homemade oatmeal cake with caramel topping and fried biscuits with apple butter.  The food isn’t the only reason people flock to Bell Buckle Café. It hosts live bluegrass and country music on Friday and Saturday nights‚ a live radio show on Saturdays and a songwriters night on Thursdays.

Music also is a draw at 50's & Fiddles Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor in Shelbyville. Twin brothers Ron and Don Stacy opened the restaurant in July 2008 at 203 Depot St., in a restored building next door to the Capri Theater. The front half has been turned into a 1950s-style diner, complete with black-and-white checkered floors and a soda fountain lined with vinyl-covered swivel stools. Continuing the theme, the restaurant serves old-fashioned milkshakes, ice cream floats in frosted mugs and cleverly named menu items Bebop Burger and You-Ain’t-Nothin’-But-a-Hound Dog. Traditional Southern sandwiches such as barbecue, fried bologna and pimento cheese also are available. The back half of the building looks like the main street of an Old West town, which the brothers have dubbed “Fiddle City.” A stage at one end features karaoke on Thursday nights, open-mike bluegrass on Friday nights and ’50s bands on Saturday nights.

Over at 105 W. Public Square in Shelbyville, the dinner menu at Courthouse Café features babyback ribs – flavored with the customer’s choice of barbecue, house rub, brown sugar or honey chipotle – flame-broiled steaks, catfish, fried shrimp and a variety of sandwiches. What’s more, Courthouse Café’s meat-and-three-vegetables blue plate special makes a compelling case for lunch.

Another Shelbyville favorite is Charleston on Main, a tearoom that serves soups‚ salads‚ sandwiches‚ casseroles and homemade desserts. The restaurant is known for its hot chicken casserole‚ quiches‚ chicken salad and congealed frozen salads. Other popular restaurants with loyal followings include Bocelli Gourmet Pizza & Pasta Shoppe‚ The Coffee Break‚ Martin's Sweet Aroma in Unionville, Pope’s Café and Uncle Sonny’s Bar B Que. Chain restaurants such as Legends‚ Chili’s and Ruby Tuesday are also plentiful in Bedford County‚ as well as several authentic‚ independently owned Hispanic restaurants.

Homegrown Foods
Besides many options for dining out, Bedford County also has several businesses that allow residents to stock their kitchens with local food products. Bedford Cheese Store has been churning out a variety of fresh cheeses in Shelbyville for quite some time. The manufacturing facility on Deery Street makes several varieties of cheese and delivers the products right to customers’ doors. All cheeses made by Bedford Cheese Store are 100 percent natural with no additives. The company produces other dairy products, including milk and butter, along with eggs and egg substitutes. The Bedford Cheese Store also packages meats such as beef summer sausage and country ham, and also processes and distributes jams, jellies, sauces and dressings.

A great pairing for the cheese may be found at Tri-Star Vineyards & Winery in Shelbyville. The business is owned and operated by Bedford County residents Perry and Elaine Casteel, and the couple offers free tours, tastings, a gift shop and wine sales. Their varieties include wines ranging from dry to sweet and from white to deep reds, including grape, muscadine, fruit and berry choices. The winery is open to the public for tours and tastings from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and from noon until 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Valley Home Farm in Wartrace, a 350-acre family farm, is open to the public for six weeks in the spring each year for strawberry picking from April 20 through early June. Visitors can pick their own berries or buy them pre-picked from an onsite farm store. Also available for purchase are Valley Home strawberry cakes, strawberry bread, fresh strawberry pie and Valley Home strawberry ice cream. Additional items for sale include chocolate dipped strawberries, Valley Home honey made right on the farm, and farm-fresh strawberry, peach and wild blackberry jams. The destination also offers a taste of history: The main farmhouse is an 1835 Greek Revival home that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.