Restaurants in Clarksville

When Zoë Cassimus would appear at a party with a bowl of her homemade chicken salad, everyone's face would light up. In between mouthfuls of creamy chicken, her friends and relatives often urged her to open up her own restaurant. Encouraged, Zoë gathered her family's time-honored Mediterranean recipes and opened the first Zoës Kitchen in Homewood, Alabama. Hungry diners flock to her restaurant in search of her chicken salad, pita bread, and pasta.

Today, Zoë's family-run eatery has branched out into more than 50 locations across the country. Within each kitchen, chefs continue to adhere to Zoë's original recipes, folding fresh ingredients into wholesome Mediterranean-inspired roll ups, sandwiches, and kabobs each day. Out on sunny patios, diners clink glasses of beer and mop up last dollops of hummus with fresh pita. Others opt to take meals to go, carrying out still-steaming four-person dinners of chicken kabobs and steak roll-ups to enjoy at home with their family or with the band of outlaws they call their family.

Louisville’s own Courier-Journal likens the coziness of J. Harrod’s Restaurant to that of an “old-school suburban sanctuary”—an apt description, though the upscale eatery sidesteps clichéd décor for an elegant dining room that refuses to pander to nostalgia. Like the green plaid wallpaper and other subtle touches of décor, chef Jenny Ballard’s menu reflects a refined simplicity with its comforting dishes of boneless fried chicken, center-cut pork chops, and veal marsala. The kitchen’s five house-made dressings spruce up salads with recipes that represent America’s diverse culinary traditions, from a zesty peppercorn ranch to a dressing that boasts ingredients from each of our country’s 1,000 island territories. Waiters whisk dishes from the kitchen to large tables, whose polished surfaces are illuminated by the glow that emanates from a wood-paneled fireplace.

As its name subtly hints, this sports-bar chain prides itself on signature onion rings and nine flavors of buffalo wings that come big, boneless, breaded, and range from mild to atomic on the tongue-melting scale. Beyond wings, the menu is a study in classic sports-bar Americana, with burgers, quesadillas, and that most American of late-night snacks: Greek gyros.

Buffalo Wings & Rings diverts diners' attention from their sauce-covered fingers with TVs airing sports and enough space for a herd of buffa-chickens to graze. The boisterous atmosphere also makes Buffalo Wings & Rings the ideal environment for talking loudly, trading high-fives, and second-guessing the coach's decision to wear pleats when the whole league has switched to flat fronts.

In the bone-dry days of the early twentieth century, residents of the Phoenix Hill neighborhood could only legally purchase spirits at the Vienna Bar & Restaurant or the Phoenix Hill Brewery. In 1984, The Brewery Restaurant and Bar took up the mantle of these venerable beer barons, conjoining two 120-year-old buildings on Baxter Avenue and opening up shop for nights of revelry and feasts of juicy burgers, hearty pastas, and deli-style sandwiches.

In the back, an antique 5,000-pound bar top from the original Vienna Bar & Restaurant evokes an air of old-timey nostalgia, and fully functional antique beer coolers chill drinks with traditional mule-powered refrigeration methods. Occasional live bands serenade diners and dancers, and the restaurant's mobile unit of caterers delivers payloads of mouthwatering pub fare to distant parties and events.

When Shahram and Gita Pouranfour—with the help of their sons, Farzan and Arman—first started a family-style restaurant in South Louisville, their main goal was to cater to families and seafood lovers. After years of success at this original restaurant, Fishery Station, they started adding more exotic food items, such as shark and alligator tail, to the menu alongside their traditional seafood and chicken platters. Along with the exotic fare, they incorporated Shahram’s Persian and Gita’s German cultural influences as well, adding basmati dill rice, gyros, and chicken schnitzel.

They’ve continued these same traditions at The Fish Fry House, where families can dine-in or carry out, and Shahram still enjoys cutting and hand-breading pounds of fish daily before it’s transformed to one of the popular platters or sandwiches.