Restaurants in Murfreesboro

Tully's is the realized brain baby of executive chef Tully Wilson, a graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. This villa of victuals features classic American favorites presented in a French-influenced, aesthetically pleasing manner. Menu options vary, though sample dinner items include two pounds of fresh Prince Edward Island mussels ($12) served in a white-wine-butter sauce, and pecan encrusted chicken tender salad ($12), a sprightly summer salad that evokes thoughts of William Blake's romantic salad-inspired poetry. Savorlicious steaks gratify meat-believers, like the eight-ounce filet mignon ($19) and the 10-ounce Cajun rib eye ($23) with grilled shrimp and Creole sauce that can be shared with your significant other or an insignificant identical twin. Climb a mountain of chocolate with Tully's six-layer chocolate cake ($9), slipping and sliding on the fudge icing along the way.

The gleeful sounds of tickled ivories permeates Whitfield's Restaurant on Wednesday–Saturday nights when a piano player regales diners with masterful tunes. Stepping around the curved, tile-fronted bar, the wait staff deliver dishes of seafood and steaks to diners perched in crimson booths beneath the glow of amber pendant lights. Led by owner William Dewayne Johnson and head chef Matthew Smith, the kitchen sears scallops and salmon with aplomb. Diners can choose to eat alfresco under the guard of bright-red awnings and stars blinking their choices from the menu in Morse code.

When they aren't mashing fresh avocados to mix up guacamole, the staff at Mi Tierra prepare a long menu of Mexican specialties with American touches. Diners can fill up on fajitas, arroz con pollo, or carne asada, which all come with traditional Mexican sides, or they can choose more American-flavored tilapia fillets, chicken wings, french fries, or grilled salmon. Fish tacos and buffalo nachos seamlessly combine the two culinary traditions. Some kid-friendly dishes, alongside fresh salads and desserts, round out the menu, turning it into a satisfying read for those who want to whet their appetite or add another entry to their summer reading list.

Barbecue is about balance, about finding the right suspension of smoky and sweet flavors even if it requires hours of labor and patience. At Slick Pig BBQ, chefs achieve flavor harmony by slow cooking and saucing up meats—which range from classic ribs to honey-barbecue wings—and then plate them with requisite sides such as corn bread, turnip greens, and mac ‘n’ cheese. They also tantalize visitors with an array of Southern staples, frying up catfish, baking chess pie, and sweetening tea by telling it how special it is.