8 Best Restaurants in Cookeville’s Historic West Side

Cookeville is known as a micropolitan economic hub in the state of Tennessee, and it has a wide variety of dining options both local and restaurant chains. As with other growing cities, Cookeville also has several distinct neighborhoods and areas where these restaurants are clustered.

If Cookeville had a downtown, the west side would be it these days. In this article we look at seven of my absolute favorite restaurants in Cookeville’s Historic West Side, in no particular order.

Best restaurants on the west side of Cookeville

All unique in their own way, here is a short list of my favorite restaurants on the west side, with one that is in walking distance but not quite in the exact area as the others. Regardless, these are all restaurants that I have personally eaten at multiple times and have enjoyed. So I’m not listing or reviewing any restaurants I don’t like.

Starting with one of my favorites in all of Cookeville, here’s my list of the best restaurants in Cookeville’s west side.

1. 37 Cedar

Address: 37 N Cedar Ave, Cookeville, TN 38501
Website: 37cedar.com

I put 37 Cedar first on this list because it’s definitely one of our favorite restaurants on the west side, and all of Cookeville for that matter. It was a fairly small pub style restaurant with a nice bar and some limited seating. As of late 2022/early 2023 they have apparently acquired the space next-door and more than double their seating capacity.

The food here always impresses. Just about anything you order is going to be amazing. You can tell it’s cooked by a real chef and is prepared by someone who cares about presentation almost as much as flavor.

They have plenty of beers, wines, and cocktails to choose from as well. Good drinks, excellent food, great atmosphere. I highly recommend this place if you are visiting or haven’t been. I’ve personally eaten here dozens of times, and they’re priced reasonably in my opinion.

A few of my favorite menu items, from what I have tried here, that you can’t go wrong with:

• Ol’ 37 burger – large bacon and cheese burger
• Philly cheesesteak
• Steak and mushroom pasta
• Blackened tuna (this is so good, if you like this dish)
• Grilled ribeye – amazing steak
• Blue cheese wedge salad
• Any salad is amazing

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2. Seven Senses

Address: 32 W Broad St, Cookeville, TN
Website: sevensensesfood.com

Another one of my absolute favorites in this area is Seven Senses. Honestly we usually bounce back and forth between number one and two on this list a lot of the time. The food at both of these restaurants is so good and we can always expect consistency and good service. The atmosphere here is pretty pub-like with the industrial feel like many restaurants these days. They pull it off well.

However, Seven Senses has a few things that you won’t find at 37 Cedar. For this reason, it might appeal to some folks more. One of things is the fried green tomatoes appetizer. There are actually several places in town you can get a fried green tomato appetizer, I think all of which are pretty tasty. They are exceptionally good here. If you like fried green tomatoes as much as I do, or you simply want to try them, you can’t go wrong at Seven Senses in Cookeville. There is clearly a skilled chef behind this menu, I always recommend Seven Senses.

On to some of my favorite menu items at this restaurant. I have also eaten at Seven Senses in Cookeville dozens of times. I admit, I will often order the same thing simply because I’m a creature of habit. So I haven’t tried as much of the menu as I would have liked, considering how many times I’ve eaten here. Here are a few of our favorites menu items from Seven Senses in Cookeville:

• Fried green tomatoes appetizer
• Kristen’s stir fry
• Seven Senses choice filet
• Smoked pork belly and grits
• Fried green tomato BLT
• Soft tacos
• Black and bleu burger
• There are also a number of wraps and quesadillas

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3. Crawdaddy’s

Address: 53 W Broad St, Cookeville, TN
Website: crawdaddysgrill.com

Crawdaddy’s has been in Cookeville for quite a while, but in 2007 it was purchased by the current owners. They call it “a slice of New Orleans in the middle of Cookeville” and you kind of get that vibe when you eat there.

They had a terrible fire I believe in late 2020 that was pretty devastating to the business. They were closed down for months. I’m happy to say that the owners were able to restore the long-standing restaurant to its former glory.

Since it recently reopened, we have eaten here about 4-5 times. Each time I have been very happy with the food and the service. Now the atmosphere is a little different here. It’s a little louder and a lot busier. If you get up from your table to go to the bathroom or something, just be mindful of the extra foot traffic and you’ll be fine.

Here are a few of the menu items I’ve tried so far and really liked:

• Crab cakes
• Gator bites
• Fried green tomatoes (equally good here)
• Catfish niblets
• French dip
• Caesar salad – I think this was the best caesar salad I’ve ever had in my life, not kidding
• Crawfish etoufee
• And anything cajun is delicious

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4. The Blue Pig

Address: 35 W Broad St, Cookeville, TN
Website: bluepigcookeville.com

I have only been to this restaurant about 2-3 times, but each time it was very good. The Blue Pig is directly across the street from Seven Sense and just down the street from Crawdaddy’s. This is convenient because if any of them are too crowded, you can just try the ones next door.

One of the times that I had their food it was takeout, so I don’t really remember the dining are too well. When you walk in you are greeted by a host or hostess and they will seat you or take your name if there is a wait. If there is a wait then they offer you soda or tea from nearby machines. I was never clear if this was meant to be free or if you accept it is added to your bill.

The inside was nice and the service was good. The food is why you come here though. The side items are great like mac and cheese and potato salad, but it’s the meats that will keep you coming back. I think I feel pretty confident saying that Blue Pig has the best beef brisket that I’ve had in a long time, maybe ever.

Here are a few of my favorite menu items:

• Beef brisket – if you are a fan of beef brisket, you owe it to yourself to try it from here.
• Pulled pork
• Baby back ribs
• Mac and cheese
• Potato salad
• Turnip greens

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5. World Foods

Address: 22 N Cedar Ave, Cookeville, TN
Website: worldfoods

World Foods is a small international deli that makes some amazing pizza. There is very limited seating here and they are often really busy, especially on the weekends. If you are at one of the local breweries or pubs and feel like a good slice of pizza, this is a great place to walk to. Alternatively, there is often a mobile pizza bus that lurks around nearby called The Pizza Machine. I have not tried it yet personally, but my kids have and they say it’s good too.

World Foods makes metropolitan style pizzas with a variety of delicious toppings that you might not find at other traditional pizza shops. Some examples of those are:

• Gyro and feta
• Buffalo chicken
• Sweet chili chicken
• Pancetta and portabella
• Prosciutto and spinach
• and many others

They also make traditional muffaletta sandwiches and have a number of other unique menu items.

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6. Father Tom’s

Father Tom’s is a smallish pub and restaurant just across the street from 37 Cedar. Like 37 Cedar, they have excellent food and adult beverage options. The menu here is more limited than some of the other surrounding food options in the area, but what they have is delicious. If you’re stopping in for a quick lunch I recommend the grilled cheese and tomato soup or one of their delicious salads.

The seating area is also smaller here than other nearby places, but they do have a nice outdoor seating area. This place is definitely in our rotation as the food is alway very good and so is the service. The pricing last time was also surprisedly lower than we expected. Although that could have been because we skipped appetizers and desserts.

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7. Mauricio’s

Address: 232 N Peachtree Ave, Cookeville, TN
Website: mauricioscookeville.com

Mauricio’s is not technically in the heart of the west side, but it’s pretty nearby. Just a few blocks from all the action of the breweries and the pubs, is in my opinion, the most authentic Italian restaurant around.

The restaurant is in an old house that has been converted into a restaurant. Your dining table will be in a room of a house, perhaps with a few other tables of diners. The tables are spaced far enough apart to have privacy.

They have a great wine selection and an upscale, elegant looking menu. Everything I’ve tried has been worthy of the higher prices that you’ll get with a restaurant like Mauricio’s. You’ll find things like calamari, fried ravioli, and seafood stuffed mushrooms on the appetizer menu.

I have only been to Mauricio’s twice, and both times I got the filet. However I know several others that have, and I always sample from my girlfriend’s plate and she from mine. Here are a few items we have gotten and thought were really good.

• Filet mignon – It might be difficult to find a better one in Cookeville
• Lobster ravioli
• Mauricio’s lasagna
• Blackened salmon
• Fettuccini Alfredo
• Chicken marsala

There are many other items to choose from at Mauricio’s. The main reason we don’t go here as often as the others, aside from them being pricier, is that if you want to eat here you have to make a reservation well in advance. It’s just a bit of a hassle and it’s much easier to just show up somewhere and ask for a table. So if you want to eat here, I’d call and make a reservation at least a week in advance.

8. Fire and Vine

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Address: 115 W 1st St, Cookeville, TN 38501
Website: fireandvinecookeville.com

Fire and Vine is new to Cookeville in 2023. When a new restaurant comes to town I always give them a few months minimum, somethings longer, to work out some of the kinks. We ended up visiting Fire and Vine about 2 months after they opened, on a whim.

They’re located directly across from Red Silo Brewing if you are familiar, if not it’s within walking distance of everything else on this list. There’s a nice rooftop are to sit and eat, we chose to stay inside because it was kind of hot out that evening. Maybe next time.

Quick overview of our experience at Fire and Vine in Cookeville

Disclaimer: new restaurant, some of the slight negatives may be fixed in time.

The food

The food was overall pretty tasty. While not outrageous, expect higher prices. We ordered the crab cakes as an appetizer which were pretty good, they were comparable to most other nice places around town in taste. Only these were very small, and kind of pricey for the amount you get.

My filet was cooked well and flavorful. The rest of our food was also fine and the wine was good. No complaints really in the food department, the crab cakes thing just stuck out. My brother later mentioned to me that he thought they were rather small when he went, so I’m not the only one.

Service

The service was also fine, but not amazing, simply because everyone was so busy. There were a couple times where we seemed to have been forgotten about and we couldn’t find our server. Just the pains of a new restaurant on a busy night. With that said, I don’t have any complaints here and look forward to things only getting better as all of the employees get used to a new restaurant system.

Atmosphere

It’s actually a neat restaurant with the location being a real plus and something that could help this place stick around for years to come. I only see the west side continuing to grow, a new food truck park is even going in nearby for all of the food trucks that have popped up.

Back to the atmosphere, it was the standard industrial vibe that everyone goes for these days. That’s fine, it’s just always so loud in those places that have a 100% open concept with concrete floors and brick walls. You can barely hear yourself talk. That may just be my personal preference though. That aside, it’s a very cool place and one worth trying for yourself.