http://www.athensfamilyrestaurant.com
2526 Franklin Pike
Nashville, TN 37204
(615) 383-2848
Location
Being that it is right off of Franklin ave in Nashville, it is convenient for most anywhere you live or if you are out and about and need to get a bite to eat.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is quaint. Red white and blue walls and trim with cafeteria style tables and chairs. There are only about 10 tables so it lends to a nice cozy feeling. The place looks like it was decorated in the 70′s and never updated but this is not a bad thing. I feels nice. It feels like a place that has been in Nashville for a long time.
Food
The menu is mostly Greek for lunch and dinner with a nice amount of Mediterranean seafood dishes. we opted for breakfast of course. We had Eggs Benedict, banana pancakes and and egg sandwich. The Benedict was cooked just right but I didn’t feel the wheat English muffin helped. I think it distracted from the expected flavor of a traditional eggs Benedict. They had a generous covering of Hollandaise sauce but I would have been happier with a thicker, richer sauce and half as much if I had to have a choice. All in all not bad but not memorable. As far as the egg sandwich… I make a mean egg sandwich and I judge all others compared to mine. This one didn’t come close. Now what I did LOVE was the banana pancakes. The nailed it! Instead of chopping up bananas and mixing it in the batter like some places do, Athens pours the batter on the griddle and then adds slices of banana on top. This way all the bananas are the same distance away from the griddle surface and they cook evenly. Great job. I really enjoyed them. The hash browns, even though we ordered the potatoes, were cooked too fast and not stirred. The outside was browned and the inside was not done enough. I saw someone else having a “skillet” breakfast and it looked incredible. I will definitely go back for one of those!
Service
The service was up to par. One miss for the hash browns over potatoes. No big deal though. All else was nice.
Overall
It may seem like I picked on the food a bit here and I did. I am picky about my food and have high expectations in what I get for my hard earned money. I want more than I can do for myself in my own kitchen. With that said, I would still go back to Athens. I think they have a nice combination of atmosphere, charm and menu items to keep me going back and trying other things. Athens is worth your time.
