TL;dr - Not well seasoned, sloppy commercially produced tasting sides and biscuits, raw chicken. Not worth the drive.

I had some time after a business trip in Nashville and searched for a "signature" restaurant to visit in my remaining hours and The Loveless Cafe was on several lists - especially mentioning amazing biscuits!

The facility is a converted 1950's era motel spread across several buildings. The main house serves as the restaurant, the motel wings serve as gift stores, offices and their mail order operations. Next to the restaurant is their smokehouse which made the entire parking lot smell lovely! There is also a large barn out back that serves as a rental catering hall. I had time to view all of them during my thirty minute wait for a table.

I wanted to try a few things and ordered the sample platter with country ham, meatloaf, and fried chicken. I chose marinated cucumber and onion salad and hashbrown casserole. I'm a sucker for both fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese and they offered a fried green tomato pimento cheese biscuit slider.

Immediately after being seated I was served three of the signature biscuits, butter and two cups of preserves, strawberry and peach. The famous biscuits were a disappointment. They were not at all flaky but tasted more like quick bread that had been over kneaded and became chewy. They were closer to a Pillsbury refrigerator biscuit than a homemade biscuit. They were on the small side, probably 2 inches (5cm) in diameter. The preserves were both good, nice chunks of fruit and flavor.

I tried the biscuit slider first. The biscuit was the same biscuit I was served earlier, with generous lashings of pimento cheese and a fried green tomato. The tomato had no flavor at all, a touch of salt would have helped. The pimento cheese was a huge disappointment, it was closer to cheese whiz with pimentos added. Just a salty slimy mess.

The cucumber salad was typical for the south, cider vinegar, sweet white onions and cucumbers. It was fresh and had been marinated long enough to get the flavor in the cucumbers but not long enough to turn them in to pickles.

Now comes the hashbrown casserole. The salty, slimy cheese whiz, without the pimentos this time, seems to be the base. It used dehydrated potatoes as many places do. It wasn't great and wasn't worth finishing.

The country ham was very good, salty and a decent portion for a sampler plate. It was served with a small bowl of red-eye gravy which added quite a bit of flavor and cut the saltiness of the ham nicely.

The meatloaf tasted like depression meatloaf, mostly filler and very little meat. It nearly fell apart getting it on the fork and tasted more of soggy bread and barbeque sauce than meat.

Lastly, the fried chicken. The piece served to me had obviously touched either another piece or the bottom of the basket as the breading was missing from the top. I took a bite from the point end and it was good, but needed a bit more seasoning. Using a bit of their own branded hot sauce gave it the boost in flavor it needed. It was good but nothing to drive miles for. When I cut in to it for a second bite the interior was completely pink, and only warm to the touch. I brought this to my server's attention and in a few minutes a manager brought me a second piece and asked me to cut in to it while they were there. Again, pink with streaks of red. The manager walked away and my server came back a minute later and offered me a free dessert. I politely declined as I do not eat desserts, as a rule.

I was not compensated for the chicken, and paid my meal in full of $36.04. My server was good and I of course tipped them appropriately for their service.

I wouldn't go out of my way nor recommend anyone make the journey here. And if you do - skip the fried chicken.