Arnold's Country Kitchen to open in Green Hills

Good news Nashville: you’ll soon have another spot to get your Arnold’s Country Kitchen fix.

The iconic, family-run meat-and-three plans to open a new location as soon as next month in the former Sylvan Park Restaurant space at 2209 Abbott Martin Road in the Green Hills Apartments for Retired Teachers building.

It’s a big move for the 23-year-old Arnold’s, which also plans to double the size of its original location at 605 8th Ave. S.

“I am thrilled to be near the (Music City Center). It’s so much fun and so exciting, yet I have a lot of friends that live in Nashville that would rather not spend so much time in line and I think the Green Hills won’t have as many of the tourists as the present one has,” said Rose Arnold, who opened the restaurant in 1982 with husband Jack Arnold.

With its down-home dishes such as roast beef, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and greens, Arnold’s draws a line of locals and tourists alike during the week. The restaurant has received national press, having been featured on Food Network’s “Diner’s Drive-ins & Dives,” and was awarded a James Beard American Classics Award in 2009.

“We are grateful that we have been here so long and people still like us,” Arnold said.

Arnold said her son, Manuelito “Mon” Arnold will head up the kitchen in Green Hills while her other son, Kahlil Arnold, will continue running the kitchen on 8th Avenue. Jack Arnold might even make appearances at the new Green Hills restaurant, she said.

“It’s an exciting family experience,” Arnold said.

The goal is to open the Green Hills spot by early to mid-December. It will have the same food offerings as the original restaurant, but with potentially one big change: table service.

“For a period of time, unless I decide to change it, we will not have the cafeteria line. …It should be as quick as the cafeteria line, but people can come and sit down and have waitresses. I just thought I would give it a try,” Arnold said.

If table service doesn’t’ work out, the Green Hills space is designed for a cafeteria line so Arnold’s can revert back to that style of ordering.

The Green Hills announcement comes as Arnold’s prepares to undergo a renovation at its 8th Avenue building, which will temporarily close the restaurant sometime in the next few months. Arnold anticipates the renovation and expansion should take about eight weeks. She doesn’t have a closing date yet.

The renovation will double Arnold’s dining room square footage and triple the kitchen space, which will allow for an expanded catering business. There will be new kitchen equipment and new bathrooms.

The expansion was made possible after the Arnold family purchased the building and adjacent parking in 2012.

“There will be more elbow room, for sure,” Arnold said.

Reach Lizzy Alfs at 615-726-5948 and on Twitter @lizzyalfs.