In the less than five years since Waldo’s Chicken & Beer opened its first location in Germantown at 1120 Fourth Ave. N., the chicken chain has quietly become one of Nashville’s biggest expansion success stories. Leaning on a tight menu of tenders and on-the-bone chicken, sandwiches, salads and sides, the restaurant group has experienced extremely rapid growth.
To wit, on Thursday, May 2, they will officially cut the ribbon on Waldo’s 17th location at 5316 Harding Pike. If you’re like me and aren’t exactly sure what is Harding Pike vs. Harding Road vs. Highway 70, I’ll give you a landmark. The latest Waldo’s takes the place of the long-shuttered Belle Meade Krystal, scene of many of my youthful indiscretions when I was growing up in West Meade.
(Examples: dumpster-diving for discarded slider boxes, hoping to discover the missing letter that would have spelled out “KRYSTAL” and won my friends and me beer money for the summer. Also, more than once pulling up to the drive-thru to ask for a single small order of fries and five cups of ice — to cool the bottle of whatever, probably André, that we had managed to acquire through miscreant means.)
Imagine if Krystal had served beer back then, or don’t, because Waldo’s will definitely feature both beer and cocktails along with the menu of made-from-scratch food. The new location will seat about 80 people and offer seven televisions for your sports-watching pleasure. (Frankly, 21-year-old Chris might never have left that place.)
If you want to help Waldo’s celebrate the grand opening on May 2, you might want to get there a little early before they swing open the doors at 10:30 a.m. That’s because the first 100 people in line will receive a card entitling them to one free O.G. Chicken Sandwich a month for the first year, along with some other Waldo’s swag. Congrats to the local success story!
Over in the Nations, another local-hero business is celebrating its success with a series of culinary collaborations. Pennington Distilling Co. has planned two big events over the next few weeks, both of which will feature some great food and drink.
The first is a special dinner they are calling “The Cask Cuisine Experience” on Wednesday, May 15, 6 to 9 p.m. The evening will kick off with a cocktail reception in Pennington’s Barrel Room at 900 44th Ave. N. After the meet-and-greet, it’ll be time to eat, and guests will sit down to a four-course dinner created by the Westin Nashville's chef, Mark Vuckovich. Pennington’s master distiller Carter Collins has worked with the chef to create a menu that will pair with the distillery’s line of Davidson Reserve Whiskeys, which will be presented as neat pours or as part of cocktails to accompany each course. The meal will conclude with a Whisper Creek-inspired dessert that perfectly pairs chocolate and peanut butter.
The $200 tickets are extremely limited to this intimate event, so you’ll want to grab one soon if you want to attend.
The following week, on Tuesday, May 21, at 6:30 p.m., Davidson Reserve will again be in the spotlight, this time as part of a whiskey-pairing dinner at Henley in honor of National Tennessee Whiskey Day. Chef Kristin Beringson has crafted her own four-course menu to pair with Pennington’s whiskeys, and Collins will also be on hand to discuss the pairings.
In the announcement of the dinner, Beringson says: "We are excited to collaborate with Davidson Reserve to celebrate National Tennessee Whiskey Day in style. This event is a fantastic opportunity for whiskey enthusiasts and food lovers alike to come together, indulge in exceptional cuisine, and raise a glass to the rich heritage of Tennessee whiskey."
Tickets to the dinner are just $75 and are available at Henley’s reservation page.
