Frequently asked questions

Tuesday to Friday we serve from 6:30am to 2:30pm, with breakfast until 10:30am and lunch after that. On Sunday we open 11:00am to 3:00pm. We are closed Monday and Saturday.

Hours can change around holidays or at short notice. Call 615-780-9900 or check our Facebook page if you are making a special trip.

937 Locklayer Street, Nashville, TN 37208, in the Hope Gardens neighbourhood of North Nashville — around the corner from the Nashville Farmers’ Market and a short drive from downtown and Germantown.

There is a small lot beside the building and street parking on Locklayer and the roads around it. Both fill up at peak lunch and on Sunday. Ongoing construction in the neighbourhood occasionally affects access, so allow a few extra minutes.

No. Silver Sands is counter service — you queue, order along the steam table and pay at the end. There is no table booking. For large groups, ring ahead so we know you are coming, or arrange catering.

It varies. Early breakfast is usually walk-straight-up. The weekday lunch rush and Sunday dinner can mean a line to the door, but it moves steadily. Most people are through in well under twenty minutes even at the busiest times.

Very much so — families have been eating here for three generations. There is seating inside and some outdoor seating available.

You join the line, choose a meat, then call out your sides as you move along the steam table. Cornbread comes with the plate. You pay at the register at the end. Say “to go” at the start if you want it boxed. There is a full step-by-step guide here.

Cash and cards. We do not accept checks.

Plate pricing depends on how many meats and sides you take, and ingredient costs move. Rather than publish numbers that go out of date, we quote at the counter. Silver Sands is an inexpensive restaurant and portions are large.

Yes. Call 615-780-9900 and we will have it boxed and waiting. For anything more than a few plates, please use catering instead so the kitchen can plan for it.

We do not run our own delivery. Silver Sands has appeared on third-party delivery apps, but availability changes — check your app. Ordering direct is cheaper for you.

Smothered pork chops with greens, mac & cheese and candied sweet potatoes is the plate that best represents the kitchen. Fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy is the safest classic. Whatever you choose, eat the hot water cornbread — it is what people remember.

Our guide to the dishes explains everything on the board.

Yes. Special items rotate by day of the week, so Tuesday and Friday are genuinely different meals. A core of everyday meats, sides, desserts and drinks is on the line all week. Check the day menus before you come.

You can build a vegetable plate from the sides, and plenty of people do. However, several traditional vegetables — greens, beans and cabbage in particular — are seasoned with smoked pork. Ask at the counter and we will tell you honestly what is meat-free that day.

Regularly. Everything is cooked fresh in finite quantities, so when a pan is empty that dish is finished for the day. If there is something specific you want, come earlier rather than later.

No. It is well seasoned rather than hot — smoke, salt, pepper and long cooking rather than chilli. Hot sauce is available if you want more.

Yes — a weekly menu PDF and a full menu PDF are both available.

At least three days for any catering order, and considerably more around Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. A 50% deposit is required at least two days before pick up.

$175 for one meat and two sides, including bread and cranberry sauce, feeding 8–10 people. The meat is your choice of turkey with dressing, baked ham or chicken. Price is subject to change for substitutions. See the holiday catering page.

No — catering is prepared for collection at the restaurant at an agreed time. We are a small kitchen and cannot staff off-site service.

Once an order is in the kitchen, no refunds are available. Call as early as you can if something changes and we will help where we reasonably can.

The restaurant was opened in the mid-1950s by Blanche Seay, which puts it at over seventy years in the same family and the same building. It passed to her niece Nellie McAdoo and then to McAdoo’s daughter, Sophia Vaughn, the current owner. Read the full history.

Sophia Vaughn, the third generation of her family to run it. She is a native Nashvillian and lives a couple of streets from the restaurant.

A Nashville restaurant tradition: a cafeteria-style counter where you choose one meat and three vegetable sides, with bread included. Silver Sands has been running one since the 1950s.

The dining room is not available for private hire, but we cater a great many private events for collection. Call 615-780-9900 to talk it through.