Thanks, but no thanks

JM read my Ron's-has-closed lament, and she sent me an e-mail urging me to try H&T's Homecooking (which is located on Murfreesboro Road near Una-Antioch Pike).

I published a short piece about H&T's just over a year ago. After stopping there on my way home from work, I said this:

I ... stop[ped] at H&T's ... for some take-out. As soon as I looked at the menu, I remembered why I'd made only one trip to H&T's since it opened in 2005.

Don't get me wrong, H&T's has some pretty tasty grub. Tonight I had fried chicken, pinto beans, turnip greens and corn bread. The fried chicken had a peppery crust and was very juicy; the pinto beans rested in just enough soup, and had big chunks of ham in 'em; the turnip greens were expertly seasoned (ham hock, salt and pepper) and tender; and the cornbread, while a tad dry, had a rich buttermilk 'n' cornmeal flavor.

That said, H&T's features the highest prices, and smallest portions, of any meat-and three I've yet encountered in and 'round Nashville. When it comes to meat-and three restaurants, that's strike one, two, AND three as far as I'm concerned. $8 for a meat and two vegetables, and no drink, is way too pricey ... especially when you're still hungry after you've eaten your eight-dollar meal!

I've eaten H&T's food since that was first published. I went to a political get-together earlier in the summer, and the food had been provided by H&T's. I had two pieces of fried chicken (breast and wing), both of which were so hard I actually feared that I might crack a tooth. Not only did the episode ensure that I will never say "Food always tastes good when it's free" again, it also put to rest any notion that I might give H&T's another chance someday.

Thanks for the suggestion, JM, and thanks for reading. Just know that I won't be going to H&T's anytime soon -- no, hell, I won't be going to H&T's, period.