Step over to Donelson and fetch Fletcher's pizza, pasta, and ...

Back in the mid-90s, I played in a sandlot baseball league in Donelson. It was my chance to re-live my glory days of pitching for a local high school, made even more glorious by the fact that I was playing with guys who were former college and minor-league baseball players. One of 'em even showed me how to throw a screwball ... and my elbow still hurts to this day 'cause of it.

That said, THE after-game haunt for me and my fellow base-ballers was Fletcher's Pizza. At the time, Fletcher's was located in an old strip mall on the corner of McGavock Pike and Lebanon Road. Six bucks would get you all the pizza, spaghetti and salad you could eat, and five bucks would get you a pitcher of beer (I think the options then were Bud, Bud Light, and Miller Lite). We went mostly for the beer, so I don't remember much about the quality of the pizza back then.

Don't waste your time looking for that strip mall. Ten or twelve years ago it was torn down to make way for a Walgreen's. (A feller could write a lengthy essay about parcels in Nashville that were torn down to make way for chain drugstores.) Fletcher's moved into a vacant building on Old Lebanon Road which, if memory serves, was a Hardee's back in the day. For years I've been threatening to give the "new" Fletcher's a try. I finally -- finally -- made my way over there last week.


Fletcher's surely will never win any awards for its pizza, mainly because the crust has a too-crispy-'cause-it's-a-frozen-crust taste to it. The toppings are pretty good, however, and there are a half-dozen different toppings options on the buffet (the pepperoni 'n' sausage and the pepperoni, sausage, onions, peppers, and mushrooms were standouts).

If you're looking for a reason to hit Fletcher's buffet, go for the spaghetti and the cole slaw -- yes, cole slaw. The meat sauce has a rich, slow-simmered flavor, and it's loaded with Italian sausage. In addition, fresh spaghetti noodles are frequently placed on the buffet, so you don't have to worry about getting mushy, overcooked pasta (which is usually a hallmark of buffet spaghetti).

Now, about that cole slaw ...

I don't know what possessed the folks at Fletcher's to put cole slaw on their buffet, but I'm certainly glad they did. It's mayo-based, with crisp cabbage and plenty of carrots, and it tastes a lot like my grandmother's cole slaw. That right there is enough to make me go back ... indeed.

Fletcher's Pizza
2715 Old Lebanon Rd
Nashville, TN 37214
615.883.1844