Nothing burns a Tennessee road trip faster than a two-hour detour to a restaurant an old list still says is open. That matters right now, because City Cafe in Murfreesboro closed in 2025 and Nashville’s Varallo’s closed in 2026, knocking two longtime names off Tennessee’s oldest-restaurant lists.
The survivors are worth knowing. From a Memphis hamburger tradition dating to 1912 to Nashville biscuits still coming out hot by the thousands, these places have outlasted interstates, changing neighborhoods, food fads, and generations of customers. And a few of their signature dishes have stories almost as old as the restaurants themselves.
The Burger Cooked in More Than a Century of Memphis Lore
Dyer’s Burgers traces its history to 1912, when Elmer “Doc” Dyer began developing the skillet-fried hamburger that would become the restaurant’s calling card. Today you can still eat that burger on Beale Street, or follow the tradition to Dyer’s Cafe just off Collierville’s town square.
The Beale Street version feels exactly where a Memphis legend ought to live…