Franklin’s appeal extends far beyond its historic charm, world-class musicians, and scenic backroads. In recent years, the restaurant scene here has blossomed, offering exciting culinary experiences rooted in local agriculture. Franklin’s top chefs are leading the way in local sourcing, partnering with local farms and artisans to craft vibrant menus that shift with the seasons. Here are a few Franklin restaurants taking dining out to a whole new level.
Southall Farm & Inn
Set on several hundred acres of rolling hills, this luxury resort ten minutes from downtown Franklin has become a culinary destination for locals and visitors alike. Both of Southall’s restaurants serve up seasonal, hyper-local cuisine that’s cultivated on the property’s 250,000 feet of growing space. Behind the scenes, chefs and farmers work together daily to plan the menus and showcase what’s flourishing.
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Southall’s flagship restaurant, January, features a menu that changes daily according to what’s in season and includes a signature multi-course tasting experience. Recent offerings include butternut squash straight from the garden, wood-grilled oysters “chowder style,” and steaks from Bear Creek Farm in nearby Thompson’s Station.
“When people leave January, I want them to feel like we have anticipated every moment of service,” says Chef Nate Leonard. “They’ve left nourished and excited about what they ate – flavor combinations that they wouldn’t have made at home.”
The more casual Sojourner is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with menus that embrace the season’s freshest ingredients. Here, you’ll find everything from handcrafted smoothies and house-smoked meats in the morning to hammachi char and Parisienne gnocchi at night – It’s elegant yet approachable dining at its finest.
etch
After much anticipation, etch officially opened its doors at The Factory at Franklin in October 2024. This is the second etch location for celebrated chef Deb Paquette, who opened her flagship restaurant in downtown Nashville back in 2012. While the Nashville menu has an urban flair that appeals to tourists and urban professionals, Franklin’s menu features more seasonal specials and ingredients sourced from local farms and artisans, like Noble Springs Dairy in Franklin and Bear Creek Farm in Thompson’s Station.
Paquette has a gift for transforming locally-sourced ingredients by adding global flavor profiles, resulting in unique dishes like Argentinian beef tenderloin and crispy fish tacos that taste familiar, with an exciting twist. Her vibrant dishes prove time and again that a locally-sourced menu can also be sophisticated, complex, and unexpected.
Culaccino & Culamar
In downtown Franklin, Chef Frank Pullara has added new life to the restaurant scene with his sister restaurants, Culaccino and Culamar, located right across from each other on East Main Street.
At Culaccino, golden wood, soft lights, and an open kitchen create a vibe that’s refined yet approachable. Here, regional Italian cooking techniques merge with Middle Tennessee meats, produce, and cheeses, resulting in to-die-for dishes that keep customers coming back. Much of the menu is crafted in-house, including the pasta, gelato, and limoncello, and lunch and dinner offerings vary according to what’s in season; local food partners are always listed at the bottom of the menu. Favorites here include the pizzas, made with dough that undergoes a 72-hour fermentation process, the richly sauced pasta dishes, and the octopus, which is marinated and then grilled to perfection, resulting in a dish that’s wonderfully crispy on the outside and tender and buttery within.
Meanwhile, seafood-driven Culamar has an immediate edge on the competition by boasting the only rooftop bar in downtown Franklin. The mood here is both stylish and serene, evoking the breezy feel of a seaside trattoria. Expect sumptuous coastal Italian seafood dishes ranging from grilled branzino to hamachi crudo, along with plenty of ingredients sourced from right here in Tennessee, like local eggplant, squash blossoms, and Bucksnort trout. Between the rooftop bar’s stunning views of downtown Franklin, the restaurant’s cozy-yet-contemporary atmosphere, and a menu filled with seaside Italian favorites, Culamar truly offers its patrons a night to remember.
Herban Market
Ashlea and Matt Hogancamp opened Herban Market back in 2015; their goal was to give Franklin families easier access to healthy, organic foods. Ten years later, the market has expanded into a bustling restaurant, bakery, and coffee, beer, and wine bar. Chef Bobby Benjamin joined the team 2 ½ years ago and, under his leadership, the menu has evolved to include plenty of gluten-free and dairy-free options as well as locally-sourced meats and produce. “We know where every single ingredient in our market and our restaurant is coming from,” Benjamin says with pride.
Each dressing, spread, and sauce, as well as all of Herban Market’s breads and baked goods, are made in-house from scratch. What’s more, Benjamin often works for months on a recipe before he decides it’s good enough for his customers. He’s convinced the quality of the ingredients he uses is vital to the success of the finished product, and he’s constantly working to improve them. “We started working on a corn-free, soy-free chicken,” he says, giving one example. This started eight months ago. We just got it in this past week. [We’re selling them as] whole chickens and also we’re selling them as parts.”
The Herban Market team works with more than 40 local farms in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia and the resulting restaurant menu is a feast for any discerning eater’s eyes. Look for tacos made with heirloom corn and stuffed with grass-fed beef or adobo braised chicken, salads incorporating seasonal Tennessee produce and Franklin’s own Noble Springs goat cheese, and breakfast dishes featuring pastured eggs and sausage. Herban Market is open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day except Sunday, and breakfast is served all day long.
As Franklin’s food scene continues to evolve, surrounding farms are expanding to keep up with the demand. As a result, we can expect to see more and more local menus that reflect the city’s Southern heritage and connect Franklin’s restaurants to the land and community that surround them.
