You may have favorite restaurants, cafés, and coffee shops in Franklin that you return to again and again, but have you ever wondered how they got their names? Behind many of those familiar signs are stories you might never guess from the menu alone.
Some names reach back into Franklin history, while others come from family connections, personal experiences, highways, movies, pets, or words with unexpected meanings. In many cases, the name reveals something about the people behind the business or the idea that shaped it. Here’s a closer look at the stories behind some familiar places to eat and drink around Franklin.
O’ Be Joyful
O’ Be Joyful
O’ Be Joyful is a downtown Franklin bar and restaurant with a casual atmosphere, a menu of burgers, sandwiches, and an extensive whiskey and bourbon selection. The restaurant describes itself as a place built around gathering with friends and family, combining Southern hospitality with a modern bar setting.
The name sounds like an invitation to have a good time, but it comes from much older slang. “O Be Joyful” has been used since at least the early 1800s to refer to intoxicating drinks or homemade brew. An 1823 slang dictionary defined the phrase as “good liquor; brandy,” and it was part of a colorful vocabulary for libations that emphasized the supposed cheer it brought.
That history makes the name especially fitting for a downtown Franklin spot built around having a good time.
Gray’s on Main
Gray’s on Main is a downtown Franklin restaurant, bar, and live music venue serving Southern-inspired dishes, cocktails, wine, and spirits inside a restored historic building.
The name predates the restaurant by decades. The building was constructed in 1876 and spent much of the next century as a drugstore. In the 1910s, pharmacist John Moran hired a teenage Frank Gray as a clerk and soda jerk. Gray eventually took ownership in 1931, renamed the business Gray Drug Company, and continued working there until he died in 1967. In the 1950s, he installed the familiar neon Gray Drug Company sign that still hangs outside.
When the building was restored for the restaurant, many reminders of its pharmacy past were preserved, including the pressed-tin ceiling, heart-pine floors, pharmacy bottles, old prescription tickets, and names of former employees etched into the front-window glass. Booth seating was built from doors removed during the restoration, while tabletops were milled from salvaged wood.
When Gray’s opened in 2013, the city closed Main Street for the relighting of the old neon sign, drawing about 3,000 people. Gray’s continues to build on that history today, with owner Johnny Weber, who took over in 2026, expanding the restaurant’s live music focus.
1799 Kitchen and Bar Room
1799 Kitchen and Bar Room is the signature restaurant inside The Harpeth Hotel in downtown Franklin, serving Southern-inspired dishes built around seasonal ingredients, along with cocktails, wine, and a notable whiskey selection.
The name is a direct reference to the founding of Franklin. The city was established on October 26, 1799, and named for Benjamin Franklin, giving the restaurant a clear connection to the community’s earliest history.
That connection carries into the restaurant itself. 1799 describes history not simply as something to remember, but as a living influence that continues to shape its food, drinks, and gathering spaces. Its menu is rooted in Southern tradition while incorporating local ingredients.
The restaurant opened with The Harpeth in 2019 as 1799 Kitchen & Cocktails. In 2025, it relaunched as 1799 Kitchen and Bar Room, refreshing the space while keeping the name tied to Franklin’s founding year.
McGavock’s Coffee Bar & Provisions
McGavock’s Coffee Bar & Provisions is a casual café inside The Harpeth Hotel in downtown Franklin, serving breakfast, lunch, pastries, coffee, and other beverages.
The name comes from the McGavock family, whose history is closely tied to Carnton, a historic Franklin home and plantation. Randal McGavock, a former mayor of Nashville, established Carnton in the 1820s, and his son John later inherited the property. Three generations of the family lived there. During the Battle of Franklin in 1864, Carnton became a major Confederate field hospital, and the nearby McGavock Confederate Cemetery was later established on the property.
The café’s name draws on that well-known Franklin family and gives the Harpeth coffee shop a direct connection to Carnton’s history.
Fox & Locke
Fox & Locke
Fox & Locke is a Leiper’s Fork restaurant, bar, and live music venue known for Southern food, drinks, and a strong songwriter and performance tradition inside a historic country-store building.
The history of the name is a little complicated because the same store has carried more than one familiar name over the years. Jack Fox and Martin Locke opened Fox & Locke General Merchandise Store in 1947, giving the business their surnames. The store became a gathering place for the rural community, selling groceries, gas, and everyday necessities while also serving as a place for neighbors to catch up. The business grew enough that Fox and Locke moved the store into a larger building across the street in 1955, the same building the restaurant occupies today.
In 1960, the Puckett family purchased the store and renamed it Puckett’s. It operated under that name for decades and became increasingly associated with food and live music.
In 2022, Aubrey Preston became the owner of the Leiper’s Fork store and restored the original Fox & Locke name to honor the building’s roots and reconnect the business with the names of its founders. The change brought the store full circle, returning the original name to the same historic building where Fox and Locke had established the business generations earlier.
Puckett’s Restaurant
Puckett’s is a Southern restaurant and live music venue with locations in Tennessee and Alabama. The downtown Franklin location serves comfort food, barbecue, and other Southern favorites while continuing the brand’s long-running tradition of live music and songwriter rounds.
The name comes from the Puckett family, who purchased Fox & Locke in 1960 and renamed the Leiper’s Fork country store. By the time Andy Marshall bought the business in 1998, it was known as Puckett’s Grocery.
Marshall had grown up in the grocery business and wanted to focus on a small-town store where food, music, and community could come together. Rather than changing the familiar Puckett’s name, he kept it as he transformed the grocery into a restaurant and live music venue, adding family recipes and a small stage that became known for songwriter performances.
The Puckett’s name then expanded beyond Leiper’s Fork. In 2004, Puckett’s Franklin opened as the company’s first full-service restaurant, establishing the concept in downtown Franklin while the original Leiper’s Fork location followed its own path.
Merridee’s Breadbasket
Merridee’s Breadbasket is a longtime downtown Franklin bakery and café known for breads, pies, cookies, brownies, and other baked goods made from scratch, along with soups, quiches, salads, and lunch fare.
The name comes directly from founder Merridee Erickson, who grew up on a Minnesota farm and learned to bake alongside her mother. She later brought those recipes and traditions to Franklin and opened the bakery that still carries her name.
Merridee died in September 1994 after a battle with cancer. Her connection to Franklin is remembered beyond the bakery as well: a tree at Five Points honors her life, faith, and love for the community.
Merridee’s is now owned by Jim Kreider, and the bakery continues to emphasize old-fashioned, from-scratch cooking using basic ingredients.
Hattie B’s Hot Chicken
Hattie B’s Hot Chicken is a Nashville-born hot chicken restaurant with a location at The Factory at Franklin. The menu centers on fried hot chicken served in a range of heat levels, along with sandwiches, tenders, waffles, pimento mac and cheese, black-eyed pea salad, banana pudding, and other Southern sides and desserts.
The “Hattie” in the name comes from the Bishop family. Father-and-son founders Nick Bishop Sr. and Nick Bishop Jr. have explained that the restaurant honors three generations of women in their family who shared the name Hattie.
The concept grew out of Bishop’s Meat & 3 in Franklin, where the family began serving hot chicken before launching Hattie B’s as a stand-alone restaurant. The first dedicated Hattie B’s location opened in Nashville in 2012, and the brand has since expanded well beyond Middle Tennessee.
Perenn
Perenn
Perenn is a downtown Franklin bakery and café known for naturally leavened breads, laminated pastries, breakfast and lunch dishes, coffee and espresso drinks. Its menu has a European bakery-café feel, with an emphasis on in-house-made bread and pastries.
The name is derived from the word perennial, something that returns season after season. Founders Aubrey and Tyler O’Laskey have said the idea reflects the kind of place they wanted to create: one built around everyday rituals and somewhere people would return to regularly.
They also connect the name to gardens and the way things grow, return, and change over time. In that sense, Perenn is meant to suggest both continuity and renewal, as well as the idea of becoming part of a customer’s routine.
Culaccino
Culaccino is a downtown Franklin Italian restaurant from chef and owner Frank Pullara, serving handmade pasta, wood-fired pizzas, antipasti, and other dishes inspired by Italian cooking, along with wine and cocktails.
The name comes from the Italian word culaccino, which refers to the ring or mark a cold drinking glass leaves behind on a table. Pullara has explained that the word appealed to him because of the idea of leaving a lasting impression. Just as a glass leaves a mark behind, he wanted Culaccino to leave an impression on its guests and for guests to leave their own mark on the restaurant.
That idea fits a restaurant designed around gathering over food and drinks. The name gives Culaccino an Italian connection while also reflecting the kind of memorable dining experience Pullara set out to create in downtown Franklin.
etch
etch is a globally inspired restaurant from award-winning chef Deb Paquette. The original location opened in downtown Nashville in 2012, and a second location opened at The Factory at Franklin in 2024. The Franklin restaurant features a full bar, chef’s bar, private dining rooms, and a menu influenced by regions around the world.
The name etch reflects what Paquette hopes the food and dining experience will leave behind: a lasting impression. The restaurant describes its eclectic menu as a collection of innovative dishes inspired by Paquette’s favorite places and flavors, designed to leave an “etch” on each diner.
The menu changes with those global influences and is complemented by more than 80 wine selections, local high-gravity beers, handcrafted cocktails, and house-made seasonal desserts.
Scout’s Pub
Scout’s Pub is a modern Southern pub in Franklin’s Westhaven community, serving burgers, shareable plates, salads, entrées, craft beer, wine, and cocktails in a casual neighborhood setting. Its patio is dog-friendly, and the restaurant even offers a menu for four-legged guests.
Before the restaurant opened in 2016, A. Marshall Hospitality asked followers on Facebook to help name the new Westhaven concept. That process led to Haven & Ale, a play on the Westhaven name. When a Chattanooga business called Heaven and Ale raised concerns about the similarity, A. Marshall Hospitality agreed to change the name. The replacement name was Scout’s Pub, a tribute to the Marshall family’s Rottweiler, Scout.
The dog connection became part of the restaurant’s identity as well, from the dog-friendly patio and dog menu to events supporting animal welfare organizations. After Scout died in 2022, the restaurant held a Scout’s Pup Day in his memory, benefiting the Williamson County Animal Center.
Two Hands
Two Hands
Two Hands is an Australian-inspired café and restaurant at The Factory at Franklin, serving brunch and dinner, along with coffee, cocktails, wine and beer. Its health-conscious menu draws on the founders’ Australian background and emphasizes fresh ingredients and local sourcing.
Founders Henry Roberts and Giles Russell, both from Sydney, have said the name was partly inspired by Two Hands, the 1999 Australian film starring Heath Ledger. They liked that the reference felt Australian without being too obvious. Russell has also explained the broader idea behind the name: if you use your two hands to make something, it means you care.
That meaning fits the concept as well. The founders have connected the name to making food and coffee by hand and the everyday gestures people make with their hands, such as shaking hands, high-fiving, and hugging.
Hank’s Coffee Station
Hank’s Coffee Station is a Franklin coffee shop just west of downtown, serving espresso drinks, specialty coffee, and scratch-made pastries, along with breakfast items such as tartines, yogurt bowls, and overnight oats.
The shop occupies a former gas station, which makes the “Station” part of the name especially fitting. The Hank’s part comes from owners Joshua James and Savannah Starr’s dog, Hank James. The couple says they spent more than a decade dreaming about and learning the coffee business before opening their own shop, which they named for their “brave, bold, and lovable” pup.
Hank’s began with a mobile coffee operation before opening its Franklin brick-and-mortar location in 2024. The business has since expanded to Columbia, but the dog-inspired name and former-service-station setting remain central to its identity.
55 South
55 South is a Southern restaurant from chef Jason McConnell with locations in downtown Franklin and Brentwood. The menu draws from the flavors of the Mississippi Delta and Gulf Coast, with dishes such as po’ boys, jambalaya, oysters, fried green tomatoes, and other Southern favorites.
The name comes from Interstate 55, the highway that runs from Memphis through Mississippi toward New Orleans. McConnell built the concept around the food associated with that route, using the restaurant’s name as a direct reference to the places and flavors that inspired the menu.
That connection gives 55 South a built-in sense of place, with the name and menu both tracing a path through the South.
Culinary Dropout
Culinary Dropout is a casual American restaurant at McEwen Northside in Franklin, serving burgers, fried chicken, ribs, sandwiches, shareable plates, and cocktails, along with weekend brunch. Live music is also part of the experience.
The name has a direct connection to founder Sam Fox, who dropped out of college and used the money that would have gone toward tuition to open his first restaurant at age 21. Fox has said the name Culinary Dropout was a play on his own path into the restaurant business.
The first Culinary Dropout opened in Arizona, and the concept has since expanded to multiple cities across the country, including Franklin. Across its locations, the brand keeps the same casual approach, pairing chef-driven food with cocktails, live music, and a less formal atmosphere.
Familiar Places, Unexpected Stories
From historic family names and old storefronts to highways, movies, and words borrowed from other languages, the names of these restaurants reveal stories that are easy to miss at first glance. In many cases, the name is more than branding; it connects the restaurant to the people, places, and ideas that shaped it.
Knowing those stories adds another layer to places Franklin and Williamson County diners may already know well, whether it is a longtime downtown landmark, a newer café, or a restaurant concept that brought part of its history with it to Franklin.
