Down Home Restaurant · Est. 1955 · Rutledge, Tennessee

Know You By Name · Treat You Like Family

Down Home Restaurant

Established 1955 · Rutledge, Tennessee

Nearly seventy years of biscuits and gravy, chicken and dumplings, and a table that always has room for one more.

1955
Serving Since
70+
Years of Family
100%
Homemade
🍳 Breakfast served fresh every morning Chicken & Dumplings — made in-house, same recipe since 1955 🥧 Ask your server about the pie of the day Ham Steak Breakfast Combo — the one everybody orders 📞 (865) 828-3000 · 7755 Rutledge Pike · Rutledge, TN 🍳 Breakfast served fresh every morning Chicken & Dumplings — made in-house, same recipe since 1955 🥧 Ask your server about the pie of the day Ham Steak Breakfast Combo — the one everybody orders 📞 (865) 828-3000 · 7755 Rutledge Pike · Rutledge, TN
1955 Doors
opened
1970s 2nd generation
joins
1990s Community
institution
Today 3rd generation,
same recipes
Our Story

Nearly Seven
Decades of
Home Cooking

— and still going.

Down Home Restaurant opened its doors in 1955 with a simple belief: that good food, made with care, shared with neighbors, is one of the most important things a community can have.

We’ve never changed that belief. The recipes on this menu today are the same ones that fed your parents and their parents before them. The biscuit gravy. The chicken and dumplings. The meatloaf made from scratch every single morning. All of it, the same — because it’s good, and because changing it would feel like a betrayal of the people who trusted us with their Sunday dinners.

“This table has seen first dates and fiftieth anniversaries, celebrations and quiet grief, kids who grew up to bring their own kids. Whatever brought you through our door today — we’re glad you’re here.”

Families in Grainger County have watched their children grow up at these tables. Regulars walk in and we know their order before they sit down. We’ve welcomed back people who moved away twenty years ago and still stop here first when they come home.

That’s not a business strategy. That’s what happens when you genuinely love the people you feed.

— The Down Home Family, since 1955
📋 See The Menu Find Us
Why Down Home

The Best in Town
for a Reason

Four things we have never once compromised on.

Made From Scratch

Every sauce, every gravy, every dumpling — made in our kitchen by people who care, not a factory three states away. You can taste the difference, and you always could.

Family First, Always

We’ve fed three generations of Grainger County families. Your table is always ready. Your order is usually remembered. Your welcome is always real.

We Know Your Name

We don’t just feed you — we remember you. Your usual, your birthday, your story. That’s not a policy. That’s just who we are, and always have been.

Fair & Honest

Real home cooking shouldn’t cost a fortune. It never has here. Every plate is generous because you came a long way and you deserve to leave full.

What Our Family Says

They Keep Coming Back.
Here’s Why.

Three generations of voices from Grainger County.
★★★★★ 4.9 · Google Reviews
★★★★★

My grandfather ate here in the early sixties. My dad brought me as a child. Now I bring my own kids every Sunday after church. The chicken and dumplings taste exactly the same as I remember. That’s not an accident. That’s devotion.

★★★★★

I moved away from Grainger County twelve years ago. Every time I come back to visit family, the first stop is always Down Home. Walking through that door feels like nothing has changed — and I mean that as the highest possible compliment.

★★★★★

They know my name. They know my order. They asked about my mother when she was in the hospital. That’s not a restaurant — that’s a neighbor. There is nowhere else in all of Tennessee quite like Down Home.

Find Us

Come Pull Up
A Chair

We’ve been expecting you.
Address
7755 Rutledge Pike
Rutledge, Tennessee 37861
Phone
Call ahead for large parties
Hours
Monday – Friday6:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Saturday6:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Sunday7:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Hours may vary on holidays — call to confirm
📞 Call Us Now
🗺️  Get Directions in Google Maps

“Just off Rutledge Pike — you’ll see the sign. We’ve been in the same spot since 1955. A place that’s been part of a community that long isn’t hard to find.” 🏡