Foglight Foodhouse is a Cajun restaurant near Tennessee's Rock Island State Park. Stop in for excellent shrimp and grits and other specialties!
If you're visiting central Tennessee's Rock Island State Park, you'll find that restaurant options are few. Fortunately, one of those options is the excellent Foglight Foodhouse, a Cajun restaurant just outside the borders of the park.
This eclectic, cozy dining spot may feel like it's in the middle of nowhere, but the carefully curated menu makes it a foodie destination in its own right.
It's open for dinner hours, although during summer they may also offer lunch on Saturdays. Here's what else to know!
The Location
The restaurant is in Walling, Tennessee, a tiny community right on the edge of the state park. The nearest cities (also small!) are Sparta and McMinnville.
The restaurant overlooks the Caney Fork River. (When we visited the leaves and other brush made it a little difficult to see the river. I didn’t actually realize it was right on the river until we were leaving!)
There's no cell signal here, but they did have free wi-fi when we visited, which we used for GPS directions to head out of the area.
If you want to be on the outdoor patio overlooking the river, just be aware that the seating (despite being covered) is somewhat weather dependent.
When we visited they weren’t using the outdoor seating until evening time because of the extreme heat. (Opening the doors to the patio makes it even hotter inside, and their AC would struggle to keep up.)
We found the indoor seating to be really pleasant, though! And despite being fairly crowded, it wasn’t loud inside. (Maybe the potato sacks lining the ceiling dampen the sound?)
What We Tried at Foglight Foodhouse
For an appetizer, we had the Darling Billy Bread (toast with goat cheese and honey), and it was delightful. The goat cheese flavor was very mild, and I liked these a lot!
Friends of ours got the double knot pretzels, which are seasoned with rosemary, garlic, and orange zest and served with parmesan gravy. Our friends said those were also delicious.
You can check the menu online for updated selections!
For our main meal, we had the Bleu Winged Olive (trout topped with blue cheese and olive tapenade) and the Momma Hall’s Shrimp and Grits. The shrimp are cooked with mushrooms, cream, butter, and sherry.
Both our entrées were quite tasty and there was nothing left over!
Everyone else at our table loved their meals as well. Since we all tried different things, I left with the impression that everything here is fabulous.
The dessert menu varies day by day. We tried the chocolate mousse cake that was offered, and, as expected, it was decadent!
We highly recommend this spot, especially if you’re visiting Rock Island just down the road.
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