SOL Restaurant, Franklin, TN

Last night we rang in the New Year in Franklin rocking out to Mike Farris at the Franklin Theatre. Before the show, we had reservations around the corner at SOL. When we called for the reservation, I was excited to hear that they had a dedicated gluten free menu, so I was looking forward to ending the year with a great gluten free meal.

The entrance to SOL is a little confusing, it’s actually around the side of the building. They share the same space (and owners) as 55 South which is in the front. On the inside, the decor and atmosphere was great. We got a little corner almost all to ourselves so it was fantastic for conversation. Our hostess brought me a copy of the gluten free menu which was quite large to my surprise. After looking at the menu and then comparing it to the regular menu, it quickly became apparent that they did not keep up with the gluten free menu as much as the other and it was very out of date. My wife was looking forward to the coconut rice only to find out that they took it off the menu a while back.

For dinner I had the Cochinita Pibil: Pork Roasted for 8 Hours in Yucatan Spices served with Sour Orange Mojo, Poblano Rice & Fresh Tortillas. It was a nice sized portion, not too much, not too little. The rice was spicy, just the right amount of kick to it to add more flavor to the pork. The pork was really fatty and rich, which at times can be good, but I really wasn’t in the mood for the fatty part tonight. The one main let down is that I couldn’t have any tortillas. They have corn tortillas available, but the ones they have are not fully gluten free. I’m not sure why they would go through all the trouble to have a gluten free menu and not take a small step to have gluten free corn tortillas. Mexican food without tortillas… it’s just plain strange.

My wife had shrimp tacos. This is where we found out about the tortillas. They brought her taco’s out on lettuce which made it seem like they made the portion smaller.

Overall, we had a great night. The one really bright spot was that since they shared the bar with 55 South, I could order a Sazerac from their menu and it was perfect! I’d link to the menu on their site, but I noticed even their regular menu there was out of date from what we had at the restaurant. Sorry no photos, it was really dark and nothing turned out well enough to add.

Last words: If you are in the area, check it out, but don’t go out of your way. The staff was nice and helpful, the food was OK.

Location: 403 Main Street, Franklin, TN
Price: $$$

Visit SOL’s website: http://www.solonmain.com


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  • Stacyblackwood

    Local Taco has gluten-free items indicated on their menu with little symbol at both Nashville and Brentwood locations.

  • Anonymous

    Awesome! I’ll have to check them out. Thanks for the info!

  • Kathy

    I have a personal question for you, do you have Celiac or do you prefer to eat gluten free? I ask because my husband has Celiac and is very untrusting of gluten free menus. Recently we found a favorite restaurant in Franklin discontinued their GF menu because they found out some of the item on it actually contained gluten. We enjoy eating out but it is tough when you have a skeptical patient!

  • Anonymous

    Hi Kathy. I do have Celiac and have to eat gluten free. Gluten free menus really just show that they kinda understand. I never just order off the menu, I’ve found too many errors also like fries being on the menu but no dedicated fryer (happened recently at Sperry’s). It is normally a good start though then I ask a lot of questions. Most of the time all my questions end up scaring the waiter/waitress that I end up talking to the chef or manager. Hope that help!

  • Kathy

    It does. I am willing to go through all those questions, but he is not. So your handle is doggeek, what kind of dogs do you have??

  • Anonymous

    We have 4, an American Eskimo, Springer Spaniel mix, Lab mix and Pyrenees mix. WIth glutenfreegeek.com I also run http://www.DogGeek.com.

  • Kathy

    Cool, I have three Cardigan Welsh Corgis.