Provence Breads and Café has grown to become one of my favorite places for lunch while in Nashville. This little place, located in the Hillsboro Village is just across the street from the Pancake Pantry and down the street from Boscos Brewery.
My usual selection includes a sandwich and at least one side dish. I’d be challenged to name a favorite sandwich as I’ve enjoyed each one that I’ve had from the café. If I had to narrow the list down, I could recommend Smoky Roasted Ham sandwich with the caramelized onions or the Turkey with Swiss Emmentaler cheese and garlic mayo. I don’t recall the exact price of the sandwiches, but believe they cost just under $5 – an excellent price for a hearty and delicious sandwich.
The side dishes are superb. My wife will frequently skip the sandwich and just order several side dishes of Provence’s salads. She almost always orders the fresh fruit salad and either the New Potato Salad or the Penne salad. A single order of a salad costs around $3. I attempt to select a different salad or pasta each time so I can try the different foods. Of course I always sneak a forkful of my wife’s salads when she’s not looking, so I think I’ve tried them all. I can only recall one salad that I wasn’t overly fond of the taste. The salad was fine; the taste was of personal preference.
The desserts are fabulous, with the small fruit tart as my very favorite. I’ve been at Provence when they open in the morning, just to purchase a fresh fruit tart for my trip back home.
Be prepared to stand in line to order your meal. Some of the sandwiches are prepared earlier that day and the salad servings are spooned up from a bowl so we’ve experienced minimal delay once the cashier takes our order. A few tables are outside on the sidewalk and a few more are located in the front room of the café. In the adjoining room, additional tables can be found. Serviceware and napkins are located in the adjoining room, along with coffee and water. However, they’re not all located together so either my wife or I will wander around to get our glasses of water and forks.
Parking is challenging with parallel parking out front and small (and always full) parking lots behind the building. We’ve parked several blocks away and walked to the café. Fortunately the café has an entrance in the back along with the front, giving easy access to café patrons.
I wish there was an easy way to ship their fruit tarts to me.