Brief

Croquet Cafe is now open in Centennial Park

Centennial Park's restored 1963 croquet clubhouse serves Southern picnic fare, coffee and soft serve at 2530 Park Plaza, and every purchase supports the park.

By Up Next Nashville · Updated Oct 27, 2026

Photo courtesy of Croquet Cafe

Centennial Park has a restaurant of its own for the first time. Croquet Cafe opened on August 29 inside the park's 1963 croquet clubhouse at 2530 Park Plaza, a mid-century modern building that spent about forty years dormant before reopening as a cafe steps from the Parthenon, Lake Watauga and the Sunken Garden.

The cafe is a nonprofit run by Centennial Park Conservancy in partnership with Metro Parks, and its proceeds go back into the park. Conservancy president John Tumminello led the project, and the menu comes from Joseph Bogan and Crystal De Luna-Bogan of The Grilled Cheeserie, built around a Southern picnic, with paninis, salads, wraps and picnic boxes meant for a blanket on the lawn.

The details honor the park itself. There is an Athena picnic board, a Yellow Rose smoothie named for the Tennessee suffragettes, and an Invisible String Cheese grilled cheese nodding to the Taylor Swift bench nearby. Pastries arrive daily from Dozen Bakery, the coffee bar pours 8th and Roast beans, and the counter turns out dressed up hot dogs, loaded chips and soft serve for the walk around the lake.

Hours run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, and mornings get earlier soon: starting November 2, the cafe opens at 7 a.m. daily. Order at the counter, take a covered outdoor table, or carry lunch out onto the grass and make the park the dining room.

Read more

• Croquet Cafe (official site) - the cafe, its menu and hours.