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Davis Cookware & Cutlery Shop
Rating Details »
Categories: Coffee & Tea, Kitchen & Bath [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Hillsboro/West End, 21st/Vanderbilt1717 21st Ave S
Nashville, TN 37212
(615) 298-4728
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
10 reviews for Davis Cookware & Cutlery Shop
This is the place to go when you want to hear honest opinions about anything to do with cooking or coffee. The place has been there forever and they are experts at pretty much all things culinary. The staff is definitely old school, but they do not BS you to try and get a sale. Actually they might be more likely to talk you out of a purchase that you would regret than to try and talk you into a purchase that you don't need.
Also a great place to get your cutlery sharpened and just shoot the breeze with Mr. Davis on whatever topic that comes to mind.
I've never had a coffee buying experience quite like this, but that's definitely a good thing considering how impersonal such things typically are. I like to drink coffee at work, and a friend of mine and I share a coffeemaker. We take turns buying the grounds, and it was my turn to do so. I'd heard about Davis Cookware so I gave it a shot.
Well, first off, parking around the area sucks worse than listening to Yoko Ono records. I had to park 3 blocks away! But that's not the business's fault....I'm sure when it opened 30 years ago there weren't as many college kids trying hard to be cool in all the trendy shops around there.
The store is run by a father/son team, and I ended up getting my ear talked off by the father for about 30 minutes. While I can appreciate his enthusiasm and his helpfulness in finding the right coffee for me, my lunch break was definitely stretched a bit further than it should have been (read: 2 hours instead of 1).
However, it was great to find a person who was actually knowledgeable about coffee and could point me towards a specific type of coffee for once. You just can't find that many places it seems, and it's sad. He even told me about this wonderful black pepper they have, and asked me to come back next time I'm making a dish that calls for black pepper, since he'd give me some for free. Great service!
I could tell I was in for an adventure immediately upon entering Davis. I was especially delighted by the extensive selection of miniature cookie cutters.
We came in for the tea and thus engaged the man behind the counter on the subject. If you ever do so, be sure you have at least an hour to kill. This man knows his tea - to an almost obsessive level of detail. The best part was that he was so excited by the end of the conversation and please to see our return in his interest that he gave us some samples of the unique and specialty teas with our purchase. One of the teas came in little balls about the size of ping-pong balls. When put in hot water the ball opens letting loose a bouquet of small flowers. Who knew tea was also a hobby magician? It's definitely more than I would usually spend on tea, but if you're ever looking for a way to wow your guests buy a bag of this tea and a large French press; it's sure to be a hit.
As David mentioned in his review, this place is more than a bit crowded, but the polite gentlemen who run Davis don't mind showing folks around. The whole store smells like delicious coffee, and their selection of grounds and teas is pretty extensive and affordable.
In addition to their fantastic smelling brews, Davis also carries an enormous variety of cookware. They have just about anything you'd need for your kitchen, but you may not be able to find what you're looking for without a bit of assistance. Regardless, it's a neat little store and I recommend checking it out.
Now that I know about Davis Cookware, I'll never shop for cookware or cutlery anywhere else in Nashville. Looking around the store or talking with one of the owners for a few minutes is worthwhile in itself, not to mention the unbelievable selection of coffee, loose tea, and kitchen items Davises has to offer. My guess is, if you're having trouble finding some specific type of cookware or tea, they'll have it here.
The lack of attention to presentation at Davis Cookware is pretty amazing/amusing: shopping there feels a little like digging around in your grandparents' attic. The owners are passionate about their cookware, and eager to impart their knowledge to anyone who's interested (for example, I overheard a very serious discussion about espresso machines while I was there).
This place is more than a cookware/tea/coffee store. Sure, the selection is fabulous and the father/son team that operates the store is beyond knowledgable about cast iron, All-Clad, flax seed or spice grinders, etc. But, the store qualifies as a spot for local color because the owner has been selling said cookware at the same location for 30 years. I went in for a pair of tongs last weekend and came out with a super fresh and delicious bag of Japanese Sencha, more than I ever wanted to know about cast iron and the lowdown on the best places in the city to get Turnip Greens. My dad once said he thought the owner could sell a person oceanfront property in Nashville, and he might be right.
They have coffee flavors you can't get anywhere else, like snickerdoodle and jack daniel's and 170 different kinds of tea. The store is crowded with merchandise, but, like I said, the service is friendly and helpful, if occasionally a little pushy. One of Nashville's strengths is its great locally-owned businesses like this one.
Davis Cookware and Cutlery is a nice shop in Hillsboro Village. It's a little crammed with stuff, but just ask someone who works there and they can find what you are looking for.
I'm not a big fan of knife blocks (something about germs collecting down in there) and wanted to find a magnetic knife strip for my knives. This was the place for it! I love supporting local businesses, and there's tons of kitchen gadgets in this place. Very friendly staff who know what they are talking about.
I ended up at Davis Cookware and Cutlery Shoppe not for their cookware or their cutlery but rather because they have coffees and teas galore! According to their sign they have: 50 black teas, 25 flavored black teas, 15 flavored green teas, 25 green teas, 7 earl greys, 5 jasmine teas, decaf teas, Chai blends, and Rooibos (PS: I have no idea what a Rooibo is). Though I can't attest to the fact that they actually have this many teas (I didn't count) they do in fact have a great selection. The place looks like a basement where people just dumped boxes of kitchen supplies, and arranged brown bags of tea and coffee, but that only makes it more endearing.
This place is definitely amazing! So I went in there to buy my mom some teas for christmas, and the service (ie the Davis's, there is a sr and jr) are kind of crazy, but incredibly helpful, informational, and nice. Their tea selection is absolutely ridiculous as well as their coffee and they will tell you everything you want to know about it. I was in the store for about an hour and Davis Sr talked to me about cookware and such for at least half of that time. It was great. So if you ever need to buy knives, cookware, coffee, tea, or any kitchen stuff, dont go to williams sonoma in the mall cause those old ladies dont know shit compared to the guys at Davis Cookware! The best and most knowledgeable people in town.
I am not particularly fond of coffee, tea, cutlery or cookware, but I love this jam-packed little store just the same. I doubt Davis Cookware has changed a bit since it opened. You'd never think you'd find such an authentic, family owned business next to trendy boutiques. But one day I ended up in the shop with a friend who was looking for tea. And I had the pleasure of meeting the brothers who run the shop. They are truly delightful people to talk to... Hilarious actually. Worth the trip alone. If you are into coffee, tea, cutlery or cookware, then all the better. Also, a really decent selection of cake decorating supplies, which was a bit surprising. A lot of the cookware had been for sale since at least 1980, which makes the packaging very interesting.
