A C-Store With Music, Trivia and Food

The Tennessean Travel Stop has become a destination.

January 14, 2025

How do you draw customers to your business? The Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tennessee, had great food and decided that an element of fun might get travelers and locals to extend their visit. The travel stop has become a destination, complete with music, dancing and trivia night.

“If you think of travel stops, it’s a quick in and out. We want to be a place that people want to come and stay,” said Tara Polk, general manager.

The Tennessean’s been around since 1972. Gregory Sachs bought it in 2017 and hired Polk. “He saw potential. He loved the food and the atmosphere,” she said.

Buffet Favorites

“I think we have the best meatloaf in the world.”

Polk makes a bold claim, but according to customers, she’s right.

“We’re known for our meatloaf. I’ve had meatloaf in other places and ours is the best. I love it so much that I make the same meatloaf at home,” she said, adding, “It’s not just my opinion. Customers love it. It’s the one thing we keep on our buffet every day. We swapped it out once and the customers were mad.”

People love the Southern, homecooked food offered by the Tennessean, which has its own propriety barbeque sauce in original, sweet heat and chipotle. “We smoke everything here,” said Polk. “We have pulled pork, brisket, chicken, smoked bologna and ribs.”

Adding live music was part of changing the travel stop from a pit stop to a destination.

Smoked bologna?

Bologna is rising in popularity. If you move in the world of food, you’ll find everything from basic deli style to gourmet offerings—and that’s no bologna.

To continue reading A Tennessean Destination from the January 2025 issue of NACS Magazine, click here.