Gas Lantern Restaurant in Clarksville, TN

Restaurant in an old mansion

Scenes from the Gas Lantern . . .

Two friends took me out to eat today in Clarksville, TN, as a celebration of my birthday (last week). Clarksville is about 25 miles southeast of here, just across the state line.

We went to the Gas Lantern, a restaurant in a beautiful old house near the historic center of town. The restaurant is on the first floor, and the owners live upstairs.

Like many old homes, the front door opens to a large central hall with a big staircase at the other end. Four spacious rooms in the front of the house have been converted to dining rooms, and a room at the rear of the house serves as a miniature bar.

The kitchen is in the rear of the house, but it's certainly not apparent from the front rooms where the food comes from. I suppose the house was built with an invisible line between the formal front and the service areas in back.

The menu is Italian, and the food was good. We had a nice appetizer of Cheese Fonduta made with artichokes and spinach, and I had a grilled turkey sandwich that came with potato chips and a choice of pasta salad or pumpkin-apple soup. My only complaint was that the potato chips were hard.

When we were ready to leave, it was mid-afternoon and we were the only customers, so we walked through the other rooms and I snapped these shots.

This restaurant was formerly "The Rose Garden" and its hours were very limited, but now it has new owners and longer hours on more days of the week. It's an interesting place, and I hope it succeeds.

Historic photos of the home

After we left the Gas Lantern, we went to the Clarksville Museum in the old Customs House, and there (ugh) I received my first senior discount. The lady at the desk discretely asked if any of us ladies was over 55. I guess I could have lied and said no. Being of a truthful nature though, I admitted my age and accepted the $1 discount on my ticket.

Clarksville Museum

Montgomery County (TN) Courthouse