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The current location on Fourth Avenue was opened in 1994 by Todd
Varallo with his brother, Tony. Todd is a grandson of Frank Varallo Jr., who continued after his retirement to help at the Fourth Avenue restaurant until his death in 2007. In December 2019, Todd sold the business to local businessman
166:. Varallo's moved to Church Street in 1919, and remained on Church Street for almost 80 years. Frank Varallo Sr. died in 1929, and his 15-year-old son Frank Varallo Jr. began co-managing the restaurant with brother Nick. Nick left in 1938 to open another restaurant. The
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to pursue a career in music as a violinist. A hunting accident ended his music career, so
Varallo set up a chili cart inside a Fourth Avenue saloon. With the success of his chili recipe, Varallo opened his restaurant in 1907 at 708 Broadway, now the location of
162:. He was immediately in competition with Melfi's, which had been operating since 1896, and Vietti's, which opened in 1898. Other chili parlors opened in later years, but today only Varallo's Restaurant remains, although Vietti chili continues in production in
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by Frank
Varallo Sr. in 1907. From 1994 to 1998, there were two locations. Frank Varallo Jr. took over from his father in 1929, and a second Varallo's was opened by his two grandsons, Todd and Tony Varallo, near the entrance to the
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and chili. However, Varallo's is open for breakfast, with typical breakfast fare including pancakes, French toast, and sausage gravy on biscuits. Aside from chili, the lunch menu includes "
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Varallo's claims to still use the original 1907 chili recipe. The restaurant is particularly known for "three-way" chili, which is a layered combination of
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Bob
Peabody, the first person outside the Varallo family to own Varallo's.
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305:"Varallo's Chile Parlor & Restaurant, Nashville's Oldest Restaurant"
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restaurant was closed when
Varallo Jr. retired on December 31, 1998.
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331:"FERRIER FILES: Oldest family restaurant in Nashville sold"
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location upon his retirement in 1998, at the age of 85.
216:"Varallo's claims title of oldest restaurant in state"
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126:chili parlor
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61:Todd Varallo
337:. Nashville
335:WZTV Fox 17
46:Bob Peabody
35:Established
30:information
382:Categories
341:January 7,
198:References
28:Restaurant
184:spaghetti
122:Tennessee
118:Varallo's
95:Tennessee
86:Nashville
66:Food type
51:Previous
22:Varallo's
147:Viggiano
53:owner(s)
43:Owner(s)
285:May 28,
256:May 28,
225:May 28,
188:tamales
141:History
108:Country
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103:37219
92:State
368:2018
343:2020
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178:Menu
164:cans
82:City
38:1907
111:USA
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