Charlotte Avenue is peppered with many lovely Nashville dining establishments. French treasure Miel sits just behind the beloved Bobbie’s Dairy Dip. And a few streets away there’s Coco’s Italian Market which I know has fabulous pizza and I hear has a delicious dining-in experience. These restaurants, along with several other ethnic eateries, might be the best motivation to venture west, but I have just discovered another reason—the L&L Restaurant Equipment store.

A plethora of commercial pots & pans, dinnerware, and heavy machinery sit inside. If you were opening a diner, it’s the place you’d go to buy things like plastic baskets, Parmesan cheese shakers, and napkin dispensers. The good news: This business is open to the public, and you can get restaurant-quality cookware at dirt cheap prices. The bad news: There is no AC up in this place! Just one fan pointing directly at the checkout girl. Even while you’re paying you get no breezy relief. So, I managed to escape before having heat stroke with four items which cost me $20 total.

I purchased a glass liter carafe for chilling iced coffee ($5), a ladle for dishing up soup ($3), a stainless steel turner to use with my cast iron ($3), and a heavy-duty baking sheet to replace the ones I currently have that scare the crap out of me every time they get hot and buckle in the oven ($8). Not too shabby, eh? I probably could’ve made out with more goods, but I could not take the heat so I had to get out of the kitchen supply store. I have a feeling I’ll be back. Probably just not until October or so.