Start from 22 curated places around Cookeville, TN, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Mauricio's Italian Restaurant
Set inside a restored 1910 residence on North Peachtree Avenue, Mauricio's is the kind of Italian restaurant that changes how you think about a small Tennessee town's dining scene. The lobster ravioli, roast lamb chops, and tiramisu made in-house are the dishes regulars order on repeat, and the fireplace-lit dining room feels genuinely intimate rather than contrived. Reservations on weekends are essential — the word spread long ago.
Father Tom's Pub
A wood-accented gastropub on North Cedar Avenue that elevated what a downtown Cookeville bar could be — proper craft beer selection, cocktails that take their spirit-forward recipes seriously, and a food menu that includes a petit filet and duck fat tots alongside classic pub staples. The crowd is local and loyal, and the room has the comfortable weight of a place that's been run well for a long time.
Trails & outdoors
Cummins Falls Loop (Gorge Trail + Overlook Trail)
Cummins Falls is the eighth-largest waterfall in Tennessee by water volume — a 75-foot drop into a gorge on the Blackburn Fork State Scenic River, about nine miles north of Cookeville. The permit-required gorge hike lets you wade into the plunge pool at the base, which is the payoff that makes this trail different from a standard waterfall viewpoint. The 2.5-mile round-trip combines the easy overlook trail with the more demanding gorge descent.
Burgess Falls River Trail
A 1.5-mile moderate trail that passes four separate waterfalls before reaching the 130-foot main Burgess Falls — the most dramatic waterfall cascade in the Upper Cumberland. The trail runs along the Falling Water River through a narrow gorge with increasingly spectacular views as you progress downstream. The final viewpoint at the main falls, perched above the sheer plunge, is one of the better waterfall vistas in Tennessee.
Things to do
Red Silo Brewing Company
Cookeville's first craft brewery, housed in a historic red grain silo on West First Street and now established as a downtown social anchor. The beer program runs 26 rotating taps covering a wide range of styles — the range and quality have grown significantly, and the sours and seasonals in particular draw beer travelers from outside the region. The taproom atmosphere is one of the most comfortable gathering spots in downtown Cookeville.
Cookeville Performing Arts Center
A proper mid-size performing arts venue behind Dogwood Park that hosts traveling Broadway productions, comedy acts, concerts, and local theater from the Cookeville Drama Club across its multi-week season. The building is significantly nicer than its civic origins suggest, and the programming quality has improved consistently as the region's arts appetite has grown. Season tickets sell out in categories each fall — single tickets for specific events are the more accessible option.
Landmarks & sights
Cookeville Depot Museum
The 1909 passenger depot for the Tennessee Central Railway now houses a museum telling the story of how that railroad opened the Upper Cumberland region to commerce and connection. The building itself is beautifully preserved — a classic small-city depot with original woodwork, waiting room benches, and the scale and detail that makes old train stations worth visiting on their own terms. The exhibits include railroad artifacts, local history, and a restored caboose on the adjacent tracks.
Tennessee Technological University
A public research university with a handsome campus that anchors Cookeville's identity as a college town, with the kind of collegiate architecture and green space that makes it worth a walk even without an official reason to be there. The campus arboretum is the most underused attraction — labeled trees throughout the grounds create a walkable botanical experience. Cultural events, athletic competitions, and the university gallery are open to the public throughout the year.