The 21 Restaurants You Shouldn't Leave Nashville Without Trying

Make a reservation ASAP.

When it comes to amusement , there is so much to do in Nashville that it ’s sometimes easy to bury to project for meals in between music display , sporting event , and strolling from bar to bar along Lower Broad . But to miss out on the eclectic dining scene of Nashville would be to give Music City less than full measure . While the visitor hot spot of Lower Broad in Downtown does offer some groovy restaurant opportunities , most of the authentic jewel are out in the literal neighbourhood that are an well-heeled rideshare misstep from the Ne lights . Spend a little time and dining money by from the urban core to discover where locals be and use up , and you ’ll be rewarded with fantastical nutrient at any of these option .

Locust

12 SouthThere are few thing more interesting than a really talented chef with an fixation . Trevor Moran fits both those criteria , and he ’s turned his fascination with creating the perfect dumpling into a success of a eating place that was nominate the best in the country for 2022 by Food & Wine magazine . You could write the menu on a matchbook , but every exclusive item is worth your attention . Or go with a few friends and order everything for a meal of pork barrel dumplings , prawn pocket , kick tartare with the option of “ too much caviar . ” Do n’t block a finisher of kakigōri , a Japanese shaved - ice dish that can be topped with just about anything , as long as it ’s pleasant-tasting .

Kisser

East NashvilleThis tiny East Nashville tiffin - only office opens daily with a line out the door . The waiting line is filled with patrons yearn for the groundbreaking reimagining of Japanese comfort solid food courtesy of the hubby - and - married woman team of Brian Lea and Leina Horii . Both classically train chef , the distich execute their by choice limited menu to perfection , ranging from small bites like a tomato sandwich on house - baked milk bread accent with bonito kewpie mayo , furikake , and shiso to larger home such as marinated and grilled yellowtail collar and an umami - rich beef tataki udon bowl .

Rolf & Daughters

GermantownWhen chefs visit Nashville from out of town , this Germantown eatery is almost always on their eat - inerary . Starting off with one of the most eclectic wine lists in Nashville designed to get your juice flowing for an sinful meal , Rolf & Daughters is a delight with salvo after volley of pocket-sized plates from the kitchen served in a receive space with a neighborhood vibe . Dishes expose unexpected bursts of flavor from ingredients preserved , fermented , or pickled as part of chef Philip Krajeck ’s culinary obsessions which change frequently .

iggy’s

Wedgewood - HoustonBrothers Ryan and Matthew Poli track down the kitchen and front - of - house severally at this exciting Italian restaurant that leans on local purveyors to allow for the ingredient for classical pasta dishful with a twist . The energetic dining room stays filled with guests enjoy toothsome house - made pastas and merriment takes on classic crimson sauce dishes . A popular “ No Decision Sunday ” choice fundament couple at the chef ’s counterpunch for two crank , three alimentary paste , one sweet , and a bottle of wine-coloured selected by Matthew and his potable squad to complement Ryan ’s dish of the day . It ’s a delightful way to end the weekend without have to think too much about anything .

Butcher & Bee

East NashvilleRiffing on Mediterranean culinary art using southerly ingredients is the calling card of this popular East Side eating house that offers a variety of minor mezze plates and dips as starters along with big - format dish aerial serve family - style for the mesa . The whipped feta with turn honey is the “ ca n’t miss ” starter , or diners can take vantage of the “ edict Like a Pro ” options where they meet all the small plates course out like a repast or the “ Chef ’s Choice ” mess where the kitchen sends out a series of their current favorite dishes for a fixed price .

Bad Idea

NashvilleFounded by one of the urban center ’s most exciting untried sommeliers , Bad Idea has quickly become an East Nashville neighborhood hangout . In addition to a gripping beverage carte footnote with historic nuggets , tip , and suggestions courtesy of the expert owner , Bad Idea specializes in the cuisine of Laos see through the lens of chef Colby Rasavong who has worked in some of the most renowned kitchens in Charleston and Nashville . A limited , but still excellent late - dark menu aims at eatery and streak industry workers looking for something exciting to do after their displacement , as well as anyone seek some of the most exciting intellectual nourishment in the neighbourhood .

Audrey

East NashvilleNationally hail chef Sean Brock has found his happy place with Audrey , his exciting restaurant named after his grandmother who invite the new son to cling to her apron cosmic string while he learned the ways of the kitchen . Highlighting the ingredient and cooking proficiency of his native Appalachia , Brock and his squad have create a entrancing tasting menu of artfully inclined dish showcasing regional fixings like country ham and heirloom bean plant made even more singular with subtle Nipponese culinary influences .

Arnold’s Country Kitchen

GulchArnold ’s is the prototypal “ meat and three ” eatery in the city , which makes it the most iconic in the world . Nashville is home to the traditional steam board lunch service where dining compartment slew plastic trays along metal counters while selecting a meat such as knock beef , fried chicken , or catfish accompany by three classic southerly side dish . At Arnold ’s workers in kick and overalls dine next to political leader and country music wizard , enjoying toothsome fare made using sassy ingredients and the veritable cordial reception of the Arnold home and stave . It ’s not uncommon to see the great unwashed dining with suitcase tuck under the table , craving one last meal at Arnold ’s before maneuver to the aerodrome or their first taste perception of Nashville upon arrival .

Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack

Nolensville Rd . & DowntownThe fabled artificer of Nashville ’s most iconic regional dish antenna , hot chicken , is still the virtuoso . The newest locating in the Assembly Food Hall downtown makes it even more convenient to get your fix . serve objectively fantastic fry chicken as a base ( even if you consecrate it “ mild , ” crybaby ) , Prince ’s has heat level to please and punish any fan of the fiery fowl . Often describe as a spiritual experience , eat up the hot floor of Prince ’s chicken may actually make you palpate like you have provide your body .

Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria

Various locationsTheir great pizza and craft beer offerings would be enough to shoot down them on this list , but tenacious - time high school friend Clinton Gray , Derrick Moore , and Emanuel Reed have made a vast impingement by focusing on bringing people and opportunity to neighborhoods around HBCUs like their alma mater , Tennessee State University . The effect is the restaurant they cleverly call a “ pizza pie beeria ” because of its focussing on custom - made pies and trade beers . The bold interior decoration with pelvis - hop lyric stenciled on the rampart and the welcoming atmosphere really feels in and of the neighborhood . The trio has already expanded the concept to other Nashville neighborhoods , including the only Black - possess restaurant in the Lower Broad tourist district and young locations across the state and in Georgia .

Lyra

East NashvilleCleveland Park has plow into a dining destination thanks to the addition of this Middle Eastern eatery , where chef Hrant Arakelian draws on his Lebanese root to present a seasonal menu of sheer flavors sport noble-minded versions of hummus , roast vegetables , and originative heart dishes . The chef is particularly practiced with lamb and seafood , so put those at the top of your parliamentary law and workplace backwards to the appetizers from there . An affordable vino and cocktail list offer excellent accompaniments to the nuanced element of the food .

Lockeland Table

East NashvilleThe Browning automatic rifle and dining elbow room at Lockeland Table is almost always full of neighborhood resident chatting to one another while enjoying fine food and drink , but even if you enter as a stranger , you ’ll probably leave with some raw friends from this convivial eating place . A roaring woods blast in the pizza oven further warms the ambience , and the specialisation PIE that emerge from the infernal hotness are ideal for splitting as an appetizer unless you ’re too selfish to deal . The rest of the bill of fare features Southern fare with outside accent like the mandatory app of chicken liver pâté on Tuscan bread or the chef ’s signature dry - aged NY slip steak go past with an aesthetic belt of bright green chimichurri sauce .

Tailor Nashville

GermantownChef Vivek Surti is a first - coevals American of Indian descent who order the story of his culinary journeys through prix - fixe dining experiences that are really more like an intimate dinner company . The engaging chef introduces each line to the elbow room , share the philosophy behind and the evolution of each dish , many of which blend spices and flavor he find out about cooking at his mother ’s side in their home kitchen with New techniques that elevate the culinary art to fine dining condition . Thoughtful optional beverage mating complement each dental plate , and they ’re middling much required .

Drusie & Darr

DowntownThe Nashville bon vivant biotic community was fructify abuzz when the Hermitage Hotel declare that human beings - course of instruction chef Jean - Georges Vongerichten would be the culinary flair behind their revamp of the hotel ’s independent eatery alternative . The restaurant is identify after the hotel ’s former general manager ’s tiddler who get up play in the dramatic Beaux Arts third house of the property . Jean - Georges has make a globally revolutionise bill of fare featuring the abundant agrarian bounty of Tennessee , admit some items grown on a local farm that The Hermitage partners with to work the land . For a wizardly experience , take the ride with Drusie & Darr ’s taste computer menu and prepare to be enchant by the whims of the chef .

Husk

Rutledge HillThis shrine to southerly cooking has survived , nay boom , during executive chef changes through the class . Experienced pro Ben Norton helms the kitchen , and he maintains the continued excellence stem from the restaurant ’s puritanical dedication to the use of seasonal regional component . The plateful of seasonal vegetables is often overlook on the menu , but the quaternity of write photographic plate that go far at the table are n’t just a combination of side knockout . They are thoughtful venerations of the terroir of the South .

Bastion

Wedgewood - HoustonBastion is a unique treat in that it ’s really two restaurants in one . The Big Bar is a homelike cocktail and beer spot decorated like a casual living elbow room that happen to serve just one nutrient dish , a home of transcendent nachos project by James Beard - nominated chef - owner Josh Habiger . Tucked away behind the cake is an informal chef ’s table eatery where Habiger and his squad present thoughtful small plates cooked directly in front of diners and paired with one of the most inspire wine and cocktail lists in town . The lease chefs explain each dish and now and again take a prompt intermission from the line to change the vinyl on the lazy Susan to determine the double-dyed mood .

Peninsula

East NashvilleThe Spaniards and Portuguese have this eating place affair figured out . An eve of small clever plate of food pair with low-cost wines and inventive gin and tonics is the perfect way to enjoy a social repast with friends . That ’s also the simulation behind Peninsula , where you may traverse your mesa with tappa draw in the menu simply by listing a few fresh factor used in the plate ’s formulation . Part of the playfulness is being surprised by what the kitchen does to combine the sapidity into amazingly flavorful dishes .

Etch

SoBroAfter 10 running kitchens in some of Nashville ’s most beloved restaurants , chef Deb Paquette shows little signaling of slow down down . She continues to cod the preference bud of local diner with multiple level of alien international look as part of a tight bill of fare at lunch and dinner . A topographic point at the long chef ’s bar watching the team at oeuvre is more entertaining than a front - quarrel behind at a Titans game . Although admission rotate frequently , the cultish followers of her roasted cauliflower appetizer will not ever let Paquette take that off the menu .

Margot Cafe & Bar

East NashvilleThere ’s not much use of goods and services in checking the on-line menu at this intimate Five Points bistro build in a 1930s construction that was once a overhaul post . That ’s because for more than 20 years , the kitchen at Margot change up the option daily based on whatever fresh garden truck and protein they find oneself that play the chef ’s stringent specifications . Once they ’ve picked out the better of the good , talented cooks trade dishes urge on by French cooking informed with Southern sensibilities . In addition to fun Sunday suppers , the restaurant also drop periodic theme dinners around chefs or cookbook author who are admired by the kitchen staff .

Henrietta Red

GermantownDon’t permit Tennessee ’s status as a land - locked country dissuade you from call in Henrietta Red for some of the good seafood available anywhere . Chef Julia Sullivan has an enduring love for fish and shellfish , include a planetary menu of oysters flown in fresh . The main dining room is graceful without being fussy , and the good-time streak offer excellent casual happy hr deals including “ Chef Select ” oysters and price reduction on wine , craft drafts , and cocktail .

Present Tense

Wedgewood - HoustonThe squad behind this modern Japanese izakaya actually own their own sake company and import a score of rare rice wine-colored to couple with low dish of intricately - plated sushi , sashimi , and other East Asian - inspired culinary art . The world power move is to put yourself in the hands of the kitchen and order Present Tense ’s omakase experience , either do tableside or at the small chef ’s buffet where diner receive the full attention of the Captain James Cook faculty . A vibey mansion music desktop soundtrack completes the chill experience .