Food in Nashville
Things to do, by neighborhood
Places
101 placesEvery place we cover, A to Z. Pick a stop for somewhere to be before or after.
Named for I-55, the highway connecting Memphis to New Orleans. Jason McConnell grew up hauling horses down I-55 and fell in love with Delta and Gulf Coast cooking. Fried catfish and po'boys, shrimp and grits, all of it under corrugated metal and a gas station light fixture. Featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Lunch & dinner
Daniel Lindley's five-time James Beard-nominated wood-fire kitchen in a 96-year-old barrel-roof warehouse, formerly a cotton bag plant. Mashed potatoes on every table. An 8-foot grill, a 28-foot bar. Less famous than Rolf & Daughters, equally good.
Dinner hours
Jonathan Waxman's restaurant in a converted automotive garage on McGavock, named for his mother. The wood-fired oven runs the menu and the JW Chicken is the dish people come back for. It is a sit-down meal, so give it time.
Lunch and dinner daily, kitchen closes around 10pm
James Beard American Classics winner since 2009. Cafeteria line since 1982: pick your meat, pick your three sides, pay cash. Kahlil Arnold runs it now. Monday through Saturday until 3pm, closed Sunday. Leave time to get where you’re going next.
Mon to Sat until ~3pm, closed Sun
Two dozen kitchens under one roof a block off Broadway. Useful when the group cannot agree or you need dinner without a reservation.
Open through dinner
The Duke's crew opened this Korean spot in Riverside Village with an Atlanta chef in the kitchen. Sit-down dinner, good cocktails, a little more considered than the rest of the East Side.
Burgers on Woodland Street, a short walk from Five Points. Counter service and no reservation, so the only thing to plan around is the line.
Open until 10 PM
A bakery and cafe on 8th doing pastries, sandwiches, and coffee. There are a few tables inside and a counter to order from. It closes at seven most days, earlier on Sunday.
Mon to Sat 8am to 7pm, Sun 10am to 4pm
Biscuits on Belcourt Ave, open 7am to 3pm every day. The Princess is a fried chicken biscuit with hot sauce and honey, and the Bonuts are fried biscuit dough. Expect a wait on weekends.
7am to 3pm daily
Walk-up soft serve on Charlotte since 1951, renamed for Bobbie McWright when she bought it in the eighties. Harmony Korine shot the milkshake scene in Gummo here and the stand still looks the same.
Until 9pm Mon through Thu, 10pm Fri and Sat, 5pm Sun · Walk-up window; cash-friendly, seasonal hours.
This is the hot chicken shop you're looking for. Just don't get it above medium on your first try. Trust us.
Open through dinner
A river-lodge restaurant on Music Valley Drive built around Tennessee outdoor cooking. Catfish, trout, ribs and steaks, with fried pickles and hushpuppies to start. Large enough to seat a group without much wait.
Dinner from 4pm
Tandy Wilson. Eight James Beard nominations. Won Best Chef Southeast in 2016. The belly ham pizza has been on the menu since they opened in 2007: pork belly brined and treated like prosciutto cotto. It's still the thing to order. The cornbread gnocchi, too.
Dinner hours
Chuck Cinelli cooks his grandmother Lucia’s recipes, and his mother Joan comes in six days a week to check the kitchen still does it her way. Grocery in front, tables behind it. Bocce courts on the lawn.
Until 9pm Sun through Thu, 10pm Fri and Sat · Call ahead on busy nights.
Steakhouse and wine bar on Main Street. Good wine list, dependable dinner when you want to sit and spend a bit. Jason McConnell's place. He also does Red Pony and 55 South nearby.
Dinner hours
A cafe at the old depot just off the public square, two miles east. It opens at 6 AM every day and serves plate lunches and diner food until 8:30 PM Sunday through Thursday, 9 PM Friday, and 8 PM Saturday.
Daily from 6am, closing between 8pm and 9pm
Reliable, affordable Mexican on Gallatin Pike. No pretense, no wait on most nights. Locals eat here constantly.
Lunch & dinner
Pizza and rotisserie chicken from restaurateur Sam Fox, in Hill Center on Hillsboro Pike. Full bar, happy hour 3 to 6 on weekdays. Kitchen runs to ten on Friday and Saturday.
Until 9pm Sun to Thu, 10pm Fri and Sat
Kurdish and Turkish cooking in the Elysian Plaza shopping center, a third of a mile up the pike. Kebabs, flatbreads, and lentil soup from 11 AM. The kitchen closes at 8:30 PM on weeknights and 9 PM Friday through Sunday.
Daily 11am to 8:30pm, Fri to Sun to 9pm
A Mexican restaurant on the far west end of Charlotte Pike, out past White Bridge. Full sit-down menu from 11 AM, and the kitchen runs to 10 PM every night and 10:30 PM on Friday and Saturday.
Daily 11am to 10pm, Fri and Sat to 10:30pm
On the National Register of Historic Places. Lynn Chandler opened it in 1939, taking over a soda fountain that had been on this block since the 1920s. Get the Dreamsicle: vanilla ice cream spun with orange juice and sherbet. Or the griddle burger with crinkle fries. Jimmy Buffett ate here after playing Exit/In.
Mon to Sat, 7:30am to 4pm. Sun, 9am to 3pm.
Deb Paquette's restaurant at 303 Demonbreun. She was the first woman in Tennessee to qualify as a certified executive chef. Lunch on weekdays, dinner from 4:30, closed Sunday.
Lunch weekdays, dinner from 4:30 PM. Closed Sun
A diner named for Kevin Bacon's character in the 1982 film Diner, with 300 standing for a perfect bowling score and nodding to the Melrose Lanes that once occupied this strip. The bar was built from a repurposed bowling lane. Breakfast and lunch only, seven days.
Mon to Fri 7am to 2pm, Sat and Sun 7am to 3pm
The 100 Layer Donut is the thing here, a croissant-dough donut cut into squares. There is also coffee and a few breakfast items. They close when the donuts run out, which happens some days before the posted time.
Mon to Fri 7am to 8pm, Sat and Sun 8am to 8pm, or until sold out
Norman Fox opened it in 1973. The original sign came from a Memphis franchise and still hangs outside. For the 50th anniversary they sold glazed for 25 cents, the 1973 price. Get the glazed.
Daily 5am to 9pm
Doug Havron named it after his daughter Gabriella. Opened 2009 in the building that used to be Hap Townes. Grass-fed beef, house-baked buns, milkshakes made with house-made syrups. Lunch only, closing around 2:30pm. A lunch stop before heading out later.
Lunch only, closes ~2:30pm
Po'boy bread flown in from New Orleans. The chicken and andouille gumbo is the anchor; the debris fries are worth knowing about. This is the real Cajun thing.
Open through dinner
Memphis fried chicken on Dickerson. Get it spicy.
Lunch & dinner
A Greek and Mediterranean counter on Gallatin Pike that runs to two in the morning. Gyros, falafel, kebab plates and fries, ordered at the register. Food, not a scene.
Daily 10am to 2am
Hot chicken ordered by heat level, from Southern all the way to Shut the Cluck Up. This is the 19th Ave South location, the one closest to Music Row. The line is usually long and usually moves.
10:45am to 10pm, until midnight Fri and Sat
Hot chicken at the Melrose end of 8th, ordered by heat level from mild up through Shut the Cluck Up. There is a bar attached and a patio on the side. The line moves, and it runs later than most of the corridor.
Until 10pm, 11pm Fri and Sat
Julia Sullivan's Food & Wine Best New Chef 2018, James Beard nominee. The raw oyster program is the reason to start at the bar. The smoked mackerel toast and wood-roasted fish are worth knowing about. Polished without being stiff.
Dinner Tue through Sat, brunch Sat and Sun
Burgers cooked to order with shakes and a beer list, on the 21st Ave S strip. Open until eleven on Friday and Saturday. Order at the counter and they bring it out.
Until 10pm Sun to Thu, 11pm Fri and Sat
A food hall with several kitchens. Grab a burger at Hugh Baby's, a gyro at Music City Gyros, or Vietnamese at Vui's. Useful when the group needs dinner without turning it into a reservation project.
Open through dinner · Counter-service food hall.
Sean Brock opened this one in 2013 in a 19th-century house on Rutledge Hill, a few blocks south of Broadway. Southern cooking built around ingredients sourced in the region. Allow time for a seated meal.
Dinner from 5 PM, plus Saturday brunch
One of the most extensive Jamón Ibérico programs in the country. Get the bacon-wrapped dates, croquetas or pulpo. Dim lighting, marble and tile.
Dinner hours
Win and Patti Myint opened the original across the street in 1975. Their children Anna and Arnold reopened it at 2013 Belmont Blvd in 2021. It was a James Beard semifinalist in 2024 and carries Thailand's official Thai cuisine seal. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Lunch Wed to Sat, dinner Tue to Sat, closed Sun and Mon
Burgers and a beer list longer than the food menu, in a bar about the width of a hallway. Two in the morning Thursday through Saturday.
Until midnight Sun through Wed, 2am Thu through Sat · Walk-in counter service, and it is a tight squeeze.
Jeni Britton's ice cream, Hillsboro Village. Brown butter almond brittle or wildberry lavender. Two scoops. The afternoon is better for it.
Open daily
A steakhouse on Louise Ave that has been running since 1934. Doors open at four every day, so an early dinner is easy to get. Reservations are worth making.
From 4pm daily, until 8pm Sun
Mediterranean counter service further down Hillsboro Pike, south of the mall. Gyros, kebabs, falafel and a vegetarian menu. Closed Sundays and shuts at eight the rest of the week.
11am to 8pm Mon to Sat, closed Sun
A Korean restaurant in a strip on Charlotte Pike, about two and a half miles east. Lunch and dinner from 11 AM. It is closed Thursday and Sunday, so check the day before you drive over.
Mon to Wed 11am to 9pm, Fri and Sat 11am to 9:30pm, closed Thu and Sun
Named for the cappelletti, 'little hats' in Italian. Descended from Alfresco Pasta, which fed Nashville for decades. The meatball sub and the sausage and peppers sandwich. Italian market, imported goods, great soup. Get here early.
Daily 11am to 8pm
Italian deli and grocery on Belcourt Ave, the fourth store after Germantown, Cool Springs and Gallatin. Sandwiches, soups and house-made pasta up front, dried pasta and fresh ravioli to take home. Closes at eight.
11am to 8pm Mon to Sat, 11am to 5pm Sun
Hal Holden-Bache and Cara Graham opened this in a corner building in Lockeland Springs in 2012, and the James Beard Foundation nominated it for Best New Restaurant inside a year. Community Hour runs 4 to 6 with $7 snacks and drinks, and a cut of it goes to local school parent-teacher groups.
From 4pm, closed Sunday · Call ahead on busy nights.
The Inglewood outpost of the local burger chain. Same formula: burgers, craft beer, open through late.
Open late
Chriss Goyenechea named it after his kids Mae and Max. Full Filipino market and restaurant in Madison. Chicken adobo, sisig, lumpia, palabok, sweet longanisa. All-you-can-eat buffet with live music every Friday and Saturday. A real find on Gallatin Pike.
Lunch & dinner
Chef Julio Hernandez started making tortillas during the pandemic from his garage, masa milled from nixtamalized corn his family has grown in Tlaxcala for generations. James Beard semifinalist before the restaurant even opened. The tortillas are the whole deal. Get whatever's wrapped in one.
Dinner hours
Biscuit sandwiches and coffee at the Melrose end of 8th. You order at the counter and they bring it out. Daytime only, closing at two on weekdays and three on weekends.
Mon to Fri 7am to 2pm, Sat and Sun 7am to 3pm
$1.50 oysters at happy hour Monday through Friday, 5 to 7. Gulf Coast seafood with Brack May in the kitchen.
Dinner until 10pm
Pat Martin's whole-hog tradition from Henderson, Tennessee. Same operation as the original Nolensville spot. Brisket, ribs, pulled pork on Elliston Place, walkable from most of Midtown.
Open through dinner · Elliston Place location; verify hours before you go.
Mas Tacos is an East Side staple. Order a lot, leave happy.
Tue to Sun, 11am to 9pm · Walk-in counter service.
Wood-fired tacos and a rooftop with margaritas, a few minutes from GEODIS Park.
Merridee Erickson started selling bread from a log cabin in Fairview in 1981, moved to this old hardware warehouse on 4th Avenue in 1984. Scratch breads, pastries, breakfast and lunch from 7am Monday through Saturday. Whatever you get, take your time.
Mon to Sat, 7 AM to 5 PM. Closed Sunday
Open at 19th and West End since 1987. Southern cooking done as a sit-down meal, with breakfast and lunch on weekdays and dinner starting at 4:30. Valet parking is complimentary, which matters on this block.
Breakfast and lunch daily, dinner from 4:30pm
Old-school counter-service downtown. A simple, good ice cream stop.
Open daily
Local ice cream on Music Valley Drive. Doors do not open until 4 PM on weeknights, so a weekday matinee is too early for it.
From 4 PM Mon to Thu, from 11 AM Fri to Sun
Mitchell's IS Riverside Village. Relaxed, caring, neighborly. Here at The Rounds, we love the French dip, but we can't advise against anything else.
Daytime
Family-style Southern in a Victorian house in Germantown. You sit with strangers, the dishes rotate: fried chicken, country ham, biscuits, cornbread, green beans. One price, all-you-can-eat. Pass the dishes. A genuine Nashville ritual.
Daytime through early dinner
A scratch kitchen and cocktail bar on Lebanon Pike. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 8 AM to 9 PM, which covers breakfast through a late dinner.
Wed to Sun 8am to 9pm
Ground floor of the Cambria hotel at 114 8th Avenue South, on the line between SoBro and the Gulch. Southern plates and a full bar, serving from 7 AM until midnight.
Until midnight, 11 PM Sunday
A Mexican kitchen on McGavock Pike, about a mile away. It starts serving at 7 AM on weekdays, so breakfast, lunch, and dinner all work here. It closes at 3 PM on Sunday.
Mon to Thu 7am to 9pm, Fri 7am to 10pm, Sat 8am to 10pm, Sun 8am to 3pm
Ramen on Division, with tonkotsu and a few rotating bowls plus small plates. The counter seats fill first. They break between lunch and dinner on weekdays, so check the clock.
Mon to Fri 11am to 3pm and 4pm to 9pm, Sat and Sun 11am to 9pm
Carey Bringle named the restaurant after the leg cancer took when he was a kid. Texas Monthly called the dry-rub pork ribs the best Memphis-style in the country. That's the order. Don't skip the pimento cheese.
Open til close
Bread and pastries. The quiet Franklin daytime stop.
Daytime
A Donelson deli and bar serving until two in the morning, about ten minutes south of Music Valley. Sandwiches, wraps, tacos and burgers from the kitchen, a full bar, and Bongo Java coffee if you want the other direction.
Until 2am nightly
New York style 18-inch pies in the old Sir Pizza building on Gallatin Pike, with toppings like pistachio pesto and lamb flank. Indoor bar seating and an outdoor patio with picnic tables. A long nonalcoholic list, including mocktails.
Tue to Sat 11am to 8pm, Sun noon to 5pm
Started on Granny White Pike in 1983 and opened this 21st Ave S location in 1990. Slices, whole pies and calzones. Open until eleven on Friday and Saturday.
Until 10pm Mon to Thu, 11pm Fri and Sat, 9pm Sun
Kettle-boiled bagels on Belmont Blvd with a long list of house cream cheeses. Sandwiches, lox boards, coffee. Daytime only, closing mid-afternoon.
Mornings through mid-afternoon
Restaurant and bar with live music upstairs on weekends. A reliable sit-down dinner before a bigger show a few blocks away.
Open through dinner
Family owned since 1993, serving Mediterranean and Greek plates from a counter inside Opry Mills. Gyros, kebabs, falafel and hummus, ordered at the register and out fast. The independent option in a mall otherwise full of chains.
Mon to Sat 10am to 9pm, Sun 11am to 7pm
Phil Krajeck's pastas are the reason Germantown has a food reputation. The cecamariti is the dish people talk about years after eating it: cultured butter, black pepper, cacio e pepe logic in fresh pasta form. James Beard semifinalist. One of the best restaurants in Tennessee.
Dinner hours
Butcher counter and meat-and-three. A gem of the community. Roy will probably greet you himself, and will make you feel like you should move to the neighborhood.
Daytime
Tacos, tortas, and a long tequila list on McGavock. The patio faces the street and fills up on warm afternoons. Weekend service starts at ten in the morning.
Mon to Fri 11am to 10pm, Sat 10am to 10pm, Sun 10am to 9pm
Hibachi tables and a sushi bar in the strip on Lebanon Pike, a minute's drive away. The kitchen runs from 11 AM to 9:30 PM most nights and to 10 PM on Friday and Saturday.
Daily 11am to 9:30pm, Fri and Sat to 10pm
Tex-Mex on 21st Ave S that has fed Vanderbilt students, hospital staff and Music Row for decades. Open until eleven six nights a week. Counter ordering, no ceremony.
11am to 11pm Mon to Sat, 11am to 5pm Sun
Steaks cut in-house, scratch yeast rolls and a broad menu. Useful when a group wants an easy sit-down dinner on Music Valley Drive without turning it into a project.
Dinner hours
A relative newcomer to the East Side, Schulman's already feels like part of its fabric. Classic rock blaring, greasy eats cooking, and a neon-lit, smoke-filled back patio. Good for a quick bite during the day or an extended--and we mean extended--hang at night.
Open through dinner · Walk-in friendly; call ahead for larger groups.
Texas-style barbecue on Gallatin Pike, served from a counter until it sells out. American wagyu brisket and salt-and-pepper ribs are the reason to come. It is listed in the Michelin Guide, it takes no reservations, and it closes at three.
Wed to Sun 11am to 3pm or until sold out
Indian cooking on 21st Ave N, with a lunch buffet from 10:30 to 2:30 and dinner service from late afternoon. Closed Tuesdays. Plan around that one day and it works the rest of the week.
Lunch and dinner, closed Tue
Tony Gemignani opened the first Tennessee location of Slice House on Main Street in April 2025. Four crusts are on offer, New York, Detroit, grandma and Sicilian, sold by the slice or as a whole pie, with craft beer and natural wine. An hour of parking is validated.
From 11am, closes 8pm most nights
Family-owned Thai in a tiny house-shaped building on 8th. The pad thai is the reason people wait. Get there when they open. Closed Sunday and Monday, so plan around it.
Lunch & dinner, closed Sun and Mon
A 38-seat diner at 107 3rd Avenue South themed around the Sun Records artists. Breakfast and lunch only, 7 AM to 3 PM every day.
Open 7 AM to 3 PM daily
A vegetarian restaurant in a converted house on Azalea Place, open since 2012. The menu runs from black bean burgers to Indian and Mexican plates. Closed Sunday.
Mon to Thu 11am to 9pm, Fri and Sat 11am to 10pm, closed Sun
An Indian street food counter a half mile north on the pike. The menu is entirely vegetarian and built around snacks and vegetable sandwiches. Closed Mondays.
Tue to Sun 11am to 9pm, closed Mon
Asian fusion on Church St with a bar that keeps going after the kitchen slows. Drag dinner runs Friday and Saturday nights and drag brunch on weekend mornings. Closed Mondays.
5pm to 10pm, until 11pm Fri and Sat, closed Mon
Chef Victor Albisu's taqueria in Hill Center on Hillsboro Pike. Opens at eight for breakfast tacos and runs through dinner with a full bar. Tortas and quesadillas alongside the tacos.
8am to 9pm, until 10pm Fri and Sat
Counter-service tacos and margaritas on 21st Ave S, in the middle of the Hillsboro Village block. Order at the register, sit inside or out. Open until nine most nights.
11am to 9pm, until 8pm Sun
A taqueria a mile north on the pike that runs 24 hours. Tacos and tortas ordered at the counter, cash-friendly and fast. It is open whenever you get out.
Open 24 hours
Six floors at 200 3rd Avenue South, with a menu that runs from breakfast plates to steaks, oysters and sushi. Each floor looks out over downtown.
Until 11 PM, 2 AM Fri and Sat
Ground floor of the Pinnacle building at 150 3rd Avenue South. Raw oysters, steaks and a long bar. The kitchen closes between 3 and 5 PM.
Lunch and dinner, closed 3 to 5 PM
Dinner in an 1840s Italianate townhouse on Rosa L. Parks Boulevard. Prime steaks and seafood, Monday through Saturday from 5 PM. Reservations are worth making.
Mon to Sat, 5 to 9 PM
Cold-pressed juice, smoothies, and a short menu of bowls and wraps on 8th. Orders come out fast and most people take them to go. Opens at seven on weekdays.
Mon to Fri 7am to 6pm, Sat and Sun 8am to 4pm
Sandwiches and fried things from the Turkey and the Wolf crew, now in East Nashville. You'll like the lights and the decor. You'll want to hang for a while. Get the burger.
Daytime through early evening
Ramen (try the tonkotsu!), izakaya snacks, and a deep Japanese whiskey list. Allow time for a seated meal.
Dinner hours · Call ahead on busy nights.
Vietnamese on Bransford with rice plates, vermicelli bowls, and pho. You order at the counter and find a table. Open eleven to nine every day, which covers an early bill.
11am to 9pm daily
It's Waffle House. Open always. No explanation needed.
24 hours
Pizza and a full bar on Lindell, off the 8th Ave corridor. Slices and whole pies, plus salads and a draft list. Closed Monday, open late the rest of the week.
Tue to Thu until 11pm, Fri and Sat until midnight, closed Mon
Wendell Smith opened it in 1952 and died in 1967. His widow put son-in-law Jakie Cook in charge two years later, and Jakie is the one who turned it into a meat and three. Benji Cook runs it now with his sisters. The corner is named after the family.
Until 7:10pm Mon to Sat, closed Sun · Counter service, no reservations.