Dine

Downtown / SoBro

A 30-plus-vendor food hall on the top floors of the Fifth + Broadway development, with four bars, three stages, and what it bills as Nashville's largest rooftop overlooking downtown.

615-800-5395

Wedgewood-Houston

The front bar at Bastion, walk-in only and separate from the tasting-menu room behind it, pours sharp craft cocktails alongside a short list of beer and a plate of nachos that regulars order on principle. It's the loosest, most neighborhood-feeling room in Wedgewood-Houston, no reservation required.

615-490-8434

The Gulch

The Airstream-trailer biscuit operation that grew into one of Nashville's defining brunch restaurants, now anchoring The Gulch with East Nasty biscuits, Bonuts, and a line that's part of the neighborhood's daily rhythm.

A Dallas-born taqueria doing genuine Mexico City street food inside Assembly Food Hall — spit-grilled meats, hand-pressed tortillas, and a cheese-crusted specialty most Nashville menus don't bother attempting.

True Neapolitan pizza cooked in a volcanic-stone, wood-burning oven, tucked into the Assembly Food Hall lineup a short walk from a second DeSano location in North Capitol.

Edgehill Village

Tucked into the old boiler room of a 1920s steam-cleaning plant in Edgehill Village, Old Glory keeps the exposed brick, coal hopper, and smoke stack intact and builds a candlelit cocktail lounge around them. There's no exterior sign, so look for the golden-lit triangle entrance off Edgehill Avenue rather than a storefront.

Midtown / Vanderbilt

Nashville hot chicken meets weekend brunch — hot chicken and waffles, a Nashville Hot Bloody Mary garnished with a chicken tender, and boozy slushies, in a loud, TV-lined room built for groups.

(615) 610-0750

Historic Edgefield, East Nashville

A tiny, unfussy corner cafe in Historic Edgefield that's been East Nashville's neighborhood brunch spot since 2010 — walk-ins only, sake cocktails on the side, and a menu that covers everything from the classic plate to Nutella-stuffed French toast pancakes.

(615) 770-7097

Bellevue / West Nashville

A converted 1950s motel court at the foot of the Natchez Trace, still making Lon and Annie Loveless's original biscuits, country ham, and red-eye gravy. Come hungry and expect a wait — this is one of the most-visited restaurants in Tennessee for good reason.

Hillsboro Village

Nashville's original pancake house, running the same Hillsboro Village storefront since 1961 with a line out the door most mornings. Twenty-three scratch-made pancake and waffle varieties, no reservations, no apologies.

(615) 383-9333

Midtown

Nashville's original serious cocktail bar, operating since 2009 on the fifth floor of the Bill Voorhees Building with no sign to announce it. The bartenders here still work from a pre-Prohibition-leaning menu and won't rush a shake, which is precisely the point if you've had enough of Broadway.

615-810-8200

The Assembly Food Hall outpost of East Nashville's beloved beer-garden burger joint, serving the same hand-ground patties and house-made brats without the wait for a table across town.

SoBro / Downtown

A downtown steak-and-oyster house that turns its weekend mornings over to a genuinely composed brunch menu — lemon ricotta pancakes, shrimp and grits, and a chicken-and-waffle plate dressed up as a proper entrée.

(615) 636-2626

The Gulch

Nashville's most celebrated fine-dining experience, now seated at a twenty-person U-shaped counter on the fifth floor of the Bill Voorhees Building in the Gulch. A Michelin-starred, multi-course tasting menu is composed and plated directly in front of you. Reservations release monthly and go in minutes.

(615) 810-8200

The Gulch

Jonathan Waxman's live-fire restaurant in a converted auto shop in the Gulch, built around a wood-burning oven and grill that anchor everything on the menu. Weekend brunch here is one of the best in the city, and the roasted chicken with salsa verde is the dish regulars order without opening the menu.

(615) 988-9700

Rutledge Hill

Nashville's most beloved meat-and-three. A cafeteria line, cash only, with rotating daily specials of Southern classics. The cornbread is legendary, the turnip greens are perfect, and the line out the door is part of the ritual. Open weekdays through mid-afternoon only.

(615) 256-4455

Midtown

The hot chicken spot most visitors end up at, and for good reason — Hattie B's is outstanding. The Shut the Cluck Up heat level is legitimately dangerous, the sides (pimento mac and cheese, black-eyed pea salad) are some of the best in town, and the line moves fast.

(615) 678-4794

Broadway

Luke Bryan's five-story Broadway landmark is one of the strip's most impressive spaces, with live music on every floor and a rooftop bar with panoramic skyline views. The food is genuinely solid — the chicken sandwich and Nashville nachos are crowd favorites.

(615) 851-1032

East Nashville

A small, loud, always-packed East Nashville institution. Teresa Mason's tacos — especially the chicken tortilla soup and the fried avocado taco — have a cult following that stretches far beyond Nashville. Arrive early and expect a line.

(615) 543-6271

Germantown

Communal dining, Southern style. You sit with strangers at long tables and pass heaping platters of fried chicken, biscuits, and country ham — all you can eat. It's the purest expression of Nashville hospitality. Brunch at the Germantown location is one of the city's great rituals.

(615) 248-4747

Broadway

Blake Shelton's four-story Broadway honky tonk is one of the biggest on the strip, with a rooftop bar and some of the best talent performing nightly. Bigger production than most, but the music is real and the rooftop views of Broadway are unbeatable.

(615) 823-9887

Woodbine

Nashville's original hot chicken family runs a full-service dining room on Nolensville Pike now, but the fundamentals haven't moved: chicken fried to order, brushed with cayenne-lard paste, and calibrated in heat levels that get genuinely dangerous by the top of the menu. Order Medium if this is your first time.

(615) 810-9388

Printer's Alley

Nashville's most storied supper club, reborn in Printer's Alley. Burlesque shows, stiff martinis, and a throwback vibe that honors the original Skull's that ran from 1948 to 1998. The jazz is excellent, the cocktails are stronger than they look.

(615) 810-9631

Broadway

The most famous honky tonk on Lower Broadway, and possibly the most storied bar in country music history. Willie Nelson used to slip out the back alley of the Ryman and drink here between sets. Live music on three floors, seven days a week.

(615) 726-0463