The Best Places to Eat in Nashville
Over the past half-century, Nashville has developed a well-earned reputation for its active nightlife and close ties to the music industry, specifically in developing country rock. While the Athens of the South has given the world a tide of legendary musicians like Johnny Cash, Miley Cyrus, Dolly Parton, and Taylor Swift, it’s also worth highlighting the dozens of fantastic restaurants sprinkled through Nashville.
From lively bars to heavily frequented barbecue shacks, here are some of the best places to grab a bite to eat in Nashville, each of which we’d recommend trying on your next trip to Tennessee’s Music City.
The Stillery
Combining a laid-back atmosphere with live music, strong drinks, and generously portioned meals, The Stillery is the perfect place to get a beer (or mason jar cocktail) and unwind. Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention some of the restaurant’s specialty menu items, like the rustic pizzas, hot chicken mac and cheese, or the deep-fried steak fingers served with Texas toast and homemade French fries.
Puckett’s Restaurant
Growing from a small general store into a restaurant chain with locations throughout Tennessee and Alabama, Puckett’s is a local delicacy you simply have to try. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, each meal at Puckett’s is a culinary achievement unto itself, from the giant skillet cinnamon roll to the fall-off-the-bone barbecue dishes.
The Loveless Cafe
In operation since 1951, the Loveless Cafe continues to delight patrons in the mood for some old-fashioned home cooking. With almost every recipe the restaurant has remained untouched for the past 70 years, every item at the Loveless Cafe is made with love and care, with standout favorites including fried chicken, country ham, and pulled barbecue pork.
The Hampton Social
The Hampton Social’s unique design is one reason to visit this upscale Nashville venue. The other is the number of flavorful dishes and thirst-quenching cocktails featured on the restaurant’s menu, including fresh seafood, artisanal pizza, and honey-infused bourbon beverages.
Monell’s
At Monell’s, guests take in a beautiful historic setting while gorging themselves with traditional Southern fare. A great bang for your buck in terms of your vacation budget, Monell’s all-you-can-eat buffet more than satisfies patrons with a larger appetite, allowing you to fill your plate with an unending supply of fried chicken, cheesy grits, cornbread, biscuits and gravy, and a tender pot roast that practically melts in your mouth.
Hattie B’s Hot Chicken
Like the aforementioned Puckett’s, Hattie B’s Hot Chicken has taken on a larger life of its own as an award-winning restaurant chain sweeping across Tennessee.
As fantastic as each of its sister locations are, the original Hattie B’s remains most worth visiting, if only to try their signature hot and crispy fried chicken.
Biscuit Love Gulch
As the name might suggest, the main thing to order at Biscuit Love Gulch is, unsurprisingly, the biscuit sandwiches. Light and fluffy without becoming too airy, these biscuits are guaranteed to be some of the best you’ve ever had in your life, forcing you to tear up every time you suffer through a canned biscuit mix at your next Thanksgiving celebration.
Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint
Like any major city in the South, Nashville boasts dozens upon dozens of worthwhile barbecue shacks. Yet even when you consider the sheer number of barbecue eateries around town, it becomes obvious that few surpass the superior quality of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint. With each of their dishes made from scratch every day, every item you order at Martin’s is guaranteed to be fresh, satisfying, and 100% delicious.
Urban Grub
Though it’s not the most budget-friendly place to eat in Nashville, Urban Grub does offer some of the city’s best seafood dishes, alongside a menu filled with traditional Southern specialties. Meat lovers can promptly order the sizable aged steaks or pork chop dinners, with seafood lovers finding plenty of options to choose from, including fresh scallops, raw oysters, and tried-and-true shrimp and grits.
Jack’s Bar-B-Que
Nearly edging out Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint as the best Southern-style barbecue restaurant in Nashville, Jack’s Bar-B-Que has no shortage of mouthwatering meals, including a generously priced family barbecue pack that feeds upwards of five people.
