🏖️ Where to Eat · Nashville, TN Restaurants
Restaurants in Nashville, TN
53 real, currently-open restaurants across every category — hot chicken, fine dining, BBQ, and Broadway dining — so you can plan around what you actually want to eat instead of scrolling a generic list.
🍩 Home of Hot Chicken
✅ Verified Open
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🍽️ Fine Dining
🥗 Southern
🍖 BBQ
🤩 Steakhouses
🎸 Broadway
🌐 International
🍔 Casual
🍺 Bars
🥁 Bakeries
🏙 East Nashville
FAQ
Hot chicken is Nashville’s signature dish — Prince’s Hot Chicken invented it, and Hattie B’s took it national, but the whole city runs on it. Beyond that, Nashville’s food scene splits between a genuinely serious fine-dining tier (Husk, Audrey, The Catbird Seat, all Michelin-recognized) and the celebrity-owned bars lining Broadway, where country stars from Blake Shelton to Kid Rock have opened restaurants with real kitchens behind the live music. East Nashville and 12 South carry their own distinct, more local food scenes worth a detour from downtown. We checked each restaurant directly against its own official site and current open status rather than a generic aggregator list.
Nashville’s Signature Dish
Prince’s Hot Chicken
The original 1930s hot chicken shack that started it all, now at Nolensville Rd and Assembly Food Hall.
Hattie B’s Hot Chicken
Nashville’s most famous hot chicken export, multiple locations.
Bolton’s Spicy Chicken & Fish
East Nashville institution known for hot chicken and fried fish together.
Party Fowl
Hot chicken plus a full bar and wing menu, Donelson and Midtown.
400 Degrees Hot Chicken
Clarksville Pike original, also serving BNA airport.
Pepperfire Hot Chicken
Cult-favorite small shop in The Nations.
Helen’s Hot Chicken
Newer, rapidly-expanding chain with several metro locations.
Michelin-Recognized & Tasting Menus
The Catbird Seat
Reservation-only tasting-menu counter, Michelin-listed.
Audrey
Sean Brock’s Appalachian-inspired fine dining, Michelin-recognized.
Bastion
Reservation-only tasting menu behind a nondescript Wedgewood-Houston door.
Rolf and Daughters
Germantown New American/Italian-leaning restaurant, a longtime critical favorite.
Adele’s Nashville
Jonathan Waxman’s Gulch restaurant, wood-fired seasonal American.
Meat-and-Threes & Roadhouses
Arnold’s Country Kitchen
Legendary meat-and-three, Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Monell’s
Family-style, all-you-can-eat Southern boarding-house dinners.
The Loveless Cafe
Iconic biscuits and country ham roadhouse near the Natchez Trace.
Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant
Southern comfort food with live music, downtown and other locations.
Biscuit Love
Buttermilk-biscuit-centric brunch spot in The Gulch.
Elliston Place Soda Shop
Midtown soda-fountain diner and Nashville institution since 1939.
Whole Hog to Ribs
Jack’s Bar-B-Que
Downtown BBQ, award-winning and popular with the honky-tonk crowd.
Curry Boys BBQ
Thai curry meets Texas BBQ, a distinctive local fusion spot.
For a Big Night Out
Jimmy Kelly’s Steakhouse
Family-owned steakhouse since 1934.
The Southern Steak & Oyster
Upscale Southern steak-and-seafood restaurant, downtown.
Celebrity-Owned Bars & Venues
Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa
Tex-Mex cantina and music venue.
Luke’s 32 Bridge
Luke Bryan’s food and music venue on Broadway.
Kid Rock’s Big Honky Tonk & Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse
Kid Rock’s Broadway steakhouse, bar, and venue.
Robert’s Western World
The only original honky-tonk left on Broadway, known for its house band and fried bologna sandwich.
Acme Feed & Seed
Multi-level Lower Broadway restaurant and bar with a rooftop deck.
Global Flavors
Chauhan Ale & Masala House
Maneet Chauhan’s Indian gastropub.
Everyday Spots
The Pharmacy Burger Parlor & Beer Garden
Burgers and a beer garden in East Nashville.
Butcher & Bee
Globally-inspired sandwiches and small plates in East Nashville.
Craft Beer & Tennessee Whiskey
Jackalope Brewing Company
Nashville craft brewery and taproom.
Yazoo Brewing Company
Established Nashville craft brewery.
Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery
Historic Tennessee whiskey distillery, revived by the founding family’s descendants.
Corsair Distillery
Independent Nashville distillery, established 2008.
Pinewood Social
Restaurant, bar, bowling, and coffee hybrid.
Sweet Stops
Five Daughters Bakery
Home of the 100-layer donut, multiple locations.
Barista Parlor
Farm-direct specialty coffee roaster and cafe, multiple locations.
Yeast Nashville
East Nashville’s home of fresh-baked kolaches.
Pancake Pantry
Nashville breakfast institution since 1961, Hillsboro Village.
The Frothy Monkey
All-day neighborhood cafe with multiple Nashville-area locations.
Its Own Distinct Food Scene
Lockeland Table
Neighborhood-focused New American restaurant in East Nashville.
Dining Tips for This Area
- Hot chicken is genuinely spicy. Most shops offer a range from mild to “shut the cluck up” — start a level or two below what you think you can handle.
- Broadway’s restaurant-bars are loud and crowded. Great for the experience and live music, but if you want a quieter meal, head to 12 South, East Nashville, or the Gulch instead.
- Fine dining reservations book out fast. The Catbird Seat and Bastion in particular release reservations on a schedule and sell out quickly — check their sites directly for booking windows.
- Nashville’s restaurant scene turns over fast. Every restaurant above was checked for current open status, but call ahead to confirm before a special trip.
Where did hot chicken actually originate?
At Prince’s Hot Chicken, which has served Nashville-style hot chicken since the 1930s — it’s still open today at Nolensville Rd and inside Assembly Food Hall.
Are the celebrity-owned Broadway bars worth eating at?
Many have real kitchens behind the live music — Ole Red, Casa Rosa, and Acme Feed & Seed in particular get solid marks for food, not just the novelty of the name on the door.
Where should I eat if I want to avoid the Broadway crowds?
East Nashville and 12 South both have strong, more local restaurant scenes a short drive or rideshare from downtown.
How does NME choose which restaurants to feature?
We verify each restaurant directly against its own official site and current open status rather than relying on aggregator lists, and we exclude anything we can’t confirm is still open. Read more on our methodology page.
Know a Restaurant We Missed?
If you know a great restaurant in Nashville we’re missing, email us and we’ll take a look.
Heading to Nashville?
See the full trip guide — where to stay and things to do, organized the same way, by category.
