56 Best Restaurants in Nashville, Tennessee

Serious coffee connoisseurs shouldn't leave the city without a visit to one of Barista Parlor's outposts. The Gulch location is housed inside a former transmission shop, and everything inside, from the wood tables and platters to the art and barista aprons, are sourced from local makers and craftspeople, so you better believe they're serious about keeping it bespoke. The coffee and food options take time, so don't stop by in a hurry, but the attention to detail is worth it.

Tucked away in nearby Salemtown is Big Al's Deli, a neighborhood deli in every sense of the word. Owner Alfonso Hamilton serves home-cooked Southern food out of an otherwise nondescript converted house, making for a dining experience that feels like you're right at home. Seating is limited inside but the food, especially the breakfast, is well worth the wait.

Local favorite Fido is part of the Bongo Java family and has one of the coffee shop group's more extensive food menus. In addition to Fido's own take on the creatively made, ethically sourced espresso drinks found at other Bongo locations, the restaurant serves locally sourced breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Pro tip: try the burger.

Giant warehouse windows hearken back to The Nations’ industrial roots and shed bright light on the stylish wood-laden interior of this coffee shop and all-day café. The variety of seating options make Frothy Monkey a favorite for remote workers with laptops, and their health-focused menu features locally roasted coffee, fresh pastries, and farm-sourced ingredients for all meals.

The bright, pleasant shop opened in 2018; the nonprofit enterprise behind it was established in 2008 to train and mentor students. In addition to prepared coffees, the shop sells the beans, soaps, and scrubs made by the students, as well as mugs and T-shirts bearing the coffeehouse logo. All profits support programs and scholarships for the students.

Mitchell Delicatessen is one of the pillars of East Nashville's Riverside Village neighborhood, and having relocated from across the street to a larger space in 2014, it's one of the more spacious delis in town (with a large covered patio, to boot). Come for classics like the Turkey Avocado; come back for Mitchell creations like the Turkey Apple Brie and Asian Flank Steak.

Tempered Café is unlike any other café in Nashville, serving an extensive selection of handcrafted chocolates alongside a full menu of espresso drinks, breakfast and lunch plates, and, yes, homemade hot chocolate and drinking chocolate. Tempered also has a full bar, and offers chocolate and beverage pairings that are unlike anything you've ever tried before.

You wouldn’t guess from its understated, antique-looking exterior that the restaurant opens up into a bit of an antebellum relic on the inside. This restaurant envelopes you in rich woodwork common in old Southern homes, featuring fireplaces original to the building, white tablecloths, waiters in white coats, and chandeliers, while also serving traditional Southern cuisine.

Opened in fall 2018, this Houston Station coffee shop, or rather, lounge, has baked goods made fresh in its tiny kitchen, a large selection of syrups that are used in its house-made Italian sodas, and, of course, hot and iced coffee. The atmosphere is old-school cozy, even more so on Saturday afternoons when there is live jazz.

Once featured on the Food Network, the Athens Family Restaurant is a diner that has all the appearances of a classic greasy spoon but instead serves delicious Greek food for all three meals. Enjoy gyro, pitas, and Greek sides as well as American diner favorites like burgers and breakfast sandwiches.

The East Nashville location of Barista Parlor is the spot that started it all for the growing local coffee chain. Barista Parlor is known for paying almost an excruciating level of detail to all of its coffee beverages, so you know you're getting a quality cup of coffee every time you visit. They also sell pastries and small bites, served up in a painstakingly hip environment.

What started as a beloved Airstream food truck is now a brick-and-mortar staple in the neighborhood that's hailed for its daily scratch-made Southern-style biscuits. There are nine different biscuit sandwiches to choose from, made with a variety of meats, gravies, and toppings, but there are plenty of tempting "Without a Biscuit" options like the surprisingly tasty egg-topped Lindstrom made with shaved brussels sprouts, hazelnuts, and shredded Parmesan.

What goes better with buttermilk biscuits than a historical Queen Anne Victorian home? This one, affectionately known as the Corn House (after the Corn family who lived there from 1920 to 1980), is home to some of the best Southern brunch around, from the traditional (biscuits and sausage gravy with a side of cheese grits) to the unconventional (a biscuit burger with pimento cheese and tomato jam).

Biscuit Love opened its first outpost in the Gulch, with the hip new breakfast spot so popular that lines poured out the door each morning. Now the popular eatery is open in Hillsboro Village, serving up homemade biscuits and breakfast plates until 3 pm each day. Be warned: unless you get there early, be prepared to wait in line.

The eastern outpost of the local Bongo Java empire, this location is in East Nashville's bustling Five Points neighborhood. Stop in for coffee, tea, pastries, sandwiches, and more, served up in a refreshingly unpretentious environment by a friendly, knowledgeable staff. Bongo also has beer on tap and a selection of board games (thanks to a 2017 merger with Game Point Café), so it's the perfect spot to transition from daytime work to evening play.

Look for the large gravel parking lot at the Track One development and you’ll find this delightful spot serving large, fresh sandwiches with foodie-worthy options—and any sandwich can be made into a salad. The interior is cozy, there are several picnic tables on the front porch; fill out one of the postcards next to the checkout and Clawson’s will mail it.

Dose is one of the neighborhood’s better-kept secrets; its location on the border of Midtown and Sylvan Park makes it a less frequented (and, subsequently, quieter) café than the larger chains closer to downtown or Vanderbilt University. This is a good thing, because their daily fresh-baked goods, specially blended coffees, and delicious breakfast and lunch options are ones you’re going to want to keep all to yourself.

Located in East Nashville's Riverside Village neighborhood, Dose Café and Dram Bar serves up some of the city's finest espresso drinks. In addition to a caffeine fix, you'll find a full food menu, baked goods, beer, wine, and cocktails, making Dose the perfect one-stop shop for exploring the neighborhood.

This small space is airy and bright, and maintains a bit of its pop-up-shop origins. Serving breakfast and lunch items—including soups and sandwiches—the best options are the cookies and pastries made on-site and also sold at a number of Nashville eateries. Marble-topped tables and black café chairs inside; outdoor seating in warmer months. The baking room is cloaked in a wooden shell that also wraps the counter. Only basic coffee, but it’s from local coffee shop Crema.

Bright and airy, this diner-style restaurant features a stand-alone coffee bar within the dining room, where Bongo Java’s coffee and signature drinks are paired with thoughtful, hearty brunch selections and breakfast cocktails. The large center bar is topped with a bowling lane, a nod to the building’s past life.

Located inside the Factory, this dreamy bakery seems to glow with soft pink light. They specialize in donuts, but not just any old donuts—these are 100-layer croissant-donut hybrids, cream-filled and glazed in flavors like spiced honey cheesecake and maple bacon (they also have a wide selection of paleo and vegan donuts).

This coffeehouse opens first thing in the morning and stays open through breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and there’s plenty of porch space to enjoy your rosemary honey latte outside; in the evening, they expand their drink menu to include craft beer and wine. The menu is Southern comfort food with a New South twist (like johnnycakes with house-pickled okra and bacon-onion marmalade), but coffee is still the main event at Frothy Monkey. All their coffee is locally roasted by their own roasting company, and you can buy it by the bag from the café.

Featuring absurdist art in the dining room, and adjacent galleries with interactive installations, this restaurant in the bottom of the 21c Museum Hotel provides more than a meal, but a one-of-a-kind immersive experience. Featuring rich dishes that modernize Southern cuisine with surprising flavors, it includes a variety of hearth-baked in-house breads.

Franklin’s first coffee roasting company is an honest-to-goodness great place to get a cup of coffee. Located inside the Factory, Franklin’s converted industrial shopping complex, it’s also a great place to get an honest day’s work done on your laptop, and in addition to their ethically sourced and roasted coffees and selection of teas, there’s usually an assortment of croissants, scones, and donuts available.

This Mexican bakery serves up fresh tres leches, bread pudding, cheesecake, and a host of other pastries so flaky you’ll get almost as much on your shirt as in your mouth. Grab a Mexican Coca-Cola made to complete your sugary snack.

Southwest of Nashville on Highway 100, the Loveless Café serves up its famous scratch-made biscuits and country ham every day of the week. Long waits for a table are typical, so be prepared to do some shopping and play a round of cornhole while you wait. When the café opened in 1951, it was just chicken served at picnic tables on Lon and Annie Loveless’s front porch. But over the years, the restaurant has expanded to include every iteration of Southern breakfast and supper. In 2004 the remainder of the on-site motel was converted into quaint country shops—chief among them the Hams & Jams Country Market, where you can get free coffee all day, Southern-inspired home goods and gifts, and barbecue to go.

If you need some place snug to get out of the rain, stop into McCreary’s for shepherd’s pie and a pint of Harp. Their selection of seafood fare, like the Galway fish sandwich, will give you that Irish coastal feeling even as far inland as Tennessee. If you’re feeling especially decadent, stop by between 9 and noon on the weekend and give the bread pudding French toast a try.

It’s impossible to overstate how cozy this Irish pub is. There’s live music every night of the week, but on Friday through Sunday, you can catch the owner himself performing traditional Irish tunes with his band, Nosey Flynn. After dinner, Finn McCool's Ice Cream Pie is an unbeatable treat, but you’ll need at least four people to finish a slice. Or, if you’re after something a little stronger, McNamara’s serves every Irish whiskey you can get in Nashville. If there’s a long wait downstairs, they also serve the full menu upstairs in the semi-secret sports bar.

As soon as you squeeze through the front door of Meridee’s Breadbasket, you’ll feel at home. The shelves are stocked with fresh baked bread, and the cabinets are full of peanut butter pie and butterscotch bars. There are quilts on the walls and baskets hanging from the ceiling, helping the jumble of tables to feel more neighborly than crowded, and the service is as charming as the setting: ask any employee which bread you should order with your chicken salad sandwich, and they'll discuss it with you for as long as you like.