10 Places Where Locals Love to Eat in Nashville

Butcher & Bee began as a sandwich restaurant, but quickly expanded to offer a wide range of dishes. All ingredients are sourced from local farms and growers in order to deliver the utmost flavour, but also to support the local economy.

Choose from a number of different plates and combination options here. The Picnic For Two includes a full meal for 2 diners, while the house-made pickle plate features pickled vegetables that change seasonally. Tagliatelle pasta, shrimp and grits and Israeli-spiced ribs are among the favourites here, but you can also find familiar dishes like fried chicken sandwich and pulled pork sandwich.

Founded in 2008, Mitchell Delicatessen crafts East Nashville’s best sandwiches from high-quality, delicious ingredients. With a focus on natural, locally sourced foods, this deli offers a little something for everyone. The hot breakfast bar and soup du jour are popular with locals.

Beyond the long list of delectable traditional sandwiches, which notably includes one of the best-rated banh mi options around, you’ll also find breakfast (including lox), a large salad bar and vegan options, like the seitan supreme sub. There’s a kids’ menu featuring mainstays like grilled cheese and ham and cheese.

Husk sits in the middle of Rutledge Hill, one of Nashville’s historic neighbourhoods. Located just minutes from Historic Broadway, the restaurant is established by Chef Katie Coss, who has made it her mission to reinvent and reinterpret classic Southern fare, fuelled by heirloom products and locally sourced ingredients.

Husk’s menu changes frequently and is seasonally based. Some of the menu items featured in the past include shrimp and grits, chicken with spinach and mushrooms, beef with green peppercorns and pork chops with sweet potatoes and arugula. Other options have included catfish with shrimp head gravy and Carolina-grown rice.

If you’re looking for gooey, glorious cheese, that’s what you’ll find at The Grilled Cheeserie, which started out as a food truck and evolved into a permanent restaurant.

The menu here is gloriously cheesy, from specialty melts like the pimento mac & cheese melt to quesabirria melt. However, you can also make your own melt beginning with 5 types of bread, and then progressing to 6 different cheese options, proteins and extras. You’ll also find plenty of soups and sides to expand your meal.

Nicky’s Coal Fired offers authentic Italian food and features the first coal-fired pizza oven in Tennessee. Dubbed “Enrico,” it is used to cook pizzas, but also meat, seafood and veggies. You’ll find all of those and so much more on the menu here, too.

Pizza is the main draw at Nicky’s, and you’ll find everything from a daily pie to a classic Margherita, Nicky’s supreme and the St. Pasquale, which comes topped with pepperoni, pecorino, garlic and chili flakes. You can also indulge in pasta dishes and salads or satisfy a sweet tooth with a tiramisu.

Nashville hot fried chicken lives up to its name, and Hattie B’s Hot Chicken is one of the original 2 restaurants to offer it. While the restaurant has expanded to multiple locations in the city, the Charlotte Avenue outlet is the place it all started.

You can choose to eat your chicken almost any way you want. Opt for a hot chicken sandwich or go big with any of the different plate choices, including one that comes with a full half-chicken. The tenders plate is also a great choice. Finish your meal with a delicious peach cobbler or banana pudding.

Two Ten Jack is an authentic izakaya experience in the heart of the South. However, there’s more here than just amazing ramen. You’ll also find a range of cocktails, draft and bottled beer, sake, shochu and more.

For your dining pleasure, start with a small plate, like the edamame or tsukemono. Two Ten Jack also offers several speciality sashimi plates, a range of yakitori options, and, yes, ramen. The tonkotsu is particularly good, but you may also enjoy the tori paitan shoyu (chicken-based ramen), yasai shoyu (vegetable ramen) or the abura soba. Finish the night off with some mochi.

Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint is located not far from Hillsboro Village and Belmont University, providing easy access to some of the most delicious barbeque in Nashville. It all begins with a whole hog, roasted over coal and hickory chips for 20 hours. However, there’s more to love here than just pork.

For BBQ lovers, you’ll find a range of sandwiches, including beef brisket, turkey and even fried chicken. If you’ve got a bigger appetite, go for one of the trays like the spareribs. Combo platters, smoked wings and Southern-style sides are also available. Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint also offers family suppers that will feed the whole crowd.

Biscuit Love, located in The Gulch, offers access to one of the most delicious Southern icons imaginable, the buttermilk biscuit. This breakfast-themed eatery delivers huge portions of delicious food but gives options for those who might prefer a meal that's not on a biscuit.

If you’re a confirmed biscuit lover, you’ll find lots to love here, like the East Nasty, topped with a boneless fried chicken thigh, or the Princess with hot chicken. The Southern Benny and S.E.C are also fan favourites. Not into biscuits? Go for the classic omelette or the Lindstrom with Brussels sprouts.

The 404 Kitchen offers a modern take on delicious European dishes, complete with Southern flare. You’ll find a broad range of meal options to satisfy almost any craving here, from beef and duck to oysters and salad. This is also where you’ll find the Whiskey Bar, where you can sample an impressive collection of options.

If you’re just feeling a little peckish, start with a small plate such as scallop toast or catfish bites. For hungrier diners, consider the lobster mac & cheese or the smoked beet salad.