Nashville's own dish is hot chicken, fried and painted with cayenne oil, served on white bread with pickles. Its everyday lunch is the meat-and-three, a cafeteria line of one meat and three sides. Michelin came in 2025 and gave stars to three tasting-menu rooms, The Catbird Seat, Locust and Bastion, and kept all three in 2026.
Nashville at a glance
What to eat
Hot chicken; Meat-and-three; Hot fish; Breakfast sandwich on milk bread; Biscuits and country ham.
When to go
Best: April–May and September–October. Also good: March, June–August and November. Hardest: January–February.
Top tables
This guide lists 13 award-winning restaurants, starting with The Catbird Seat, Locust, Bastion and Peninsula.
Where locals eat
Local favorites off the prestige lists include Arnold's Country Kitchen, Swett's, Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish and Egg Drip.
Markets
Nashville Farmers' Market and 12 South Farmers' Market.
13 award-winning6 local favorites3 hot right now2 markets5 walking tour stops10 chef's picks5 sandwich shops5 romantic dinners5 breakfast spots4 new openings14 dish spots
Going with a group?Give Chef your dates and hotel and he drafts every meal. Then send the group one link: they heart what they'd go to, add their own, and see the morning each table opens.
Three Michelin-starred counters and dining rooms plus the James Beard-winning chef at Peninsula, the hot chicken original, then two meat-and-three lunch lines and two breakfast sandwich shops.
New places change fast. “Provisional” means a guide or directory lists it as new but we have not confirmed the opening date. Check hours and book ahead before you go.
Memorable breakfasts in Nashville
The top pick here; the rest are on their own page.
Picks come from romantic-dinner lists on booking and review sites. Confirm dinner service, menus and availability before you book.
Food walking tour
Germantown, breakfast to dinner
A milk-bread breakfast sandwich, the farmers market, skillet fried chicken at a communal table, belly ham pizza and handmade pasta.
Start 9:00 at Babychan, 1313 Adams St, GermantownTime 10.0 hoursDistance about 2.8 kmBest days Wednesday to Saturday: Babychan is closed Tuesdays (per one listing) and Rolf and Daughters may close Mondays. The market's farm sheds run Friday to Sunday from March to October.
Germantown is a small grid of 19th-century houses just north of the Capitol, and its food places sit a few blocks apart. Eat breakfast at Babychan, walk the Nashville Farmers' Market, sit down to family-style lunch at Monell's, rest through the afternoon, then come back for an early pizza at City House and pasta at the bar at Rolf and Daughters.
Pacing: Share the breakfast sandwich if you plan to eat all day, take a long break after Monell's, and split one pizza and one pasta at dinner.
Plan B: If Babychan is closed, eat breakfast at the Market House. If City House or Rolf and Daughters is full, have one and skip the other; the Gulch's Peg Leg Porker is a short ride away.
Avoid: Sunday mornings, when Monell's brunch is booked a week ahead.
Bring: Comfortable shoes and a bag for market produce. Walks between stops are estimates on a compact grid; check the route on a map.
Skip it if: You want only one meal: do Monell's.
Ends at: Rolf and Daughters, 700 Taylor St, Germantown.
Walking times and distances are approximate, and opening hours change: confirm before you go.
Hot right now in Nashville
What people are lining up for and posting about this month. Entries expire after about four months unless they are reported again.
Always a lineLast confirmed 2026
Hattie B's Hot Chicken
Midtown · $
The thing: Hot chicken, medium if you are new to it, with pimento mac and cheese
The line: Reviewers report 30 minutes to 2 hours at the Midtown shop
The most visited hot chicken in town; other branches have shorter lines.
Crazes move fast. “Just spotted” means one report so far, and most entries rest on a single source: confirm hours and expect a wait.
The Nashville food map
Every place in this guide, pinned. Tap a pin to see what to order, then add it to your trip.
Open the full Nashville food map: every place on our lists too (pizza, ice cream, romantic, where locals and the famous eat, cooking classes), searchable by dish.
· 11 of 15 dish places are pinned; the rest appear in the lists below. Pins are placed by address or name and can be a little off; always confirm in your maps app.
Plan my days in Nashville
Tell us what you like and we will line up the places on this page into a day-by-day plan. Only places from this guide, never anything else.
What to eat in Nashville, and where
Each dish comes with the places that do it best. Tap Add to my trip on the ones you want, or find them on the map above.
Hot chicken
Fried chicken in cayenne-spiked oil, on white bread with pickles; medium is already hot
The 3 best places to eat it in Nashville
1
Prince's Hot Chicken Shack
South Nashville · $
Order: Medium or hot, with white bread and pickles
A chef's counter tasting menu on the fifth floor of 700 8th Ave S. It was a 2026 James Beard finalist for Outstanding Restaurant (Kalaya in Philadelphia won).
Locust
12 South
Michelin 1★ (2025, kept 2026)
One of Nashville's three starred restaurants, at 2305 12th Ave S.
Bastion
Wedgewood-Houston
Michelin 1★ (2025, kept 2026)
One of Nashville's three starred restaurants, at 434 Houston St, Suite 110.
Peak Apr–May, Sep–OctShoulder Mar, Jun–Aug, NovHard Jan–Feb
Why these months
Music City Food + Wine runs in late April and the farm sheds at the Nashville Farmers' Market run Friday to Sunday March to October. Summer brings the Hot Chicken Festival on July 4. Bobbie's Dairy Dip is not open year-round and the farm sheds close for winter.
In season
Farm-shed produceMar–OctThe outdoor farm sheds at the Nashville Farmers' Market run Friday to Sunday, 9am to 2pm, March to October.
Crawfish boilsAprThe Nashville Crawfish Festival was Apr. 19, 2026, at Bringle's Smoking Oasis in The Nations.
Soft serve at Bobbie's Dairy DipApr–SepA walk-up stand since 1951; closed part of the year.
Food events
Music City Food + Wine FestivalAprApr. 24 to 26, 2026, Centennial Park.
Music City Hot Chicken FestivalJulJuly 4, 2026, East Park, 11am to 3pm; free, the 20th edition.
Iron ForkNovNashville Scene's chef cook-off; listed for Nov. 12, 2026.
Closures to plan around
Prince's original shack on Ewing Drive will not reopen; go to 5814 Nolensville Pike.
Arnold's serves lunch only, weekdays and Saturday.
Peg Leg Porker's closed day differs between sources (Sunday or Monday); check first.
Bobbie's Dairy Dip is seasonal.
From published guides and tourism boards. Months are our mapping of how guides describe the seasons; 2027 event dates are expected, not confirmed. Prices come from single sources of varying age, so treat them as a rough guide. Compare cities by month
The best of Nashville, by category
The top pick in each, then every place on its own page with what to get and a map.
Awards come from the guides named on each listing (Michelin Guide American South 2026 + James Beard 2025/2026). Researched November 7, 2026. Restaurants change; confirm hours, reservations and current stars before you go. Some addresses, phone numbers and websites come from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), so call ahead to confirm. Local favorites are editorial picks, not rankings.
