8 Nashville Food Favorites You Will Love
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Loading... - Maria Laine
- 23 May 2022
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Once a sleepy southern town popular with country music devotees, Nashville is now a major city with two professional sports teams (hockey and football), bustling businesses and more than its fair share of hipster residents. But, at the end of the day, Nashville is a mecca for those of us who love music.
The Music City lives up to its nickname with a plethora of country music venues ranging from the Bluebird Cafe to the Grand Ole Opry. However, culture vultures will want to dive deep into a musical rabbit hole filled with musical artists who relocated to Nashville from around the world.
But what about the food in Nashville??? Don’t worry, this city doesn’t disappoint when it comes to eating and drinking. Whether you take a Nashville food tour or explore independently, you won’t go hungry during your visit to one of the country’s best food cities.
Nashville Food Favorites
As an up-and-coming American city, Nashville has eateries that run the gamut from traditional ramen shops to nationally recognized restaurants. We’ve eaten at some of Nashville’s best restaurants including Husk and Rolf & Daughters, and our only regret is not having time to eat at more.
However, we get that most food travelers will want to focus their time and calories on Southern cuisine when they visit Nashville. With this in mind, we recommend that you start your culinary exploration with the following Nashville food favorites:
1. Hot Chicken
Invented in Nashville but beloved beyond its borders, hot chicken is a must-eat Nashville food whether you spend a day or week in the city. We’ve eaten Hot Chicken in cities like Columbus and Philadelphia but we’ve never had better Hot Chicken than in its homeland.
Thornton Prince started serving Hot Chicken with a recipe that he developed with his brothers. Decades later and at a new location on Nashville’s south side, Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack is the Nashville Hot Chicken standard-bearer with a recipe that includes no buttermilk and plenty of cayenne pepper.
Start your Hot Chicken exploration at Prince’s Hot Chicken to taste the original version flavored from ‘plain’ all the way to ‘xxx hot’ based on your heat tolerance. Then go to newer Hot Chicken specialists to find your favorite. You may gain a few pounds from this unique fried chicken crawl, but you certainly won’t be bored.
2. Biscuits
Biscuits may have originated in Persia but they were perfected in the American South.
We’re not talking about the original incarnation or the dessert version in London. Southern biscuits are fluffy, flaky buttermilk morsels that are more similar to scones than to cookies.
Many Nashville restaurants and cafes serve biscuits along with other Southern specialties like grits and collard greens. Best eaten hot, biscuits pair well with toppings like gravy, jam and pimento cheese though not all at the same time. That would just be wrong.
Plan to eat several biscuits in Nashville since the best bakers add their signature twists. Go crazy and pair a biscuit with hot chicken for what may be the ultimate Nashville food combo. You can do this at Biscuit Love though you’ll probably have to wait in line depending on the day and time.
3. Meat and Three
Although cities around the American South serve Meat and Three meals, Nashville is the epicenter for this particular cheap eats favorite. Taking Southern Food to the next level, the Meat and Three concept lets diners choose their meal from a variety of meats and sides.
True to its name, a Meat and Three meal consists of one meat and three sides. Meat options often include fried chicken, BBQ, meatloaf and pork chops while popular sides skew towards carbs like macaroni, corn and potatoes.
Pair your Meat and Three meal with sweet tea, a classic Nashville beverage. Also, don’t pass on fried green tomatoes if they’re on the cafeteria-style menu.
4. Brunch
As great as biscuits are for breakfast, sometimes they’re not enough on weekend mornings after late-night shenanigans. For those mornings, Nashville has a thriving brunch scene fueled by throngs of transplants and tourists.
The upside of this popularity is a varied selection of Nashville brunch options ranging from Southern comfort food to upscale dining. On the downside, Nashville brunches typically require either a reservation or a wait. Read More...
