Monell's
Germantown
$$
Southern
Monell's is a tourist trap dressed up as a Nashville institution. The fried chicken is fine. The experience of sitting elbow-to-elbow with a tour group is not.
Family-style Southern food in a Victorian mansion, passed around communal tables. The format is the draw. The crowd is not locals.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
5
Kisser
East Nashville
Japanese
Kisser is a Japanese comfort food restaurant in East Nashville from chefs Leina Horii and Brian Lea — lunch only, no reservations, Michelin Bib Gourmand, and some of the most talked-about Japanese cooking in Nashville.
Japanese comfort food rooted in Leina Horii's childhood — a lunch-only Michelin Bib Gourmand spot with no reservations, lines that earn it, and some of the best Japanese cooking in Nashville.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
1
Moto
The Gulch
$$$
Pizza
Moto is Detroit-style pizza in Nashville done with real commitment. The rectangular pans, the crispy cheese edges, the focaccia-like crust — it's specific and it's good.
The Detroit-style square is the whole menu. Thick, airy crust with crunchy cheese edges, sauce on top, properly constructed toppings. One of the city's best pizza operations.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
4
The Treehouse
East Nashville
$$$
Vegan, Vegetarian
The Treehouse is vegetable-driven cooking in East Nashville that takes the premise seriously without making it a lecture.
The vegetable preparations are the star — technical, seasonal, treated with the attention usually reserved for protein. This is not salads and sides; it's a full kitchen committed to making plants the point.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
4
The Patterson House
The Gulch
$$$
Cocktail Bar
The Patterson House is Nashville's original serious cocktail bar — now in a new location in The Gulch, with seasonal menus, hand-cut ice, no standing policy, and the bartenders who changed what Nashville thought a cocktail bar could be.
Nashville's original serious cocktail bar — now in The Gulch, still reservation required, still the best cocktails in the city.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
2
Sunda
The Gulch
$$$
Chinese, Fusion, Japanese
Sunda is polished pan-Asian in a beautiful downtown room. It's also a multi-city chain designed to be impressive without being specific.
The sushi program shows real product care. The broader pan-Asian menu is competent and generic. The room does more work than the kitchen.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
5
Drusie & Darr
Downtown
$$$
Modern American, Southern, Vegetarian
Drusie & Darr is a restaurant in Nashville offering contemporary American dishes in a casual, full-service setting. The menu blends familiar formats with seasonal ingredients.
Drusie & Darr is the rare hotel restaurant that functions as an actual destination — sophisticated food, a beautiful room, and service that doesn't coast on the hotel's built-in audience.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
3
Margaux
Midtown
French
Margaux is French-influenced fine dining in Germantown. Polished cooking, a serious wine program, and a room that earns a special occasion.
Classic French technique applied with restraint and precision. The wine list is among Nashville's best assembled. A dining room that feels considered without being stuffy.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
4
Henrietta Red
Germantown
$$$
Oyster Bar, Seafood, Southern
Henrietta Red is Julia Sullivan's oyster bar and seasonal restaurant in Germantown — one of Nashville's most important chefs running a vegetable-forward kitchen alongside one of the city's best raw bars.
Julia Sullivan's oyster bar and seasonal restaurant — the raw bar is among Nashville's best and the vegetable-forward kitchen is even better.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
2
Otaku Ramen
The Gulch
$$
Ramen, Japanese
Otaku Ramen is a Nashville restaurant specializing in Japanese-style ramen. The menu emphasizes broth-driven noodle dishes in a casual dining format.
Otaku Ramen is solid, honest ramen in a city where ramen quality has been historically spotty. The broths are properly developed and the bowls are well-built — a genuine step up from most of the competition.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
4
Audrey
East Nashville
$$$
Modern American, Southern
Audrey is a fine dining restaurant in Nashville centered on a seasonal tasting menu rooted in contemporary American cuisine. The experience is structured around multi-course meals served in a formal setting.
Audrey is Sean Brock's most personal and ambitious restaurant — Appalachian fine dining that treats the region's culinary heritage with reverence and the result is extraordinary.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
3
Cafe Roze
East Nashville
$$
Cafe, Coffee Shop, Modern American
Café Roze is a Nashville brunch institution known for its rosy interiors and an all-day menu that actually backs up the aesthetics. Natural wine, thoughtful daytime cooking, and a room that photographs well and eats even better.
The cooking is cleaner and more deliberate than the branding suggests. The natural wine program is one of the better daytime wine situations in Nashville. More substance than the aesthetics would have you believe.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
3
Lockeland Table
East Nashville
$$$
Modern American, Pizza
Lockeland Table is a neighborhood restaurant in East Nashville focused on seasonal American cooking. The menu emphasizes full-service dining with a community-oriented feel.
Lockeland Table is one of East Nashville's defining restaurants — approachable seasonal cooking built for the community that surrounds it, executed with more ambition than it lets on.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
3
Present Tense
East Nashville
$$
Cocktail Bar, Fusion, Japanese
Present Tense is a restaurant in Nashville offering a tasting-menu-driven dining experience with contemporary influences. The format emphasizes structure and reservation-based dining.
Present Tense is a natural wine bar with food that rises to meet the list — one of Nashville's more interesting places to eat and drink if you actually care about what's in your glass.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
4
Fonda on 12th
12 South
$$
Mexican
Fonda on 12th is a decent Mexican spot on a neighborhood that oversells everything. The chips and queso are genuinely good. The rest is fine.
The chips are freshly fried and excellent. The queso is the best on 12 South. The broader menu is inconsistent — some strong dishes, some that need salt and conviction.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
5
Urban Grub
12 South
$$$
Seafood, Southern, Steakhouse
Urban Grub is a large, loud, heavily designed restaurant where the bar carries the food and the food doesn't notice.
The cocktail program is the strongest element by a significant margin. The food menu is too large, the execution is inconsistent, and the prices assume the kitchen is doing more than it is.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
5
Roze Pony
East Nashville
$$
Cocktail Bar
Roze Pony is a neighborhood restaurant and bar in East Nashville with a menu that moves between casual and composed without losing track of either.
The menu is approachable and seasonally driven. The bar program is one of East Nashville's more considered. A room for a regular Tuesday dinner that holds up on the weekends.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
3
Edessa
Woodbine
$$
Middle Eastern, Turkish
Edessa is Kurdish and Turkish cooking on Nolensville Pike, one of Nashville's most genuinely diverse food corridors. The mixed grill and the ceviche are the moves.
The charcoal kebabs are smoky and properly charred. The ceviche — an unexpected standout — is among the best in Nashville. The Kabob Festival platter is the full-course way to eat here.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
4
Stationairy
Downtown
$$
Stationairy is modern American cooking in Wedgewood-Houston in a room that takes both the food and the design seriously.
Seasonal, composed American cooking with genuine technique. A thoughtfully built wine and cocktail program. One of Wedgewood-Houston's better full-service dinner options.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
4
Germantown Cafe
Germantown
$$
American, Southern
Germantown Cafe is a long-running Nashville restaurant serving American cuisine with a neighborhood focus. The menu emphasizes full-service dining and familiar formats.
Germantown Cafe is a neighborhood anchor that's been doing it right for years — seasonal Southern cooking in a warm room that makes every visit feel like coming home.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
4
Butcher & Bee
East Nashville
$$
Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Vegetarian
Butcher & Bee is a restaurant in Nashville focused on vegetable-forward, Middle Eastern–influenced cooking. The menu emphasizes shared plates and seasonal ingredients in a full-service setting.
Butcher & Bee is East Nashville's most interesting large-format restaurant — Middle Eastern–influenced cooking in a converted warehouse that serves one of the best brunches and dinners in the neighborhood.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
3
Miel
Sylvan Park
$$$
French
Miel is one of Nashville's most important neighborhood restaurants — French-inflected, locally sourced, with a wine program that serious drinkers make a point of exploring.
The cooking is seasonal, locally driven, and guided by French technique. The wine list is one of the most seriously curated in the city. A restaurant that rewards people who know what they're looking at.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
4
Bella Napoli
Edgehill
$$
Italian, Pasta, Pizza
Bella Napoli is a casual Italian restaurant in Nashville focused on Neapolitan-style pizza and traditional Italian dishes. The menu centers on classic preparations served in an informal setting.
Bella Napoli is Nashville's old-school Italian institution — red checkered tablecloths, the Neapolitan classics, and the kind of unpretentious welcome that makes every visit feel like a Sunday dinner.
Chef:
Awards:
James Beard
Nashville
3
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