Nashville if a fun city all around, but one of the biggest draws is it’s restaurants!
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For those of you following along on Instagram, I’ve been on the East Coast this month while my husband does training down in Alabama. My brother Ben had recently moved to Nashville, so I knew I needed to head west to see his new town and new place!
We spent most of the time at his new home, checking out the new digs and working on our freelance jobs (his app design & video development, mine writing & paper goods design). But we both love some good restaurants, so we hit the Nashville food scene pretty hard. Here’s a few of my favorite places to eat!
Pinewood Social
First things first: breakfast! Ben took me to Pinewood Social for breakfast and catching up. He and I spend an hour there giving each other business advice (he giving me entrepreneur tips, me offering some team & management thoughts). I have to say their staff was SUPER friendly: chatty but didn’t linger, gave us some good food recommendations to check out, and didn’t snub their nose at us when we ordered pastries instead of a full breakfast.
The pastries were delicious and the full menu looked great, but this place should also be noted for their ambiance. My hipster self was in love! Some living room-like seating areas, lots of booths with big tables for sharing food, and even a few bowling lanes in the back! If you wander back to the bowling, read the cans decorating the walls – they’re hilarious! It’s the type of place I’d be equally likely to go for breakfast as for after-dinner drinks
Crema
We didn’t fit it in this trip, but Ben’s favorite coffeeshop in Nashville is Crema. It’s just across the street from Pinewood Social and a great place to take in the city skyline with a cup of coffee. I can vouch that the coffee is fantastic, because Pinewood Social serves it! Ben swears by the avocado toast. If you need a coffeeshop just outside of downtown, try Crema.
Atmalogy
Speaking of avocado toast, this place ranks highly and is worth checking out just for that. Atmalogy seems to thrive on unusual flavor combinations that end up KILLING it taste wise. Their avocado toast comes topped with goat cheese, olive oil, fresh strawberries, sugared almond slices and just a hint of honey. Paired with a muddy monkey, aka chocolate peanut butter smoothie with espresso thrown in for good measure, they makes for a delicious snack or lunch.
Edley’s BBQ
Edley’s is a favorite Nashville BBQ institution. Once my husband and I were driving through on New Year’s Day, and braved the 90 minute wait to get some! It was that good. So going back was a must.
Burger Up
Y’all, I am not exaggerating when I say I think this was one of the BEST burgers I’ve ever eaten!! It’s ridiculously good. Cooked to perfection: char-grilled on the outside and a perfect medium rare on the inside. I confess I got a little anti-social during dinner that night because I got obsessed with this burger. My brother and his roommate love Burger Up for its homemade ketchup, and have been known to down a whole bottle just the two of them. It actually tastes like it resembled tomatoes at some point, which is a win!
The Flipside
Talk about a smart business model. Everything is a filet of breaded chicken with toppings. Anything from balsamic-dressed salad to chili mac and cheese: the options just keep going! It felt like the kind of place you could take anyone, no matter their tastes, and find something they like. Throw on some tater tots and it’s a meal! The Flipside has a retro feel, kind of modern-diner-throwback, complete with wooden frames on the TVs and trivial pursuit cards from the 80’s scattered across the tables. I loved it! Perfect for a lunch sitting in the open garage-door windows.
Jeni’s
Confession: we may or may not have gone here twice in 48 hours. It wasn’t my idea, but when someone suggested a second go at ice cream, I jumped at the chance. I’d heard of Jeni’s and how amazing it was and didn’t quite believe the hype. But now, I’m converted. You can try a bunch of different flavors before you order, and the staff seem to be universally friendly (we stopped at two locations). The first time I went with caramel and espresso scoops: rich, decadent, and the two flavors complemented each other perfectly. Second visit landed me with two sorbets, a blackberry lambic and pear riesling. The blackberry lambic surprised me with its creaminess, and the pear riesling actually tasted like pears! Even down to the texture! Needless to say, I’m hooked. Love me some Jeni’s.
Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge
You can’t go to Nashville without getting some local music. The bonus of having a local in tow means he had a friend in the band! So we headed to Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge (a Broadway staple) for a night of country music! The band, of course, was fantastic, and even on a Tuesday night the place was packed. Ben’s friend Cassandra plays the violin/fiddle, and let me be the first to say that she is fantastic and everyone should go catch her. She played “Devil Went Down to Georgia” and blew it away. Such a fan!
If you’re looking for a few of my favorite things to do in the city, check out this post about my weekend trip to get some of the musical highlights!
Nashville has so much fantastic food, so don’t miss out when you visit!! What’s your favorite Nashville restaurant?
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I’ve got to get to Flipside someday! It looks like it’s right up my alley! I’m living vicariously through your travels!
YES Flipside is so good!!! You’d love the vibe too. That whole neighborhood (12 South) is really cool – definitely check it out when you go
Totally makes me wanna go to Nashville and get some great food. I’ll be sure to add these to my list of places to visit though!
Do it!!! I LOVE Nashville!!!