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The Best Places to Eat in Nashville

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by The OpenTable Team
Updated 26 February 2020

Nashville is famous for three things: great music, warm hospitality, and inventive cuisine. When one thinks of Tennessee meals, food like barbecue and fried chicken come to mind. Yet, Nashville is more than just meat and top chefs are reinventing this Southern cuisine. But where are the smartest, savviest diners eating out? Welcome to the Tastemaker Lists. We’ve pulled data from thousands of restaurants to find the top spots among OpenTable's most expert, seasoned diners. Iconic Nashville dishes like “meat and three,” fried catfish, cornbread, mac 'n' cheese, and country ham all get a chance in the limelight, but so do some more exotic plates. Book a table and get eating at some of these Nashville icons.

A photo of Park Cafe restaurant
4.7
4.7 (1376)
$30 and under
Contemporary American
Sylvan Park & Sylvan Heights
About the restaurant
This minimalist bistro is a great example of how Nashville chefs are succeeding in soul fusion. There’s nothing more “Nashville” than the smoked Springer Mountain chicken. It’s served alongside house bacon, crème fraiche potato salad, and fried dill pickles and topped with an Alabama white sauce.
Top review
ReganVIP
Dined 1 day ago
As usual food was fantastic. The pork chop is incredible. This place never disappoints
A photo of Giovanni's Ristorante - Mid Town restaurant
4.8
4.8 (1679)
$31 to $50
Italian
Music Row
About the restaurant
This high-end restaurant specializes in Italian cuisine with a Southern twist. The ambiance is rustic — drawing both on Nashville and Northern Italy. The mac and cheese with ham and peas is a dish that is popular in both Italian and Southern cuisines. For the main event, order the chicken. It’s served on the bone with sausage, oil, garlic, and potatoes.
Top review
CesarVIP
Dined 4 days ago
Always a great meal here. It’s funny though, the restaurant had only two tables when we arrived, we were placed right near the other two. An empty place, but a cluster of three tables together. I would prefer to be separate until other diners arrived. Food and service were wonderful as always.
A photo of Trattoria Il Mulino - Nashville restaurant
4.7
4.7 (3625)
$50 and over
Italian
Downtown
About the restaurant
You might forget you’re in such a laid-back city while sitting at a booth at Il Mulino. The Nashville outpost of this Italian restaurant screams class while embracing the flavors of the South. Here, you’ll never go wrong ordering the cowboy ribeye, served with asparagus, marasala, and mushroom ragout.
Top review
MiguelVIP
Dined 4 days ago
Food was good. Service excellent. Enjoyed it. Will definitely visit again
A photo of The Palm Nashville restaurant
4.5
4.5 (4900)
$50 and over
Steakhouse
Downtown
About the restaurant
Another famed high-end steak chain that’s made its way to Nashville is the Palm. The décor is just as interesting as the Palm’s locations in other cities (full of caricatures of celebrities and memorabilia), and their menu is as classy. The food speaks for itself here. When in doubt, order the filet medallions. Make it a “meat and three” by adding an order of the green beans or three-cheese potatoes au gratin on the side.
Top review
PaulVIP
Dined 5 days ago
Excellent all around! Outstanding service and experience.
A photo of Bob's Steak & Chop House - Nashville restaurant
4.7
4.7 (3562)
$50 and over
Steakhouse
Downtown
About the restaurant
Possibly one of Nashville’s most iconic dishes (and exports) is hot chicken. Not for the faint of heart, hot chicken is an eye-watering dish that one might guess was a dare (it was actually a revenge scheme gone wrong). Many locals and tourists head to the hot chicken shacks in the city to try this delicacy. Luckily, Bob’s Steakhouse has created an upscale version of the dish that they serve in a setting one might expect to find in a Waldorf Astoria. The portions here are still quite sizable (what you would expect to find in a steak house instead of an upscale dining room), and the hot chicken isn’t so hot that it induces the pain and suffering you might find at the shacks.
Top review
Maureen
Dined 2 days ago
Ribeye Steak was so tender and so flavorful cooked perfectly, loved the pickle and red pepper condiments on the table!! Vegetable delicious the loaf of bread crust and great flavor! The blue cheese dressing was filled with blue cheese great waiter very attentive. Had an Irish coffee at bar excellent bartender and service. Going back again tomorrow night!!!!!
A photo of Maggiano's - Nashville restaurant
4.6
4.6 (7195)
$30 and under
Italian
Belmont / Hillsboro
About the restaurant
While most diners might not consider Italian food to be a part of the Southern culinary landscape, Nashville was home to a huge wave of Italian, German, and Polish immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. Luckily, many restaurants celebrate this immigrant past through the iconic dishes that now call Nashville home. Few other restaurants can celebrate this union of European and country cuisine better than Maggiano’s Little Italy in the West End. The candied smoked bacon is the perfect example of American and Italian cuisine. Candied bacon in itself is just about as Southern as you can get. Pair that with a dollop of ricotta, fig jam, and a handful of arugula? You’ll wish you had paid more attention in history.
Top review
MelissaVIP
Dined 5 days ago
Clo was our server she was awesome. I suggest making a reservation they were extremely busy on a Friday night. We had crab cakes for our appetizer and then shrimp fettuccine and the Rigatoni. Both were amazing. Great wine list and dessert was the chocolate layer cake yum! We were celebrating my nieces birthday and they brought her lemon cookies and a candle. It was super nice.
A photo of Ruth's Chris Steak House - Nashville restaurant
4.5
4.5 (2748)
$50 and over
Steakhouse
Music Row
About the restaurant
Ruth's Chris might be famous across the country as the place for meat, but in Nashville (where meat is king) it’s an even bigger deal. Since bigger is better when it comes to meat in the South, the tomahawk ribeye is the dish to order here. This USDA 40-ounce ribeye is a great example of a marbled steak. Herbed butter tops all steaks, which come with a choice of accompaniments. The ambiance is upscale and reminds diners of the musical acts that pinned Nashville to the map. Chandeliers twinkle from above and are reminiscent of the ones at the Grand Ole Opry itself — making diners the stars of the show.
Top review
Chris
Dined 3 days ago
From valet, to the manager, to the waiter , to the food and service. Excellent job…
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