After months of ordering takeout and cooking from home, hitting up our favorite Nashville haunts — from fine dining to dive bars — has never felt (or tasted) so good. Once you’ve made the rounds on old favorites, be sure to check out these 5 new Music City restaurants and eat your fill.
No Baked Cookie Dough | Photo by @assemblyfoodhall
Assembly Food Hall , 5055 Broadway Place
This downtown concept offers 20+ new dining options including outposts of longtime local favorites like Prince’s Hot Chicken and Pharmacy Burger. Expect regular live music + when the windows are open, catch one of the coolest views in town of the Ryman.
Blanco Cocina + Cantina , 530 Broadway
With tequila flights, frozen drinks, seafood fajitas, and innovative tacos, this new taqueria features all the vibes of the Mexican coastline. TryThis: grilled avocado tacos + weekend brunch items like the Ancho Spiced French Toast.
Frozen cocktails from Jaqueline | Photo by @theoptimistnashville
The Gumbo Brothers , 505 12th Ave. South
This New Orleans-inspired spot offers three types of gumbo based on co-owner Adam Latham’s grandmother’s recipes — chicken and sausage, seafood + gumbo z’herbs. Other menu offerings include po’boys, crawfish, and all manner of Cajun and Creole sides. Bonus: They have a second location in Brooklyn, NY if you’re ever up that way.
Jacqueline , The Optimist, 1400 Adams St.
Nothing screams spring in Nashville like al fresco cocktails on a patio — which makes the timing of The Optimist’s new outdoor snack bar particularly exciting. Colorful shaved ice cocktails, Aperol spirits, hurricanes, and mint juleps? Yes, please. Add in a few lawn games + fish-camp bites like lobster roll sliders and oysters on the half shell.
Shep’s Delicatessen , 1000 Main St.
Currently open for breakfast and lunch, this classic deli in the old Marche space is the result of restaurateur Howard Greenstone’s nostalgia for the Jewish-style delis he grew up with in New York. ProTip: Bagel happy hour — aka $1 bagels — is held daily, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Contributed by Elizabeth Hutchison Hicklin.