The Resy Hit List: Where In Nashville You’ll Want to Eat in Nov. 2024
There’s no question we hear more often: Where should I go eat? And while we at Resy know it’s an honor to be the friend who everyone asks for restaurant advice, we also know it’s a complicated task. That’s where the Resy Hit List comes in.
We’ve designed it to be your essential resource for dining in Nashville: a monthly-updated (and expanded!) guide to the restaurants that you won’t want to miss — tonight or any night.
Four Things In Nashville Not to Miss This Month
- Now Open: The Hall family behind popular Midtowner Halls Chophouse recently announced the opening of a new sister restaurant in the same building. Halls Catch is a tony seafood restaurant that features ingredients flown in daily from around the world. Boasting the same attention to customer experience as its beefier cousin next door, it offers a globally-inspired menu of seafood in addition to a tight menu of steak options. Find more recent arrivals in New on Resy.
- Four Horsemen at Folk: One of the greatest things about Folk is that they love to invite guest chefs into the kitchen to introduce Nashvillians to new cuisines. On Monday, Nov. 11, they are hosting a celebration of “The Four Horsemen Cookbook: Food and Wine For Good Times,” written by Four Horsemen chef Nick Curtola, the late natural wine trailblazer Justin Chearno, and LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy. It’s well-nigh on impossible to score a table at the Four Horsemen restaurant in Brooklyn, but locals can get a taste of the experience at the Folk event while enjoying snacks, wine, and a signed copy of the book. Make reservations ASAP because this event will sell out fast.
- Turkey Day Plans: It’s not too early to start thinking about Thanksgiving, and if your plans include getting out of the kitchen, local restaurants are ready to host you and your crew for Turkey Day. The Hermitage Hotel offers a full midday buffet in their opulent lobby with turkey and all the fixings, plus complimentary valet parking, a welcome beverage, and live music. The Harvest Gathering at 1 Kitchen will feature a multi-course seasonal menu courtesy of Culinary Director Chris Crary. For a more casual option, Chief’s will prepare a family-style feast for four to six diners, featuring barbecue from acclaimed pitmaster Rodney Scott. And keep an eye on the Resy Events page for more options!
- Fall Menu Refresh: Sylvan Park modern Japanese restaurant Punk Wok is more than just a sushi spot or dim sum parlor. The fun and funky space also hosts live music in the intimate dining room as well as karaoke nights. But don’t sleep on the menu of Asian-inspired cuisine with the occasional Southern twist. New offerings for fall include an international version of Nashville’s iconic “meat and three” that looks like a real winner with a tonkotsu-style fried pork chop with buttery miso mashed potatoes, potlikker bok choy, and brown sugar-harissa carrots.
New to the Hit List (Nov. 2024)
Bad Idea, Burger + Grain, Fonda on 12th, Two Ten Jack.
1. Pastaria West End
Pastaria offers a choice of a few different dining experiences. The airy main dining room is festive and occasionally boisterous with families sharing meals of fresh pasta and classic Italian plates together around the table. The separate bar is a little more of a grown-up experience, the spot for friends to meet up for cocktails or a tasting from the restaurant’s expansive collection of amari and vermouths. Foodies who want to be part of the action should request seating at the pizza bar where they enjoy a front-row seat as talented pizzaiolos ply their trade tending to pies entering and exiting from the infernally hot pizza ovens. A Pastaria pie paired with one of the best chopped salads in town is a fantastic dinner for two that won’t break the bank.
2. Husk Nashville Rutledge Hill
For more than a decade, Husk has represented the epitome of farm-to-table fare in Nashville — with a laser focus on the mandate by opening chef Sean Brock: “If it doesn’t come from the South, it’s not coming through the kitchen door!” The stately Italianate mansion that is Husk’s home was once the home of a 19th-century Nashville mayor — and is reflected in the courtly hospitality — yet the cuisine continues to combine modernism with historical techniques of preservation, pickling, and some of the finest fried chicken in the land. And both kitchen and the bar staff take full advantage of the restaurant’s garden, where they grow heritage seeds into plants that show up as ingredients and garnishes.
3. Audrey McFerrin Park
After leaving the tables set and ready for guests for more than a year while waiting out the pandemic, chef Sean Brock finally opened his shrine to Appalachia in late 2021. Since then, Audrey has provided a meditation on the rural cooking of Brock’s youth. Open-fire cookery combines with molecular gastronomy to extract the essence of heritage ingredients like sour corn and greasy beans, creating 21st century dishes that tell the story of the hardscrapple residents of Appalachia. And Brock continues to push the cuisine forward with a perpetual reimagining of the flavors of his native region. Whether á la carte or as part of a fixed menu of the kitchen’s favorite dishes served family-style, a dinner at Audrey is always a treat.
4. Rolf and Daughters Germantown
Natural wood brings warmth to the post-industrial exposed brick and steel girder ambiance of the converted factory that is home to chef Phillip Krajeck’s flagship restaurant. The reservation book fills quickly with intelligent patrons who know that the kitchen serves up some of the most interesting European cuisine in the entire city. The menu changes often, as the kitchen staff experiments with novel fermentations and takes advantage of the best seasonal ingredients. But the beloved heritage pork ragu with rigatoni, tomato and Parmesan is a menu stalwart that remains unchanged since opening night. The thoughtful wine list offers uncommon bottles with an emphasis on natural wines that are downright inspired, especially with some of the fermented dishes.
5. Fancypants East Nashville
From the team that brought Butcher & Bee and Redheaded Stranger to town, this is an exciting new dining option that aims to turn fine dining on its head. Offering a prix fixe menu of meticulously plated dishes, Fancypants isn’t necessarily a tasting-menu restaurant because patrons have choices among several different vegetable-forward options. Add-ons are available, and carnivores can always find something meaty to enjoy. The converted Piggly Wiggly supermarket has become a lovely dining space with a whimsical decor of pretty florals, bold colors, and an inviting outdoor patio space. Put on your stretchy pants and head here for a dining experience unlike any other in Nashville.
6. Halls Chophouse – Nashville Midtown
One of the newer jewels of Midtown, Halls brings a classic steakhouse experience to this burgeoning neighborhood. In addition to views of the hustle and bustle of the city through sweeping windows, the open kitchen provides another entertaining show with chefs expertly preparing USDA Prime beef and premium seafood. The Hall family has spent their lifetime in hospitality, and the emphasis on attentive service is literally a (Hall)mark of the restaurant. Different sections offer various atmospheres depending on the desires of diners, from a lively bar scene to quiet nooks for a sophisticated date.
7. Two Ten Jack – Nashville East Nashville
Nashville’s premier izakaya and ramen house introduced many local diners to the concept of Japanese bar culture. Beers and highball cocktails are accompanied by small plates like edamame, shishito peppers or dumplings followed by courses that become increasingly more substantial. Yakitori skewers range from vegetable bites such as corn in miso butter or wasabi avocado to heartier options like pork belly, short rib or even chicken hearts. A bracing bowl of tonkatsu ramen in a creamy pork broth with a soft egg is a meal in and of itself.
8. Burger + Grain The Nations
Burger + Grain is a simple name for a thoughtful concept that reaches far beyond just dry-aged USDA Prime beef burgers and an extensive whiskey list. Steaks are aged in-house for 45 days before being expertly grilled to the requested doneness. Vegetarian and gluten-free guests have options as well, ranging from cabbage steaks cooked in the embers of the fire to crispy artichoke hearts served with a tangy lemon, yogurt, and garlic puree. Pro tip: Regulars plan their calendars around Wednesday nights ,when the bar staff cracks one bottle of whiskey to serve at the restaurant’s cost.
9. Mangia Nashville 8th South/Melrose
An evening at Mangia Nashville is more than just a meal. It’s a full-on party with traditional Italian music blaring at festive volumes during the multi-course meal, “The Godfather” playing on a loop on screens around the dining room, family-style platters of antipasti, meats, pasta, and desserts flowing constantly out of the raucous open kitchen, and chef-owner Nick Pellegrino leading the frivolity between courses by drumming on pots and pans and occasionally kicking off a conga line among the tables. The three-hour experience on Friday and Saturday nights is the sort of experience where strangers become friends and future tablemates, and patrons generously share bottles between tables. If you’re too full for dessert at the end of the evening, take some zeppole home to enjoy with your morning coffee.
10. The Southern Steak & Oyster SoBro
The motto of The Southern is “South of Somewhere,” which explains the eclectic menu that ranges from Gulf Coast seafood to downhome Southern specialties to Latin American and Moroccan flavors. Walking up to the restaurant, diners may see and smell sweet smoke pouring out of a vent on the side of the building as the kitchen smokes racks of ribs, unusual for a downtown restaurant on the ground floor of an office tower. An in-house butcher shop cuts steaks from huge dry-aged beef primals to create magnificent steaks and the meats for sandwiches at their quaint market and deli next door to the restaurant. Weekday lunch service and weekend brunches add even more opportunities to take a trip south.
11. Butcher & Bee – Nashville East Nashville
Although the original Charleston location of this Middle Eastern restaurant has been converted to another concept, the Nashville outpost of the Bee is still setting the standard for seasonal Israeli-inspired cuisine after almost a decade of crowd-pleasing cuisine. The whipped feta and fermented honey dip is legendary and a can’t-miss appetizer, but don’t be afraid to dig deeper into the menu for inventive shareable dishes made with local ingredients and served family-style to the table. Pro tip: Opt for the “Eat Like a Chef” experience to sample the current favorite dishes of the kitchen staff, coursed out and presented by the cooks that prepared them.
12. Salento Italia Cloverhill
The Darsinos family runs some of the city’s most beloved restaurants, including GReKo Greek Street Food in East Nashville and Donelson-area favorite Darfons. Bill and Sam Darsinos looked across the Ionian Sea from Greece to Italy for inspiration for their latest venture with Salento Italia. The goal was to create a welcoming, chill spot focused on “thoughtfully prepared versions of comforting Italian dishes with subtle nods to our family’s Greek roots,” as co-owner Bill Darsinos puts it. The well-received menu includes pizzas, pasta, and traditional Italian desserts like affogato, olive oil cake, and tiramisu.
13. Bad Idea East Nashville
Beverage expert Alex Burch founded Bad Idea as a concept to bring a dynamic wine bar to East Nashville. Thanks to Burch’s fantastic wine and cocktail program and the inspired Lao-centric menu created by chef Colby Rasavong, Bad Idea has evolved into much more. The interior of the vaulted dining space is softened by natural materials accented with splashes of bold colors, and the lively bar scene adds energy to the room. A seasonally changing menu of small plates combines traditional Laotian cuisine with fun regional touches along with large format dishes sized for sharing. Open late with a limited, but no less intriguing menu, Bad Idea is the best idea for night owls seeking something more than a “last call” burger.
Call or text 629-729-4332 for reservations.
14. Culaccino Italian Restaurant & Bar Downtown
Executive chef and owner Frank Pullara knows not to rush perfection at his popular ristorante in downtown Franklin. Three days of fermentation offer incredible depths of flavor to the pizza dough that takes a quick trip through an infernal wood-fired oven, while artisan pasta is kneaded and shaped by hand for some of the highlight dishes on the menu. Many offerings from the extensive list of Italian wines have spent almost a decade maturing to the ideal moment for uncorking, and attentive but casual service ensures that a meal at Culaccino can be a languorous delight for a special occasion or the perfect spot for a weeknight family dinner.
15. Lockeland Table Lockeland Springs, East Nashville
Few restaurants are more ingrained in their community than Lockeland Table, the sort of place where diners secure standing weekly reservations and neighbors gather frequently during the restaurant’s Community Hour to catch up on school events and support local PTOs, with a portion of the proceeds from sales of shareable small plates. The burnished copper pizza oven is a work of art and the centerpiece of the open kitchen, and the pies and roasted vegetables that emerge from the infernal oven are centerpieces of any meal at Lockeland Table. Chef Hal Holden-Bache’s signature N.Y. strip steak served with spicy chimichurri is a menu stalwart and one of the best beef deals in town.
16. The Row Kitchen and Pub Midtown
In a town with so many great dining options and live music venues, Nashville doesn’t have an overabundance of restaurants where you can enjoy dinner and a show together. That’s where the Row fits in thanks to a roster of acts that change hourly from 6 p.m. until close every night except Saturday when the music kicks off at 2 p.m. A favorite spot for a casual brunch or lunch in Midtown, The Row features decadent and down-home Southern grub from biscuits and burgers to hot chicken and catfish. A novel appetizer of a selection of different vegetables pickled in-house is a delightful start to any meal or a great bar snack during a show.
17. Margot Café & Bar East Nashville
Ever since chef Margot McCormack made the bold decision more than two decades ago to open a French-inspired and Southern-informed brasserie in a former service station in East Nashville’s Five Points neighborhood, she has continued to tune up the cuisine on that side of the Cumberland River. The menu changes nightly depending on the whim of the kitchen and the freshest seasonal ingredients that come through the back door that day. Local farmers and purveyors are the guiding inspirations for the cooking team, and loyal patrons reward them with standing weekly reservations to sup in the cozy bar or at a favorite table in the warm and inviting dining spaces.
18. Kisser East Nashville
Waits of up to an hour are common at Kisser as hungry diners line up before the restaurant opens for lunch-only service at this tiny Cleveland Park Japanese neighborhood newcomer. Husband-and-wife chef team Brian Lea and Leina Horii work their stations in the diminutive kitchen with zen-like precision, preparing their own brand of Japanese haute comfort food. Rice dishes, salads, noodles, and a chicken katsu sandwich served on delectable toasted milk bread are menu standouts, but Kisser’s version of a traditional Japanese breakfast with miso-marinated fish, three vegetables, a rolled omelet, soup, and furikake rice represents the chefs’ full culinary sensibilities in one spectacular menu item.
No reservations.
19. answer. Sylvan Park
When two long-time industry pros came together to open answer. in Sylvan Park, the new restaurant was (literally) the answer to the prayers of the burgeoning neighborhood. The primarily residential area didn’t have many spots for casual dining, and answer.’s globally-inspired menu and intentionally close-packed tables turn the dining area into a neighborhood dinner party most nights with friends catching up over drinks and peeking at nearby diners’ plates for ordering inspiration. Also popular is the restaurant’s takeaway suppers sized for two or four. Available for pick-up on Wednesdays and Sundays, these mobile meals are the ideal solution for nights you just don’t feel like cooking.
20. Fonda on 12th – Nashville 12 South
When acclaimed chef Roberto Santibañez chose Nashville as the first place to open a new iteration of his Fonda restaurant group outside of New York, many locals didn’t realize how lucky they were. The quartet of Fondas has since been joined by a fifth in Tokyo’s trendy Ginza District, so we’re sitting in some pretty high cotton. Santibañez’s modern Mexican cuisine takes the dishes and ingredients of his Mexico City hometown and adds urbane flourishes to create bold new combinations of flavors like his family’s traditional Oaxacan mole served over slices of wagyu ribeye and maitake mushrooms. Artful plating further tunes up the menu of tacos, enchiladas, and small plates to surprising heights.
