The Resy Hit List: Where In Nashville You’ll Want to Eat in Oct. 2025

Although the team at Fancypants recently celebrated their first anniversary since opening in 2024, they haven’t lost any of their sense of humor. The restaurant’s website still reads: “No dress code. Wear pants.” The mostly vegetable-centric menu still gently pokes fun at pretentious fine dining traditions, and the option remains to add “chef’s big ass wood grilled steak” to a selection of the kitchen’s current favorites to create a unique dining experience. Most diners opt for some variation of the tasting menu, but on Sundays, the kitchen offers more á la carte options to allow for experimentation. A well-curated list of wines by the glass, beers by the can, and whimsical cocktails complement a visit to Fancypants. 

Founding chef-owner Margot McCormack was the urban pioneer with the audacity to open a French-inspired, Southern-influenced bistro in the Five Points neighborhood long before it was the hip dining destination it has become. Here, working with executive chef Hadley Long, McCormack creates seasonal menus of classic bistro fare for lunch and dinner. Regular customers enjoy standing reservations at Margot, but they’re always welcome to newcomers seeking a quick drink at the cozy bar, a full meal in the main dining room, or a quiet date at one of the romantic and secluded tables upstairs, away from the crowd below.

When two restaurant veterans decided to open answer. in Sylvan Park, it was exactly what the growing neighborhood needed. Since the area is mostly residential, there weren’t many places for people to grab a casual bite. Now, the intimate space is usually buzzing with conversations over dishes from the globally-influenced menu, so the atmosphere feels quite festive. For nights where cooking at home feels like an impossible chore, answer.’s takeaway suppers are a lifesaver. Sized for two or four people, these ready-to-go meals are available on Wednesdays and Sundays, making a weeknight dinner a total breeze.

Just because a restaurant is associated with a world-class chef like Jean-Georges Vongerichten doesn’t mean the atmosphere has to be uptight or that the kitchen runs under the despotic oversight of someone like chef Skinner from the movie “Ratatouille.” On the contrary, chef Vongerichten aims to please hotel guests and visitors to the luxurious Hermitage Hotel seeking a casual dining option, with an all-day Italian-inspired bistro and coffee shop serving wood-fired pizzas, salads, pastries, specialty espresso drinks and a full bar of wine, beer, and cocktail offerings. “Aperitivo Hour” actually runs for two hours from 4 to 6 p.m., making it an ideal stop before a performance at any of the downtown music venues. 

It’s getting harder to find speakeasy-style bars that don’t try too hard. Fortunately, 1865 Club is quite comfortable in its skin after more than a year of operation. Sure, it’s intentionally difficult to find, secreted away in the basement past the laundry room of a condominium building that was once a tobacco barn and auction house. The decor leans into the historic vibe of the building, with dramatic chandeliers illuminating bold murals and a small stage that hosts live music. The bar specializes in classic cocktails alongside neat pours from a long list of whiskey options. A tight menu of spiffed-up bar snacks completes the choices so that diners can sit back and enjoy.

Liberty Common is open for brunch-only service Thursday through Sunday, but this breezy bistro manages to pack more fun into those four days of dining than most other restaurants can in a whole week. Located close enough to Lower Broad to be convenient, but also just far enough away to escape the heart of the downtown craziness, Liberty Common features a unique two-sided indoor/outdoor bar, ideal for watching the pedestrian traffic walking by. Jewel tones, pastels, penny tiles, and live greenery combine to create a fabulous ambiance for decadent brunches highlighted by waffles, Benedicts, fried chicken, biscuits, burgers, and bottomless mimosas and bellinis. 

What happens when a Californian with Mexican heritage meets a Nashvillian while they’re both working in the kitchen of one of the most acclaimed restaurants in the country? In the case of Ana Aguilar and Josh Cook, they combined the dedication to local ingredients they learned from their time at Husk with their passion for Latin flavors to create Tantísimo. Aguilar’s family recipes are the basis for many dishes on the menu, accented by influences from across Latin America. The restaurant sources from local farmers and purveyors to create four seasonal menus per year. The self-proclaimed “Mexicana-owned Spanglish Shop” operates as a cafe for breakfast and lunch before transforming into a sultry spot for shared plates and creative cocktails in the evening. 

With a motto like “South of Somewhere,” it makes sense that a trip to Southern Steak & Oyster is somewhat of a geographic voyage. The menu takes diners on a journey to many southern locales with highlights of Gulf Coast seafood, Texas barbecue, New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp, Latin American specialties, and Lowcountry cuisine. Featuring a very “hands-on” kitchen, meats are smoked in-house, and dry-aged steaks are cut to order in the Southern’s attached butcher shop. The restaurant recently extended their lease for a remarkable 20 years, so diners can expect the same attention to detail and hospitality for decades to come.

A spin-off of the popular Xiao Bao Biscuit in Charleston, Nashville’s version of Xiao Bao shares many menu items with the original. Particularly of note is the beloved okonomiyaki, a savory Japanese cabbage dish that the kitchen cheekily describes as “a hash brown pancake” topped with an egg, bonito flakes, and sweet caramelized “pork candy.” Drizzled with sweet and savory sauces, this pancake is pretty much a mandatory order at Xiao Bao. Also popular are the rotating dumpling options and hand-pulled noodles with chile cumin brisket. As Nashville’s Asian cuisine roster continues to evolve for the better, Xiao Bao is a critical taste leader for the community, taking traditional dishes and pushing them into the future in all the best ways.

No reservations. Find more info here.

Sometimes a restaurant and a neighborhood fit like a hand in a glove. That’s the case with Lockeland Table, a warm and inviting gathering spot where neighbors catch up with each other during the generous Community Hour, with a portion of the tab going to support local schools. Those who choose to stick around for dinner are rewarded with a menu of Southern dishes with international twists, like the popular NY strip steak topped with peppery chimichurri sauce or the crispy pork belly appetizer accompanied by soy chile green beans. Pizzas served piping-hot straight from the wood-fired oven are shareable treats for the table.

Two Hands brings a taste of the fanatical cafe culture of Melbourne to the Gulch in the form of a bright and breezy coffee shop and restaurant. Committed to fresh ingredients and bold flavors, Two Hands serves all three meals, with drinks evolving from specialty coffees to cocktails as the day passes. Start the morning with pastries or a prototypical smashed avocado sourdough toast with pickled shallots and chiles, or enjoy a healthy lunch bowl overflowing with produce and grilled salmon topped with a jammy egg. The dinner menu is heartier, featuring a “two hander burger” made with wagyu beef alongside international fare like rotating pasta dishes and a South Asian/German mash-up chicken schnitzel dish cooked in a tandoor oven. 

Absence has clearly made the heart grow fonder when it comes to this new, (old) favorite inside the Factory at Franklin. Saffire was renowned as the clear best dining choice at the Factory from when it opened in 2001 until it closed in 2017. Now that it has returned like a phoenix from the fire, new and former devotees are raving about the menu of high-end Southern comfort food classics like fish and grits, smoked prime rib, and fried chicken topped with country ham gravy. Generous happy hour deals and popular weekend brunch service add to the fun at Saffire, and “Wine Down Wednesdays” offer half-price bottles all day during the mid-week.

This is renowned chef Sean Brock’s latest project, in the burgeoning Riverside Village neighborhood of East Nashville. Along with co-founders Mary Carlisle and Ben Gambill, Brock has created a vibrant shrine to the craft of neo-Neapolitan pizza-making. Inspired by the obsessively precise pizza chefs of Tokyo, the Sho kitchen has perfected their own making and baking process. After years of experimentation, Brock settled on a dough made using a three-day fermentation, which is topped with imported Italian mozzarella, local produce and meats, and baked in an oak- and hickory-fueled oven. Diners can watch the show from a 12-seat chef’s counter or enjoy pizzas in the cozy dining room or outdoor patio.

Step into iggy’s, and you’ll immediately feel the vibrant energy of a restaurant operating at peak performance. Talented chef Ryan Poli and his brother, the gracious general manager Matthew, have poured years of shared experience from acclaimed kitchens across Nashville and the nation into their ultimate Italian haven. The menu revolves around the brothers’ most cherished passions: pasta served alongside perfectly paired Italian wines. The best seats in the house are along the chef’s counter, looking into the open kitchen where the chefs turn an encyclopedic offering of fresh-made pasta shapes into composed dishes that represent different regions of Italy. Between a glass wall and concrete floors, the buzz of the dining room tends to ramp up over the course of the evening, but that’s just another measure of how much fun the diners are having sharing in the Poli’s dream.

Book on Tock.

After the departure of founding chef Sean Brock, many wondered whether Audrey would maintain his previous focus on rustic Appalachian-inspired food. With the naming of long-time Brock kitchen lieutenant Sam Jett to the role of executive chef, the East Nashville restaurant remains in steady hands. Jett’s culinary interests are rooted in Appalachia, as are those of new general manager Hannah LaFary, who focused on the region as part of her rural sociology studies. Audrey’s menu continues to evolve seasonally and intentionally at brunch, lunch, and dinner to ensure that frequent diners can find new discoveries on every visit. The menu of ingredient-driven dishes specifically calls out the farmers and purveyors who are integral to Audrey’s success, and the kitchen shows great respect for their beloved suppliers.

Waits of up to an hour are a testament to the popularity of Kisser, a tiny Japanese newcomer in Cleveland Park. Hungry diners happily line up before the restaurant’s lunch-only service begins, eager for a taste of its celebrated cuisine. Husband-and-wife chef team Brian Lea and Leina Horii work with masterful precision in the kitchen, elevating Japanese comfort food to a whole new level. Rice dishes, salads, noodles, and a chicken katsu sandwich on toasted milk bread are all standouts, but the spectacular Japanese Breakfast is the perfect showcase of the chefs’ talents. This dish features miso-marinated fish, three different vegetables, a rolled omelet, soup, and furikake rice, and is only available on the weekend. 

 No reservations. Find more information here.