The Resy Hit List: Where In Nashville You’ll Want to Eat in Feb. 2026

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. 

Even though ownership has announced that Margot will permanently close, the restaurant intends to make the most of every remaining moment. Since the menu changes daily, there are still plenty of new dishes to try as the kitchen races to the finish line. The melange of rustic French influences and soulful Southern ingredients creates opportunities for creative discovery, and the local purveyors that provide the freshest ingredients are a crucial part of the process. Regulars have their favorite perches within the restaurant: the bustling main dining room, the cozy bar, the enclosed garden patio, or the secluded mezzanine, or you can switch it up so that each visit can be a novel experience.

Food is theatre at Philippe Chow, the latest outpost of the NYC-based, Beijing-inspired restaurant. From the iconic Peking duck carved tableside with pancakes and plum sauce to the grand presentation of a torched baked Alaska, dinner here is a feast for your senses. Guests dress to impress, lest they be overshadowed by the opulent interior of the architecturally stunning dining space. The private dining room is particularly impressive, and if it’s not booked on busy nights, management opens it up for overflow seating. Known for superior service and hospitality, this is an excellent option for celebratory dining or any occasion you want to make a little more special.

Just a few years ago, the new mixed-use development that is Nashville Yards was nothing but parking lots cut off from the rest of downtown by the railroad tracks that run through the Gulch. Now it’s one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in the urban core, featuring performance venues, luxury residences, and a growing roster of excellent dining options. Frank Pullara is a visionary restaurant owner who saw the potential of the burgeoning area and was an early mover when he announced that the second location of his beloved Italian restaurant in Franklin would open as an anchor tenant. He brought the same menu of housemade pastas and wood-fired pizzas along with an extensive global wine list. It hasn’t taken long for Davidson County food fans to discover a new favorite.

Butcher & the Bee sits at a fascinating crossroads between time-honored Southern food and Middle Eastern cuisine, emphasizing locally-sourced seasonal ingredients accented with deeply flavorful international spices. Drawing on ancient traditions of many cultures, “The Bee” (as many fans call it) manages to create something entirely modern. A seat at the large chef’s bar offers a peek behind the curtain to see talented staff members carefully prepping and cooking individual dishes, and it’s a more entertaining show than most sporting events in Nashville lately. The whipped feta and fermented honey dip is a creamy, tangy, sweet, and savory masterpiece of an appetizer that is a non-negotiable must-try. In fact, clever diners sometimes craft an entire meal out of nothing but the dips and small plates. And we salute them.

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. 

Forget your preconceived notions of “Southern food” when you enter the front door of this popular SoBro steak and seafood restaurant. The menu hops borders to showcase the commonalities and differences between regions that fit within the restaurant’s motto of “South of Somewhere.” Texas barbecue and steaks are cooked over hickory on a live fire wood grill. A different sort of barbecue makes an appearance in the form of a Worcestershire and butter sauce served over New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp. Other regional cuisines featured on the menu include Latin American, Lowcountry, and Gulf Coast seafood dishes. A rotating selection of “shucked-to-order” oysters from ports around the South ensure the freshest possible options for slurping.

There must be something really special for a humble Tex-Mex taqueria to earn Bib Gourmand recognition from Michelin, but the almost constant line of people waiting on the sidewalk to get into the Stranger suggests there is definitely magic happening inside the diminutive diner. The vibrant dining room buzzes with guests enjoying creative crunchwraps, tacos with housemade flour tortillas, and delightfuly messy green chile cheeseburgers courtesy of chef/owner Bryan Lee Weaver, the culinary mind behind Nashville fine-dining faves Butcher & Bee and Fancypants. The cozy outdoor patio adorned with strings of hanging red pepper lights completes the vibe and makes for an ideal spot to share some well-crafted margaritas and an order of tater tot nachos with friends. 

No reservations. Find more info here. 

Few restaurants capture the soul of their neighborhood like Lockeland Table. Always a popular gathering spot for Lockeland Springs residents, the restaurant especially comes alive during “Community Hour,” where locals catch up and a portion of the proceeds supports area schools. Those staying for dinner are treated to Southern staples with international accents like a NY strip steak finished with chimichurri or crispy pork belly paired with soy-chile green beans. After years of mastering wood-fired pizzas, the kitchen has decided to mix things up a little bit by pausing their pies while they play with new dishes in the oven, offering a kiss of smoke and fire to new options like chicken wings, scampi-style oysters, and even French onion soup.

Since first opening in 2013, Husk has been home to a procession of several executive chefs who each have put their own spin on the restaurant’s philosophy of farm-to-table evangelism. The fact that the food has remained uniformly excellent through all those years and leadership changes stems from the consistent overarching commitment to Southern ingredients and an imaginative mash-up of Lowcountry cuisine and down-home country cooking. The constantly changing “Plate of Southern Vegetables” menu item is often the highlight of the menu, featuring produce at the absolute peak of freshness and ripeness. Whether as a shareable set of side dishes for the table or a standalone entree to keep for yourself, that particular order represents Husk’s soul on a platter.

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.

From the team behind Nashville favorites Butchertown Hall and Liberty Common, Mercado draws influences from its sister restaurants in the best of ways. The “Texas meets Baja” gestalt of Butchertown appears here in the form of homemade tortillas, craveworthy queso, small-batch guacamole, and entrees grilled over live fire ranging from 30-day aged rib eye fajitas to salmón asado. The 12-hour oak-smoked beef brisket is a particular standout. The casual elegance of Liberty Common is evident in the vibe of Mercado’s fourth-floor oyster bar, Ramone’s. The open deck perched high above the burgeoning Wedgewood-Houston area offers sweeping vistas of the neighborhood stretching all the way to the downtown skyline. Now enclosed for comfort during the winter, it’s always oyster season at Ramone’s.

Whether you’re enjoying a cocktail and a special off the happy hour menu at the popular marble bar or ordering a bottle of wine off one of the best-curated lists in town to accompany a meal of farm-fresh fare, it’s hard to believe that this restaurant was once a neighborhood butcher shop. The kitchen has a particular facility with seafood, often featuring less familiar fish that don’t show up on many menus. With advance notice, Miel also offers large-format dishes like roasted pig’s head or a full bone-in rib loin along with special curated dinners like personalized seafood boils. A private standalone dining space called “The Barn” is home to frequent wine classes and special thematic dinners. 

Book now 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.