Eating Nashville: Our writers' dream list for the city's dining scene in 2024
Nashville's food scene has plenty to recommend in it, and it's growing rapidly. At first blush, we might even seem to have it all. Want to eat your weight in beef at one of our many steakhouses? We have plenty. Looking for barbecue? We've got that, too. We also have lots of food trucks, Italian eateries and tacos galore.
But the real question is, what are we missing? Oh, quite a bit friends. Read on to see what we're pining for most, whether it's now-shuttered restaurants or entire food genres.
Bring back Arnold's!
Brad: Yes, there are for sure some great meat-and-three restaurants with long histories in Nashville. I'm lookin' at you, Silver Sands Cafe (937 Locklayer St.). But some of the other storied meat-and-three spots have closed or haven't held up over the years.
So let's bring back Arnold's Country Kitchen (605 8th Ave S.), which had a vibe, man. Few other spots in town brought working-class folks together with country stars and political leaders like Arnold's did. And that carved roast beef, the fried chicken, the desserts — downright, down-home delicious.
Mack: Well, that seems to be the plan. Kahlil Arnold has confirmed that his restaurant, on three contiguous parcels his family owns, will reopen temporarily starting Jan. 8, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. However long the restaurant could stay open is anyone's guess, he said, as the property is still for sale after an earlier deal fell through.
“It could be a few weeks. It could be three months," he said. "It could be six months or two. Our property is still for sale, I've had people interested in it, but I’ll open up Arnold's until (we sell)."
Arnold told The Tennessean in November, in advance of some wildly popular Thanksgiving week pop-ups, that he's looking to reopen a version of Arnold's elsewhere in the future.
"When we first closed, that felt like the last goodbye," he said on Dec. 20. "The difference between now and then is that ... now it’s not 'Goodbye,' it's see you again in the next chapter for sure.”
Let's get better Asian food, please
Mack: I'm calling dibs on this category. While we have some good Thai and Vietnamese places, and great Japanese comfort food and plenty of ramen, we're missing some things. First, there's the matter of Chinese food. Lucky Bamboo (5855 Charlotte Pike Ste B.) is fine if you venture off the Chinese-American menu. But for a metropolitan area of 2 million people? There should be more Asian restaurants that are better than passably good. The sushi selection save for some outliers needs work, as does our inventory of Indian food. We're waiting.
Brad: You're calling dibs? Oh c'mon, man, you just got here! I've been suffering with mediocre Chinese food here for 33 years! I love how much the restaurant scene here has grown. But when I'm lucky enough to have dim sum in Boston, New York or even Las Vegas, I want to cry when I think of the dearth of great Chinese food back in Nashville.
Can we get some better Bellevue bites?
Brad: Look, downtown, Germantown and East Nashville are silly with sensational spots. Antioch and South Nashville boast the city's best global food. Midtown, West Nashville and the Nations can each boast one or two exceptional restaurants. Crieve Hall has its own awesome bagel shop. The scene is even getting better in Donelson/Hermitage, though it could use a little help.
And then there's Bellevue, exploding with business and residential growth. But the restaurant scene there? Meh. I mean, I dig the biscuits and barbecue at Loveless Cafe (8400 TN-100), I like the peanut butter-banana pudding at HoneyFire BBQ, and there's a charmer of a neighborhood bar out there that serves great tater tots.
But for the love of God, Bellevue needs a locally-owned upscale restaurant spot real bad. These fine folks deserve a delightful dining destination!
Bring me a fast, healthy breakfast
Mack: Biscuits. That's something we have plenty of. They're even on the breakfast bar at the East Nashville location of Turnip Truck (701 Woodland St.). Listen, I can't believe I'm admitting this in print, but I just don't love a bellyful of biscuit in the morning. I know, I know. Can I still live in the South? Thanks.
Places like Hearts, Cafe Roze (1115 Porter Rd.) and Two Hands (606 8th Ave S Store 400) serve exactly the type of breakfast I love, but that's not something I can grab quickly on the way to work.
On most days, I'd love a healthy breakfast bowl. Maybe some chia pudding? No, we don't do that so much in Nashville? Yeah, I know. That's why I make my breakfast, coffee and juice at home every day, which has probably saved me enough money for a mortgage payment or two, so there's that.
I miss diners
Brad: Speaking of breakfast, can we please get an honest-to-God, open-all-night diner here? I'm talking, HUGE cakes/pies case in the front, tons of breakfast items, regular ol' drip coffee, open-face sandwiches, onion rings and gravy, lots of gravy. I'm sorry, but downtown's The Diner (200 3rd Ave S) isn't really a diner (but I do love their desserts case). New York and New Jersey natives, please band together and make this happen. Thanking you in advance, Brad.
Mack: The lack of late-night eats in general has driven me to eat all kinds of things I'm not proud to admit, including a Checker's Baconzilla burger that nearly gave me hypertension on the spot. But more and more late-night options are popping up, including Sweeza Super Quesadilla at The Wash (1101 McKennie Ave.). I also recently had a late-night meal of fantastic gumbo (get the potato salad on the side), boudin balls and fried catfish at Spicy Boys (924 Mcferrin Ave.) I was hungry! However all-night diners they are not.
Nashville, where delis go to die
Brad: Kids, once upon a time, Noshville deli had THREE locations in Nashville. (The main Midtown location closed in 2015.) And there was an East Nashville spot called Shep's Delicatessen. (Closed last year.) There was Goldie's Deli in the Belle Meade Plaza. (Closed in 2006.)
Sigh.
Whadya gotta do around here to get a good matzah ball soup or a hot pastrami on rye or, God forbid, a knish? (They're de-lish!) Well, I guess you can go to the surviving Noshville deli in Green Hills (4014 Hillsboro Cir). But I'd love more choices, and ones open late at night. And maybe even ones that'll slice and sell ya a pound of corned beef to take home.
Mack: You're in luck because I happen to love a good pastrami on rye, and Flat Tire Diner (4700 Old Hickory Blvd.), Mitchell's Deli (1306 McGavock Pike) and Bare Bones Butcher (906 51st Ave. N) all make killer versions. I know, I know, it's not the same. But if it's excellent sandwiches you're after, they got plenty ― and also get yourself over to Bill's Sandwich Palace (311 N 16th St.) posthaste.
Now I want a sandwich.
What did we miss? Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com. Reach Mackensy Lunsford at mlunsford@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Arnold's, Asian food, diners: What Nashville needs more of in 2024
