Try these over-the-top Instagrammable milkshakes in Nashville

Mackensy Lunsford, Nashville Tennessean
·4 min read

Though milkshakes piled with an insane array of toppings aren't exactly my go-to, I have a small child for whom such things are the best thing that ever happened to trending food. You know the type: Instagrammable sweet treats in a rainbow of colors, topped with sprinkles, clouds of whipped cream, and even entire slices of cake and cinnamon buns.

Here, I've rounded up some of the best places to go for over-the-top shakes in Nashville with the help of two of my pint-sized friends.

Black Tap Craft Burgers and Beer

140 Third Ave. N., blacktap.com

Adults will love the excellent burgers and the uber-boozy shake shots here. Kids and people who imagine themselves as Instagram food influencers will freak out over the absolutely enormous, extra dessert-bedecked milkshakes.

Lily Steineger, left, and Benji Goad try milkshakes at Black Tap Craft Burgers and Beer in Nashville.
Lily Steineger, left, and Benji Goad try milkshakes at Black Tap Craft Burgers and Beer in Nashville.

The Bam Bam shake, for example, comes topped with a fruity pebbles rice crispy treat, a strawberry pop tart, laffy taffy and, of course, whipped cream and a cherry. It's a 1,000-calorie (at least) rainbow in a glass,

The birthday-themed Cakeshake? It comes topped with an actual slice of birthday cake, and it's absolutely huge. So is the strawberry shortcake shake, which comes complete with an entire ice cream bar, a twisty pop and more cake, crumbled. Ours promptly collapsed on one side, sending a sweet avalanche into my daughter's hand. Did she care? Not one bit.

Lily Steineger and Benji Goad sample the shakes at Black Tap, which offers the Bam Bam shake and the birthday-themed Cakeshake.
Lily Steineger and Benji Goad sample the shakes at Black Tap, which offers the Bam Bam shake and the birthday-themed Cakeshake.

Legendairy Milkshake Bar

171 Third Ave. N., legendairymilkshakebar.com

With shakes such as the Jar of Dirt, with its colorful gummy worms crawling out of chocolate "mud," this fun old-school shop right off of Broadway was positively made for children.

Adults will also love the milkshakes created for arguably more mature tastes, such as the King Shake, a concoction of banana pudding ice cream with chocolate and peanut butter sauce, a strip of bacon and a whole banana. The King would have loved it.

Among the favorites at Legendairy Milkshake Bar in Nashville are the Jar of Dirt featuring colorful gummy worms and, for more mature tastes, the King Shake made with banana pudding ice cream, chocolate and peanut butter sauce, a strip of bacon and a whole banana.
Among the favorites at Legendairy Milkshake Bar in Nashville are the Jar of Dirt featuring colorful gummy worms and, for more mature tastes, the King Shake made with banana pudding ice cream, chocolate and peanut butter sauce, a strip of bacon and a whole banana.

Do you want a milkshake made with salted caramel and Dutch chocolate ice cream, crowned with an entire Snickers bar plus even more chocolate and caramel? Yeah, you do.

The hit with the kids at this sweet spot was the Unicorn shake, topped with sour rainbow candy, cotton candy and an embarrassment of marshmallows. One child essentially collapsed in delight. Or perhaps exhaustion. Probably both.

Lily Steineger digs into a milkshake at Legendairy Milkshake Bar in Nashville.
Lily Steineger digs into a milkshake at Legendairy Milkshake Bar in Nashville.

Gracie's Milkshake Bar

3814 Charlotte Ave., graciesmilkshakebar.info

Gracie's Milkshake Bar in West Nashville's L&L Market has a fun vibe and some epic milkshakes. Kids adore creations such as the Cookie Monster and its humongous crown of cookies. Adults will love the old-school aesthetic, the retro colors, and the seriously wild shakes.

My daughter absolutely smashed her Unicorn shake, a strawberry milkshake rolled in vanilla icing and sprinkles and topped with a pop tart, a waffle cone, and a ton of other adorable unicorn decorations. This was my daughter's favorite of all of the shakes she tied, though she did claim that the sugar "broke her." Can confirm.

The Unicorn milkshake at Gracie's Milkshake Bar in L&L Market in West Nashville.
The Unicorn milkshake at Gracie's Milkshake Bar in L&L Market in West Nashville.

Hattie Jane's Creamery

Assembly Food Hall, 5055 Broadway

This scoop shop, which has a location in Assembly Food Hall, is perhaps better known for its fun ice cream flavors, but it does have a delightful Unicorn Milkshake with a jaunty cotton candy fluff and a bunch of adorable colored marshmallows.

The Unicorn milkshake at Hattie Jane's Creamery, located in Assembly Food Hall in downtown Nashville, features cotton candy fluff and colored marshmallows.
The Unicorn milkshake at Hattie Jane's Creamery, located in Assembly Food Hall in downtown Nashville, features cotton candy fluff and colored marshmallows.

But the main reason I'm mentioning it is that it also serves boozy ice cream, which is a boon for parents when they have an over-sugared small child in tow.

Goo Goo Chocolate Co.

116 Third Ave. S., googoo.com

Perhaps the South's most iconic candy is the Goo Goo cluster, a Nashville-made treat that sells well worldwide.

The main candy production facility moves through 125,000 pounds of chocolate annually, and candymakers burn through another 40,000 pounds of chocolate per year at the downtown store on Third Avenue.

Caramel is drizzled over a boozy milkshake at Goo Goo Chocolate Co.'s downtown storefront in Nashville.
Caramel is drizzled over a boozy milkshake at Goo Goo Chocolate Co.'s downtown storefront in Nashville.

Kids will love that gleaming but nostalgic facility, where they can make premium Goo Goo clusters. The spot also boasts a milkshake bar where adults can have liquor added to frothy whipped-cream crowned confections, though virgin shakes are available for teetotalers and kids.

It's great fun.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville's best, most over-the-top milkshakes