If you like to eat, Nashville is the place for you. The variety of places to eat, types food and price range are astounding! Here is my review of Nashville Restaurants that I visited on a recent trip.
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5 Great Places to Eat in Nashville | A Review of Nashville Restaurants
Pub5 (now closed)
- Pub5 is a small restaurant near the Country Music Hall of Fame. We stumbled upon it by accident and were sure glad we did! Each of us had one of their delicious and filling salads that were made with the freshest of ingredients. The lunch menu included small plates, salads, sandwiches, wraps and burgers. Pub5 has a full bar featuring craft beers and is open for lunch, dinner and late night noshing. I thought the rustic/warehouse looking décor was really cool and it certainly added to the ambience!
Merchant’s
- Merchant’s is on Broadway, right in the middle of the action! It is housed in the old Merchant’s Hotel, built in 1892. The dinner menu features appetizers, sandwiches, salads, burgers and Southern favorites such as Southern Fried Chicken and Brisket. I opted for a dinner of appetizers – Duck Fat Tater Tots and the Southern Fry – a plate of fried pickles, okra, shrimp and catfish. Can you say cholesterol? Others in our party enjoyed Mac & Cheese and Sweet Tea Tenderloin.
The Pub in The Gulch
- The Gulch is a cool area of Nashville with many good restaurants to choose from. We opted for Sunday brunch at The Pub, which was recommended by our Uber driver! Brunch began with a trip to their delicious Bloody Mary Bar! The Pub also has a bottomless Mimosa option if that is more your style. For brunch I had “The Cure” – a sandwich with 2 fried eggs, Belhaven Beer Cheese, Tabasco, onions straws, choice of bacon or ham, all on a pretzel bun. I don’t think I have ever eaten a tastier sandwich! Other favorites of our group were the grilled salmon salad that had perfectly cooked salmon and the chicken fried chicken.
By the way, LYFT and Uber are great ways to get around Nashville. Why?
- You don’t have to worry about finding your way around.
- Parking downtown, where a lot of the sites are is scarce AND expensive.
- The drivers are very knowledgeable about great places to see and eat.
- And since Nashville is a big music town, you are likely to meet all kinds of people in the music biz who drive for LYFT and Uber on the side! We met up and coming musicians, songwriter and producers. And not just from country music, but from every genre – really cool.
And if you’ll be trying LYFT for the first time, just download the app and enter my code (5042) for a discount on your ride. Here’s the discount code: 5042
Want to drive for LYFT? Apply here.
Back to the restaurants…
The Goo Goo Shop
- The GooGoo Shop, which is right off Broadway, is a great place to stop for a mid-afternoon snack. All kinds of sweet treats, ice cream, coffee and the infamous GooGooCluster are available. The GooGoo Cluster was created by the Standard Candy Co. in 1912 and is still made fresh from the original recipe of peanuts, marshmallow nougat, caramel covered in milk chocolate. TO DIE FOR.
The Frothy Monkey
- The Frothy Monkey reminded me of a coffee house/restaurant combo. There are several locations around Nashville. They serve breakfast through dinner every day, wine, beer and fresh, locally roasted coffee. We had one of their great lunch salads after a morning of shopping in Franklin, followed by one of their delicious coffee drinks. They also have their own bakery featuring fresh breads and pastries.

The Gail has mixed greens, grilled chicken breast, feta, cucumbers & walnuts topped with lemon garlic vinaigrette and a strawberry.
Before going on this trip, I put a call out on the MySideof50 Facebook page for recommendations for great restaurants in Nashville. I received LOTS. There are so many wonderful places! Reservations are recommended for the more popular restaurants during the evening and at Sunday Brunch time, so do your homework and plan ahead!
I’m hoping to wear something besides yoga pants soon….
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Check out 5 Must-See Places in Nashville
5 Tips For Traveling With Friends
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That Southern Fry platter looks amazing! Now I’m hungry. So glad you had a great girls trip and thank you for sharing!
The food looks marvelous, good job on the photos! But what really stands out for me are the names of places. Frothy Monkey. Really? And GooGoo Clusters! Love! I’m stopping in all these places the next time I go to our farm in TN.
The Frothy Monkey has several locations. We ate at the one in Franklin. And GooGoo Clusters are a Nashville tradition! Thanks for reading and commenting!
Having just watched the last episode on my DVR, I am so into thinking about a visit to Nashville next year. Pinning so that i have a reference!
Good idea. I found a lot of the places we went from people’s posts on Pinterest. Alas, we never actually saw Deacon….
Looks like you had a great time Cathy. I have friends who have visited Nashville and they love it. We have been to the US three times from Australia, but alas it is so big it is hard to see everywhere. Will put this on my bucket list. #midlifemegaphone
We did have a great time. So much good food and entertainment! Thanks for reading and commenting, Sue!
I wish I knew you last year when I was at BAM! These sound wonderful and YUMMY!
They were – pin it for next time!
that is an amazing amount of wonderful looking food! You Americans have great fried stuff – I’d look like the side of a barn if I lived there 🙂
Leanne – If I ate that way all the time, I would look like the side of the Barn. But the Southern US is known for it’s fried delicacies and since I was on vacation, I totally indulged!
You now officially have me drooling and dreaming about going back to Nashville!!! Seriously… the Goo Goo Shop has to be on the top of that list!
If you like chocolate and sweets as much as I do – yes you must go there!
I grew up eating Goo Goo Clusters and had not seen them mentioned in such a long time. I haven’t been to Nashville in forever and looks like its turned into quite a foodie city!
I wouldn’t have thought before I went that it WAS a foodie city, but it really is. We didn’t even scratch the surface of great restaurants!
I MUST get to Nashville! I hear so many great things about it.
You must – really fun city. Lots to see, do & EAT!
OMG I am drooling. How did I miss these places when we visited Nashville? I must go back now!
Some I heard about from people before I went, some we stumbled upon and some were recommended by our Uber/Lyft drivers. And we didn’t even scratch the surface of great restaurants in that city!
Great list of restaurants and pics. I’ve had the Goo Goo Clusters. It’s a fun shop.
When I saw them, I didn’t think they would be that big of a deal. When I tasted one, I couldn’t get enough. Then I bought a specialty one – Hummingbird and thought I had died & gone to heaven!
Nashville isn’t that far from us, and we’ve never been. After seeing your trip I think that Bruce and I need to look at spending some time in Nashville in the future. Once we get a handle on our crazy life we are going to need a vacation! LOL All of the food looks amazing, and we love good food. Since I’ve worked in the restaurant/food industry for over 30 years it’s kind of an occupational hazard! LOL The interior of these establishments is as appealing as the food, what a great place to spend a long weekend with friends.… Read more »
They are all great places, Nikki. And I agree, after you get through this trial you are going through, a vacation is in order. This was my first trip after a rough 2015. Just what the doctor ordered and we didn’t even scratch the surface of great restaurants!
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Love the look of the Gail that chicken looks delicious. I’ve never been to t
Nashville but that area of the US is on our list next time we visit.
Really nice city if you ever get there, Sue! And we ate WELL!
Our son went to Vanderbilt and we had an awesome time, eating our way through the city! Went to Merchant’s and it was fun and delicious. Great post!