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Nashville’s culinary scene is hotter than its famous hot chicken that’s deep-fried, and widely considered Music City’s signature dish.
From award-winning fine dining restaurants to culinary tours, distilleries, and local spots that have held it down for decades, Music City is the perfect destination for anyone interested in exploring a dynamic, deeply rooted food scene that blends tradition with innovation.
And the rest of the country is taking note.
Earlier this year, the James Beard Foundation recognized chef-owner Philip Krajeck of Rolf and Daughters as a semifinalist for Best Chef: Southeast. The Beards also named Tailor a semifinalist for outstanding hospitality. Both restaurants are in historic Germantown.
Rolf and Daughters’ Krajeck centers seasonal, contemporary cooking, with handmade pasta and fresh ingredients on shareable plates as the stars of this New American restaurant. Growing up in Brussels, he lived between two Italian families and later worked in a Swiss kitchen with Italian cooks. It is there that he learned how to make the twisted pasta strozzapreti (“priest strangler”) along with other shapes.
When it comes to the tasting menu at Tailor, chef-owner Vivek Surti focuses on what he calls First Generation American cuisine, a blend of the Gujarati cooking from his childhood, and the seasonal ingredients and the food traditions he experienced growing up in Nashville. As the dishes roll out, staff members explain what you’re about to eat, as well as the story behind the meal.
The James Beard Foundation isn’t the only prestigious culinary organization that’s showing Nashville some love.
In March, the Michelin Guide announced that Nashville will host the 2026 Michelin Guide American South Ceremony. This marks a significant milestone for Nashville and solidifies its budding reputation as a premier culinary destination.
The Michelin Guide debuted its American South Guide in 2025, recognizing 21 Nashville restaurants and awarding a star to three, including Locust in 12 South. Irish chef Trevor Moran helms the kitchen at the Japanese-inspired restaurant.
Elsewhere in Music City, the Michelin Guide highlighted two restaurants specializing in Southern staples, as well as two fine dining restaurants.
There’s the iconic Arnold’s Country Kitchen, a 44-year-old restaurant that the Arnold family owns in the 8th Avenue South/Melrose neighborhood. It’s famous for its meat-and-three fare—a plate filled with one main meat dish and three sides—that workers make from scratch, and even won a James Beard American Classics Award in 2009.
The guide also recognized Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, a family-owned Nashville hot chicken establishment that originated in the Midtown neighborhood and has spawned several locations across the United States.
Interested in the colorful story behind the origins of Nashville hot chicken? Nashville hot chicken has been a mainstay in the Black community since the 1930s, when a girlfriend made the dish to punish her cheating boyfriend after he stepped out on her on a Saturday night. He returned home the next morning to fried chicken she’d seasoned with a ton of hot pepper. But he loved it so much that he opened Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack.
The Michelin Guide also featured Tailor and Rolf and Daughters, the same high-end restaurants that were semifinalists for 2026 James Beard Awards.
Music City has also got you covered on the experiential situation.
Walk Eat Nashville leads guided tours across the city, combining culinary stops with a deeper look at Music City’s neighborhoods, where you can explore, eat and drink at local establishments.
The Patterson House, an upscale cocktail bar in the Gulch neighborhood, helped pioneer Nashville’s craft cocktail scene. Situated on top of the historic Bill Voorhees building, The Patterson House recalls the pre-Prohibition era with a cocktail menu of more than 1,200 drinks, each built with top-tier ingredients, exacting technique, and house-cut ice tailored to every pour.
Be sure to visit Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery in Marathon Village. Andy and Charlie Nelson, the brothers behind the whiskey, bourbon, and rye spot, revived the family business after they learned their great-great-great-grandfather was one of America’s most successful whiskey distillers—prior to Prohibition.
Or, board a luxurious bus with Mint Julep Experiences for whiskey tastings, distillery tours, and other Nashville adventures that underline the state’s flavors, traditions, and history.
If food and music are your jam, check out the Studio Mama Supper Club, which hosts four-course, farm-to-table meals and intimate concerts at iconic recording studios all over Nashville. Get there early for the 6 p.m. cocktail hour with conversation over handcrafted drinks, including a Green Brier Whiskey Tasting.
Ready to choose your adventure? Head over to Visit Music City.