The Places · United States
Nashville
Made By profiles 16 places in Nashville, spanning bar, contemporary american tasting menu, contemporary italian with neapolitan pizza — each tied to the people and producers behind it.
01.Italian
Yolan
Nashville, United States
Yolan brings a rigorous Italian-American tradition to downtown Nashville's hotel dining tier, with a 1,000-bottle cellar weighted toward Italy and France, a glass-enclosed cheese cave, and regional wine series that shift monthly. Ranked #215 on Opinionated About Dining's North America list in 2025, it occupies the serious end of Nashville's fine dining scene and earns reservations well in advance.
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02.Modern Fusion with Japanese and Irish Influences
Locust
Nashville, United States
Locust serves progressive cooking with Japanese and Irish influences at 2305 12th Ave S, with beef tartare hand rolls, lamb dumplings, and a lively, leisurely room.
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03.Contemporary American Tasting Menu
The Catbird Seat
Nashville, United States
Perched on the fifth floor of a building on 8th Avenue South, The Catbird Seat has anchored Nashville's serious dining scene since 2011. Under chef Rogelio Garcia, the intimate counter format delivers an ambitious tasting menu that earned a Michelin star in 2025 and consistent top-fifteen placement on Opinionated About Dining's North America rankings. For a city that built its fine-dining identity relatively recently, it remains the reference point.
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04.Modern American Tasting Menu
Bastion
Nashville, United States
Bastion earned Nashville's first Michelin star recognition in 2025, placing it at the upper tier of the city's contemporary dining scene. Located on Houston Street in the Wedgewood-Houston neighbourhood, the restaurant operates at the $$$$-tier price point where format and menu architecture do the heavy lifting. For Nashville, that credential marks a meaningful shift in how seriously the city's fine-dining ambitions are being taken.
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05.Winery
Nelson's Green Brier
Nashville, United States
Nelson's Green Brier is a Nashville distillery carrying a Pearl 3 Star Prestige rating for 2025, situated on Clinton Street in the city's emerging spirits corridor. It occupies a category where American whiskey heritage meets serious production craft, placing it in a comparable set defined by provenance and process rather than volume or novelty.
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06.Modern Appalachian Fine Dining
Audrey
Nashville, United States
Audrey brings Sean Brock's deep engagement with Southern Appalachian foodways to a progressive tasting format on Nashville's Meridian Street. Recognized by Michelin, Opinionated About Dining, and Esquire since opening, it occupies the thoughtful, research-driven end of Nashville's fine dining spectrum. Weekend brunch service extends the kitchen's reach beyond the evening menu.
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07.Modern Iberian Small Plates
Peninsula
Nashville, United States
Peninsula on East Nashville's Eastland Avenue holds a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand and a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast, placing it among the most decorated Southern American kitchens in the region. Chef Jake Howell's cooking draws a loyal local crowd to a neighbourhood that has quietly become one of the city's most interesting dining corridors. A Google rating of 4.6 across 350 reviews signals consistent execution rather than hype-driven novelty.
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08.Contemporary Italian with Neapolitan Pizza
FOLK
Nashville, United States
On a residential stretch of Meridian Street in East Nashville, FOLK operates as one of the city's most critically recognised Italian kitchens. Chef Philip Krajeck's pasta-forward menu has earned a Michelin Plate, Pearl recommendation, and consecutive Opinionated About Dining rankings. Open Tuesday through Sunday evenings, it sits in the same conversation as Rolf & Daughters among Nashville's serious, independently minded restaurants.
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09.Southern Meat-and-Three
Arnold’s Country Kitchen
Nashville, United States
Arnold's Country Kitchen on 8th Avenue South has held a lunch-only format since it opened, serving Southern meat-and-three to a cross-section of Nashville that few other dining rooms attract. A 2025 Michelin Plate recognition and back-to-back rankings on Opinionated About Dining's Cheap Eats in North America list confirm its place at the serious end of an often-underestimated tradition. Open Monday through Saturday until mid-afternoon, it closes before the dinner crowd arrives.
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10.Southern Farm-to-Table
Husk Nashville
Nashville, United States
Husk Nashville has maintained a consistent presence on Opinionated About Dining's North America lists since 2023, placing it among the more critically watched Southern restaurants in the city. Located on Rutledge Street in the Rutledge Hill neighborhood, the restaurant operates under chef Ben Norton and draws a crowd that spans local regulars and visiting food writers. It is one of the more credible arguments for serious Southern cooking in a city not short on the genre.
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11.New American
Rolf & Daughters
Nashville, United States
Rolf & Daughters occupies a converted Germantown mill building on Taylor Street, where Philip Krajeck's Italian-leaning menu draws on artisan suppliers and DOP-grade ingredients with consistent recognition from Michelin, Opinionated About Dining, and Pearl. It operates in a different register than Nashville's steakhouse mainstream, sitting closer in spirit to the city's ingredient-driven progressive tier than to casual Italian as the category is typically understood.
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12.Sicilian Sfincione & Modern Italian
St. Vito Focacceria
Nashville, United States
St. Vito Focacceria brings Sicilian-rooted focacceria tradition to Nashville's Wedgewood-Houston corridor, earning a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2025 and a spot on Esquire's Best New Restaurants list the year prior. Chef Michael Hanna's counter at 605 Mansion St operates in the casual-specialist register that Michelin's value tier was designed to recognize: serious technique, accessible format, no performance required.
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13.Japanese Comfort Food
Kisser
Nashville, United States
Kisser on Douglas Avenue brings Japanese technique to Nashville's Eastside with enough conviction to earn both a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand and an Opinionated About Dining Casual recognition in the same year. Chef Brian Lea runs a counter-driven format that rewards those who let the kitchen pace the meal. At a 4.7 Google rating across 260 reviews, it has quietly become one of the city's most consistent addresses.
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14.Bar
Tailor Nashville
Nashville, United States
Tailor Nashville occupies a deliberate position in Nashville's growing craft cocktail scene, where technical ambition and a considered bar program place it alongside the city's most serious drinking destinations. Located at 620 Taylor St in the Germantown corridor, it draws a crowd that comes with a purpose rather than by accident. The address alone signals something worth seeking out.
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15.Bar
Rice Vice by Proper Sake Co.
Nashville, United States
Rice Vice by Proper Sake Co. occupies a specific niche in Nashville's drinking scene: a sake-forward bar operating under the Proper Sake Co. banner at 3109 Ambrose Ave in the city's north side. The food and drink pairing programme here reflects a broader American interest in Japanese fermentation culture, positioning it well outside the honky-tonk circuit that defines most of Nashville's bar identity.
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16.Bar
Nelson's Green Brier Distillery
Nashville, United States
Nelson's Green Brier Distillery sits at 1414 Clinton St in Nashville's Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, occupying a working production facility that doubles as a visitor experience. The distillery revives a pre-Prohibition Tennessee whiskey lineage, positioning it in a different tier from Nashville's bar-heavy honky-tonk corridor. For visitors interested in provenance-driven spirits rather than cocktail theatre, it represents a more grounded entry point into the city's drinks culture.
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