The Fast and Dirty Guide to Eating Your Way Through Nashville Like a Local

If you’ve ever Googled “best restaurants in Nashville” you already know the problem. It’s the same ten places recycled across every blog with the same stock photo of hot chicken. Meanwhile, the spots locals actually go to? Not on the list. 

On That’s the Point, hosts Jon Volk and Kristin Johns sit down to share every single rec they’d send to the group chat. These are the places they actually go on a random Tuesday, the orders they’ve dialed in, and the honest truth about what’s worth the hype and what’s not. 

Consider this your notes app cheat sheet.

Nashville Travel Guide: Eat Your Way Through Nashville Like a Local

Breakfast

• Perrin (Franklin + Nashville): “It’s a really cute little bakery/breakfast spot,” Johns says. The crème brûlée kouign-amann, the chocolate croissant, the breakfast sandwiches. Volk calls it “the best pastries in town.” 
• Ladybird Taco (12 South): Volk’ go-to for a “quick breakfast with a friend.” Breakfast tacos are about four bucks each so you grab three or four and try everything. They brew Crema coffee and the whole 12 South area is walkable and cute.
• Two Hands (Franklin + Nashville): Australian breakfast spot. The salmon toast, the breakfast burrito, and their mocha cappuccino all hit.
• Buttermilk Ranch (12 South): Allegedly the best almond croissant in Nashville. The catch? “Their wait is always pretty long,” Johns says. “If you have reservations, it’s a yes, but if not, you’re screwed.” In other words, plan accordingly.

Lunch

• Hattie B’s: “I would say the number one hot chicken spot for me in Nashville,” Volk says. Johns immediately adds that declaring a hot chicken winner here is a “very controversial thing,” which is accurate. Nashville will fight about this. Still, this is their pick. Pro move: if you’re skipping breading, order it grilled. Same heat, no gluten, zero regrets.
• 51st Deli (Nashville + Brentwood): “Probably the best deli in town,” Volk says. The chicken Caesar wrap is TikTok famous for a reason. You can do it fried or grilled.
• Bar Taco (12 South): No reservation needed, “the number one margarita” of Volk’s life, and you can shop the neighborhood while you wait. Classic always-going-to-hit energy.
• Culver’s: The sleeper pick. The exact order: “Deluxe Butter Burger with extra crispy french fries, salt on the side with a root beer.” Volk says “you can’t go wrong,” adding that it just might be “the best burger in town.”

Dinner

• Pastis: Johns’ number one “fancy, perfect date night, girls’ night” dinner pick in Nashville. “Here’s what you’re going to order,” she says: the French onion soup. Volk adds the scallop crudo, the Caesar salad, and the tuna carpaccio—“so good.”
• Sushi San: “10 out of 10” across the board. The nigiri and hand rolls taste like West Coast quality, and the miso sticky toffee pudding is apparently “life-changing.” 
• Rolf and Daughters: The move is ordering every single pasta on the menu and splitting it all. That’s literally what they do every time they go with friends.
• Deg Thai: “Best Thai food in Nashville, hands down,” Volk says. Great for delivery nights when you just want to eat on the couch.

Coffee

• Hanks (Franklin): Volk calls it the best coffee in Nashville, period. The iced pistachio cold foam latte is the move, but it sells out constantly, so don’t wait. “Really banging,” Johns adds.
• Dose (Nashville): Get the iced Barcelona with salted cold foam. They make it in-house,” Johns says. “It’s like a real treat.”
• Merge Coffee Bar: Weird location, no “cute seating”—doesn’t matter. Johns says “they make the best matcha” she’s ever had in her “entire life” and she will die on that hill. The iced matcha with salted maple cold foam is the one.
• Barista Parlor (Germantown location specifically): Best iced mocha in town because the chocolate is homemade ganache. 

Things to Do

• Leiper’s Fork: Feels like a Hallmark town. Rolling hills, horses, antique shops, and Redbird Coffee has a blueberry latte that’s out of this world. 
• Southall Spa: Book a morning massage, use the pool and Himalayan salt sauna all day, eat farm-to-table food on-site. “It’s like this beautiful, bougie spa experience,” Johns says. 
• Arrington Vineyards: Bring your own food, buy wine there, sit on a picnic blanket, and listen to live music on the weekends. That’s it. That’s the plan.
• Downtown Franklin: Walkable, cute, great shops. Hit White’s Mercantile, grab a slice at Slice House, and stop into Landmark Bookseller.
• Broadway: The Vegas Strip of Nashville. Go once. Line dance at Category 10. Drink on the rooftop at the 12:30 Club. Will you see Volk and Johns there? No. But you’ll have a good time.

Listen to the full episode on That’s the Point, available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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