Things To Do
Ryman Auditorium
For lovers of country music, the Ryman Auditorium is the home of the greats. Opened in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, the Ryman began as a place to hold indoor revivals. It quickly evolved into an entertainment venue hosting major entertainers such as Will Rogers, Bob Hope, and Harry Houdini, earning it the nickname, “The Carnegie Hall of the South.” In 1943, it became the home of The Grand Ole Opry, which was broadcast from the stage every week for 30 years.
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
One of the world’s largest museums, it is home to 2.5 million artifacts, including recordings, photos, instruments, and so many other things. Just the collection and variety of cowboy boots and clothes is kind of mind-blowing. There are also larger, one-of-a-kind items like Elvis’ “Solid Gold” Cadillac painted with crushed diamonds and fish scales.
Belle Meade Plantation
Once home to the wealthiest family in Nashville, Belle Meade plantation spanned over 5400 acres in the late 19th century. The estate’s owners, the Harding family, welcomed celebrities, presidents, and countless southern gentlemen, to their home, which included the largest thoroughbred horse farm in the country. Now just 24 acres, a tour of Belle Meade plantation offers a glimpse into the life of the moneyed class around the time of the Civil War and beyond. Take a walk around the grounds to see the carriage house, the slaves’ quarters, the old dairy, and the smokehouse.
The Hermitage
The Hermitage plantation was the home of Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States, and his family from 1804 until his death in 1845. The 1100-acre property includes the mansion and garden (including a tomb), former cotton fields, and several 19th century cabins that housed Jackson’s many slaves.
Gaylord Opryland Gardens & Resort
Opryland Hotel opened in 1977, originally built to support the Grand Ole Opry. The Magnolia Lobby is designed to resemble a grand Southern mansion with an impressive staircase and a Tiffany-style chandelier. Guests enjoy the Cajun-themed Delta Atrium, which includes a quarter-mile-long indoor river. Flatboats carry guests along the river, and past a water feature with jets choreographed to music. When the expansion was christened, water samples from more than 1,700 rivers throughout the world (including every registered river in the United States) were poured into the Delta River. The atrium also includes a Garden Conservatory resembling a Victorian garden maintaining a constant temperature of 71 degrees and housing more than 10,000 plants. Opryland offers a variety of restaurants, including Old Hickory Steak House, built to resemble an antebellum-style mansion.
Arrington Vineyards
Providing a “wine country experience” of award winning wines set among the picturesque rolling hills of middle Tennessee. Owned by country music artist Kix Brooks, winemaker Kip Summers, and entrepreneur John Russell, Arrington Vineyards has truly become “Nashville’s Wine Country”.
Jack Daniel's Distillery Visitor Center
Drop by for a firsthand look at our distillery where one of our guides will accompany you on a tour and tell you the complete story of our whiskey. And you'll probably hear an interesting story or two about Mr. Jack as well. We hope to see you around Lynchburg sometime soon. The town of Lynchburg is the seat of Moore County, the smallest county in Tennessee. Even though it's home to the distillery, it's a dry county and has been ever since Prohibition.
The Parthenon
Nashville’s Centennial Park is home to a full-size replica of the Parthenon, originally built in 1897. Now functioning as an art museum, the Parthenon houses a group of paintings by 19th- and 20th-century American artists and provides space for temporary exhibits. Its centerpiece is an imposing 42-foot-tall statue of Athena covered in gold leaf, as it would have been in the Parthenon in ancient Greece.
Cheekwood Estate and Gardens
Cheekwood is a 55-acre botanical garden and art museum located on the historic Cheek estate. Originally built as the home of Leslie and Mabel Cheek in 1929, Cheekwood is one of the finest examples of an American Country Place Era estate. Since being converted into a museum of art and botanical garden in 1960, Cheekwood has presented world-class art exhibitions, spectacular gardens and an historic estate unlike anything else.
Tootsies Orchid Lounge
Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, a Nashville country music institution and world-famous honky-tonk, has operated across the alley from the Ryman almost continuously since 1960. Its proprietor from 1960 to 1978, Hattie Louise “Tootsie” Bess, bought the lounge called “Mom’s” and named it for herself. According to tradition, a painter mistakenly painted the exterior orchid purple. The color was never changed and became Tootsie’s signature color. Over the years, she served such famous customers as Kris Kristofferson, Faron Young, and Willie Nelson when they were still up-and-coming artists, and Tootsie was well-known for her generosity toward struggling musicians. The photo- and memorabilia-lined walls are called “Tootsie’s Wall of Fame.” A portion of the Loretta Lynn biopic “Coal Miner’s Daughter” was filmed inside Tootsie’s.
Belmont Mansion
Belmont Mansion is an Italianate villa constructed between the years 1849 and 1853. Through the years, it has been the summer home for Nashville socialite Adelicia Acklen and her family, temporary headquarters of the Union army, and an all-girls college and seminary. One of the most elaborate antebellum homes in the South, with 36 rooms and 19,000 square feet, the entire Belmont estate was built, furnished, and landscaped by the Acklens and boasted such luxuries as lavish gardens, an art gallery, a bowling alley, and a zoo.
Frist Art Museum
Nashville has a dearth of art museums, but the Frist—which opened in 2001 in a stately Art Deco building that was once the city's main post office—helped fill that void. The art museum has no permanent collection, so you never know what will be on view—and that's why locals love it.
Hattie B's Hot Chicken
Hattie B's Hot Chicken is an American restaurant chain based in Nashville, Tennessee, founded by a father and son, each named Nick Bishop. The company specializes in hot chicken, a fried chicken dish, and is since named after three women in the Bishop family with the name Hattie. The company purveys hot chicken, a local specialty and signature dish of Nashville, chicken and waffles, side dishes, desserts and other foods. The chicken is provided at various spice levels. The spiciest version of the hot chicken has been described as having a very marked, severe spiciness, and is prepared using ghost peppers as an ingredient. The chicken is served with pickles and atop white bread, as per traditional local preparation methods.
Pinewood Social
Come for Southern comfort food and craft cocktails, followed by karaoke and bowling at the six-lane alley. By mid-afternoon, the Living Room quiets down as people race to finish the day's work—and start happy hour early (Pinewood's famous for its Easy Like Sunday Morning, a decadent Crema coffee cocktail).
The Loveless Cafe
Loveless Cafe in southwest Nashville, Tennessee, is the place to go for Southern cooking. It’s known for all things heavenly, from country ham to red-eye gravy and especially its all-day breakfast.
Josephine
Josephine is a contemporary restaurant featuring refined American farmhouse cuisine located in the vibrant, 12 South neighborhood. Complimentary valet parking.
Husk
Located in Rutledge Hill-just a few blocks south of Historic Broadway, in the heart of Downtown Nashville-is the newest outpost of the Neighborhood Dining Group and James Beard Award-winning Chef Sean Brock's renowned restaurant, Husk. Led by Brock, the kitchen reinterprets the bounty of the surrounding area, exploring an ingredient-driven cuisine that begins in the rediscovery of heirloom products and redefines what it means to cook and eat in Nashville. At Husk, there are some rules about what can go on the plate. "If it doesn't come from the South, it's not coming through the door," says Brock.
The Bluebird Cafe
Lots of Nashville music royalty got their start at the Bluebird, and one of the best parts about visiting the Bluebird is that you never know who might pop in to reminisce. That meanson any given night, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift, Steven Tyler, or Melissa Etheridge might just stop by. It's essential to jump on tickets when they drop because seating is limited to just 90, and it's obvious why they go so quickly.
The Oak Bar at the Hermitage Hotel
From the wood-paneled walls to the Kentucky bourbon-centric menu, Oak Room is old school hotel bar at its finest. It draws suit-and-ties and theater-goers, given its proximity to TPAC, one of the biggest performing arts centers in Nashville. The bar has always emphasized quality spirits with top-notch ingredients, like Jack's Mule, which substitutes vodka for Jack Daniel's Single-Barrel Whiskey, mixed with ginger, fresh lime juice.
Nelson's Green Brier Distillery
When co-owners Andy and Charlie Nelson unearthed their great-great-great grandfather's pre-Prohibition-era legacy, they set out to revive it with this namesake distillery. This big, open warehouse is tastefully decorated with two centuries of distilling culture memorabilia. After your tour, take a seat at the big U-shaped bar for a proper tasting. Nelson's Green Brier Distillery is a producer of Tennessee whiskey and other spirits that launched in 2011 and began operating a distillery in 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. The company is named after a pre-Prohibition historical distillery that operated under the ownership of businessman Charles Nelson and later his widow in Greenbrier, Robertson County, Tennessee, from 1870 to 1909.
Bastion
Check out Bastion for two different kinds of nights. Straight ahead, when you enter, you have one of the most fun bars in a city of very fun bars: a cavernous hangout serving $6 boilermakers and $9-$13 fine cocktails like the Howdy Sailor (made with navy-strength gin). On your right, through an unmarked door, you have the 24-seat restaurant from chef-owner Josh Habiger, who helped put Nashville’s food scene on the national radar as a former chef of The Catbird Seat
Pastaria
Pastaria Nashville has a lively atmosphere with tall ceilings, light-hearted décor, natural light, and an open floor plan. In addition to standard dining tables and chairs, there’s also a large dinner bar, a separate cocktail area, and a grab-and-go gelato counter. Pastaria’s menu draws from Chef Craft’s travels to Italy, where he spent time soaking up inspiration from Naples, Rome, Abruzzo, Emilia-Romagna, Marque, Lombardy, Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio. The flavorful cuisine offers a variety of options including salads, soups, appetizers, organic pastas, Neapolitan-style pizzas, wood oven entrées, and gelato. Pastaria’s pizzas are a must-try, though.
Butcher & Bee
It all started with a vision... of sandwiches. The notion was simple. Perfect all the ingredients - proteins, cheeses, veggies, bread - and craft sandwiches with flavor combinations and food quality usually reserved for fine dining. A gourmet meal between two pieces of bread. Now the dream has grown beyond sandwiches to all types of foods. And we bring them to you from local farmers who produce spectacular flavors. Supporting local and sustainable is not a slogan. It’s the right thing to do, and the food tastes better for it.
The Catbird Seat
This intimate counter restaurant helmed by Ryan Poli is American with global influences including Japanese and Italian. The chef trained under Rene Redzepi in Denmark and worked on Noma's pop-up in Japan, with spells at The French Laundry and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in the US and El Celler de Can Roca and La Broche in Spain. The tiny restaurant is centred around a U-shaped dining counter where the chefs take centre stage, serving a globally influenced tasting menu that is rooted in American produce. Think sake-marinated cauliflower with cashew purée, turnips and aged beef fat or fermented celery root arancini piled with slivers of black truffles. There are only 23 seats, most at the counter, with reservations released in monthly blocks at midnight. So it's really a game of whoever clicks fastest wins, especially for prime times.
Henrietta Red
Nestled in a bustling stretch of Germantown, Henrietta Red is an American restaurant offering seasonal contemporary cooking and an oyster bar. The dream of Nashville-native chef Julia Sullivan and her business partner, general manager and sommelier, Allie Poindexter, Henrietta Red boasts a convivial barroom offering a variety of natural wines, craft cocktails, and daily happy hour specials. The bar also offers a menu of shareable plates and the full raw bar selection. The restaurant at Henrietta Red focuses on simple, fresh ingredients. A wood burning oven, wide variety of oysters and shellfish, as well as crudos and many vegetable-forward dishes, drive the menu.
Rolf and Daughters
Occupying a lofty space in Germantown with the requisite new-Nash aesthetic—that's exposed brick, Edison bulbs, and reclaimed wood—Rolf & Daughters is a standout with its laid-back, Southern-influenced approach to Italian cooking. Don't miss handmade pasta dishes (the mafalde with maitake mushroom alfredo is a crowd-pleaser, as is the ricotta cavatelli with tree-nut ragout) and other plates like lamb meatballs with caramelized broccoli, romesco, and mint.
Henley
Rooted in the traditions of regional cooking, Henley celebrates quality products made by American hands, we are a restaurant with a southern soul and French technique. Whether it is our dynamic small plates menu, the cocktail cart providing tableside manhattans, or our delicious Sunday brunch with live music; there is always something at Henley worth experiencing. Henley is a neighborhood communal space that is as accessible for locals as it is for people taking their first bite out of Nashville.
The Patterson House
The Patterson House, Nashville’s first craft cocktail bar, set the bar high for mixology in Music City. When it opened on Tax Day in 2009, locals got to experience drinks created with house-made syrups, fresh-squeezed juices, and eight types of twice-filtered ice for the first time. With its pre-Prohibition atmosphere and “house rules,” The Patterson House is a pioneer of creativity and remains one of the freshest bar concepts in Nashville. A thick curtain divides the waiting area and the main room, which provides privacy for drinking patrons and allure for those waiting. A square, 30-foot bar sits at the center of the dimly lit room where guests watch talented mixologists shake furiously and pour slowly. Old-fashioned chandeliers hang above each booth. There’s only room for about 80 guests, so it’s an intimate experience.
Old Glory
Old Glory is located in what used to be the boiler room for White Way Cleaners, formerly one of the largest steam cleaning facilities in Nashville. The space features the original electrical boxes, coal hopper, and smoke stack that were in use in the 1920s. The Soler sisters transformed the space into a bar/lounge, intertwining the original elements into their design. While Old Glory doesn’t have a sign, find the golden triangle off of Edgehill Avenue for entrance. Old Glory has a full bar with an emphasis on specialty cocktails. Food options lean towards small-plate options like escabeche, smoked baby potatoes, a house lox plate, and a house meat plate.
Red Pony
Since opening in 2006, Red Pony Restaurant has offered guests a unique take on fine dining. Owner and Executive Chef Jason McConnell’s eclectic approach to Southern cuisine delivers innovative and flavorful dishes in an inviting, upscale environment.Our mission is to deliver exceptional food with unparalleled service. Every “First time guest” is hoped to be a future “Regular”.The first of McConnell’s several concepts, Red Pony Restaurant is the winner of several accolades. Recent awards include: Nashville Scene Best of Nashville 2018: Best Restaurant Williamson County Open Table “Best Food” Open Table “Best Service” Open Table “Best Overall” Open Table “Best Contemporary American” Pick of Williamson “Best Restaurant to Take a Date”
Cork & Cow
Cork & Cow, Chef Jason McConnell’s latest venue in Franklin, emphasizes both great steaks and wine. Cork & Cow features over 100 bottles of wine, an exceptional cocktail program, extensive cuts of steak and exceptional seafood. The menu changes up to eight times a year to showcase the season’s best offerings. Ingredients are sourced locally as often as possible and an attention to the exceptional can be seen in dishes like the Tomahawk.
Biscuit Love
Since its humble beginnings as an Airstream food truck, Biscuit Love has grown to three Middle Tennessee locations and has become a Music City staple for its playful take on Southern brunch. Owned and operated by husband-and-wife team Karl and Sarah Worley, Biscuit Love serves a variety of breakfast and lunch options made entirely from scratch. Throughout its journey from food truck to brick-and-mortar, Biscuit Love has remained steadfast in its commitment to sourcing from local purveyors, and actively giving back to the Nashville community. Locations in the Gulch, Hillsboro, and in Franklin, TN!