NASHVILLE - The best places to eat and what to do - top recs from readers and locals

Alright y'all, I am officially obsessed with Nashville. I've been practicing the accent and my y'all - it's not great. This was my first time going and I had so many recommendations from you as well as got a few recs from my local friends and they did not disappoint!

I didn't know that Nashville was known for its biscuits and hot chicken - which is some of the best I've had - and let me tell you - we ATE. In this post I recommend a few of my favorite restaurants along with what food to order at each but you can scroll to the bottom of this section for a list style of restaurants and activities if that's more your vibe.

BEST PLACES TO EAT IN NASHVILLE

• Biscuit Love

While there are many locations in the area, we ate at the one located in "The Gulch" because it was closer to excellent shopping (like Rustlers Hat Company and Gibsons Garage) and activities (like the Country Music Hall of Fame, and Honkey Tonks!). Plus it had the cute light up Nashville letters and a photo op inside. The Bonuts were mind blowing. The kind of delicious that makes the whole trip worth it. They also had the best plain biscuits. The hubs and I are biscuit snobs - we like a layered look, soft, salty, and full of flavor. Biscuit Love took the prize. No other biscuit we tried had the iconic layers. Many locals recommended this place as well as many of you who have visited. You cannot miss it.

• Milk and Honey

Just around the corner and down the street from Biscuit Love is Milk and Honey. While their biscuits were good, they were a bit cakier, drier, and not as flavorful. The true gem here is their crescents. Homemade fresh daily - the crescent was THE best I have ever had. We enjoyed the Farmhouse sandwich - but switched the biscuit for the crescent. INCREDIBLE. We also tried the Liquid Gold juice which was delightful, but small and expensive. Everything here was fresh and delicious - the bacon was the good kind - you know, thick and cooked to perfection. Definitely a must try!

• The Hampton Social

If you are hitting up the Honky Tonks, be sure to get a good dinner in your belly before. The Hampton Social is a short walk from lower Broadway and there's a perfect Dolly Parton brick wall painting for a quick photo op on the way (photo at the top of this post). The lower level had a great vibe and a fantastic live acoustic guitar player and singer. We hit up the rooftop level which had a more relaxed atmosphere with couches and a beachy vibe. You must be 18+ for the upper level and will need to show id. The food was incredible. We grabbed the Shelter Island chicken sandwich and swapped out the chips for the truffle fries - it was amazing - I may have been licking my fingers intensely after eating the fries! We also enjoyed the Pomodoro pizza which was bright, flavorful and oh so creamy. And praise heavens for all the Dr. Pepper lovers out there - Nashville has your back.

We stayed about 15 minutes south of Nashville in a town called Brentwood. There are some great foodie gems here too! In fact, some of the best Mexican the hubs and I have ever had was in Brentwood. These recs came from a local friend and we were super happy when we found that we were staying about 5 minutes from them.

• Uncle Julios

The inside of this restaurant has a really beautiful motif. The fresh chips and guac were excellente! Warm, thin, and perfectly salted chips with bright and freshly prepared guac - it's what dreams are made of. The salsa was a deep, heavy flavor - like they had slow roasted the vegetables - not my favorite - but it was a nice change. We enjoyed the Quesa-Birria, and some fresh tacos with grilled chicken and steak with chipotle crema - chef's kiss fantastic!

• Maple Street Biscuit Company

While it did not receive our best biscuit award - these were second in my book and the pairing of flavors here was incredible. We were unprepared for the difficult choice of choosing just a few items off of the menu as everything sounded so good. I ended up with "The Farmer" - an apple butter laden biscuit, with cheddar cheese, fried chicken, and bacon - dreamy! The hubs grabbed a simple breakfast sandwich and it was perfection.

• Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream

Just across the street from Maple Street Biscuit Company was Jeni's Spendid Ice Cream. The flavors of ice cream aren't your typical chocolate and vanilla. Here, you can enjoy Salted Peanut Butter, and Brambleberry. You really can't go wrong with any flavor and the ambiance is super cute too.

PLACES TO EAT IN NASHVILLE - LIST STYLE

• Biscuit Love (Bonuts)

• Milk & Honey (Cresent rolls)

• The Hampton Social (Beach vibe)

• Loveless Cafe (BBQ)

• Hattie B's Hot Chicken (delish spicy chicken)

• Paula Deens

• Jeff Ruby's (fancy steak house)

• Virago (sushi)

• Pharmacy Burger Parlor and Beer Garden

OUTSIDE OF NASHVILLE (Brentwood/Franklin area)

• Uncle Julios (Mexican)

• Maple Street Biscuit Company

• Jeni's Ice Cream

• Mere Bulles (bruschetta, mussels, fish tacos and wines)

• 55 South (burgers and flavors of New Orleans)

• Wild Ginger (Asian fusion)

WHAT TO DO IN NASHVILLE

If you're a first timer headed to Nashville, here are my top things for you to do, and why! If you're returning for more - head to the list below for more.

Nashville is girls trip central! We saw many groups of ladies (mostly moms) in sparkly cowgirl boots riding scooters through town. I loved the people watching there, especially when we went honky tonk hopping - there are some characters!

If you want to just drive around and explore - downtown Nashville has murals all over! Plus the countryside is gorgeous.

Nashville is of course rich in US civil war history as well as the birthplace of country music. I already loved Dolly Parton but gained a greater appreciation for her and Elvis Presley and the great and giving humans they are/were on this trip.

• The Grand Old Opry

If you are going to Nashville, be sure to score some tickets to the Grand Old Opry and if you can, take a tour. I wish we could have gone every night to see someone new. Some artists are familiar and others you have no idea who they are but quickly realize they wrote some of your favorite country songs and it give you chills listening to the stories behind the songs and getting to know the artist. The auditorium seating is like a church pew - and the show will likely be a little over two hours - so be prepared, but they have snacks and drinks and it is such a fun atmosphere.

• Blue Bird Cafe OR The Listening Room Cafe

Similar to the Grand Old Opry is the smaller, more intimate Blue Bird Cafe or Listening Room. Both extremely hard to score tickets to but worth it! An absolute MUST do while in Nashville.

What you need to know: Blue Bird Cafe tickets are sold online and become available 1 week prior to the event. They do reserve space for walk ins - but the likelihood of you snagging those is very slim. Plan ahead and get multiple people online to get tickets because they go fast! The listening room opens up 24 hours before the show and is easier to get tickets but they do go fast. Be sure to visit the website for each of them for up to date information on times and artists.

• Country Music Hall of Fame and Studio B

I went back and forth on wanting to add this to the docket because it's expensive. However, I'm so glad we did it. We added the Studio B tour to our tickets and it was well worth it. It is not something I would do again if I went back to Nashville but I do think it is something every first timer and visitor should do at least once. The hall of fame walks you through the history of country music. There is a lot of reading, but some really cool artifacts - like cars, instruments, and show outfits. My hubby is big into country music history and the music of the past, so he loved it! Studio B was my highlight. You hop on a tour bus from the museum and take a ride to Music Row and into Studio B. Our tour guide was excellent and while Studio B smelled dank and old, the history told was special. We even got to sit at Elvis Presley's favorite Steinway piano and listen to songs he recorded while playing it. I highly recommend entering the actual hall of fame with the plaques after the Studio B tour because there are some fun facts you learn on the tour that tie into the hall of fame area that make it even more special.

• Honky Tonks

Oh yes, it's a must, even if you don't drink. Located on the lower half of Broadway Street every other door is a bar with music that literally spills out onto the street. It is incredibly loud and crazy and it's almost as if the door down is competing with the other. I have never seen anything quite like it. Some singers are lone wolfs with a guitar and a mic and others are bands with drums and rock music. Some are incredible yet others are very off key and almost everyone seems drunk. In between the bars are boot, hat and country apparel shops. Most boots are priced around the $400 mark but almost all the shops advertise "buy 1 get 2 free" or "everything always 30% off". My advice - buy online or OFF of broadway, but definitely worth the window shopping. We stopped in at Jason Aldeans Kitchen (the upper level) for a warm cookie with ice cream and got a front row seat to a mediocre singer and his buddy guitarist - it was a very cool vibe and we could feel the floor vibrating from the band and craziness going on in the bar below.

If you have more time and want to spend it away from the hustle and bustle of the city, the drives between Brentwood to Nolensville and Brentwood to Franklin is beautiful. The sprawling estates and Bellagio style mansions are incredible. It's a beautiful place to just enjoy the countryside. The roads are small and streets are not well lit and do wind a bit so keep that in mind as you drive - especially at night.

• Franklin

The town of Franklin is rich in civil war history. With monuments and homes you can visit plus main street shops and eateries it's a great place to go for a slower paced day. My husband was sick at the time we visited so we mostly drove around but if we had more time we both would have loved to dive into the history that was there.

WHAT TO DO IN NASHVILLE

• Grand Old Opry

• Blue Bird Cafe or The Listening Room Cafe

• Country Music Hall of Fame and Studio B

• Honky Tonks

• General Jackson's Riverboat (don't get the food but the views are amazing)

• Downtown Franklin

• Drive and explore the roads south of Nashville between Franklin, Brentwood, and Nolensville

• Andrew Jackson's Estate

• Visit the Gibson Garage and other shops downtown (The Gulch has great shops)

• Centennial Park (free museum inside the park)

• Rent scooters and bikes and explore downtown in search of Murals

Visiting Nashville has been at the top of our vacation list for a long time and it did not disappoint. Everything was worth the hype. The food was some of the best we've eaten and the music - well - we love our country music! If you've visited Nashville, be sure to add your recommendations in the comments if there's anything I missed.

XOXO,

Kimberly Marie