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The Southern Steak & Oyster
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Mokara Spa
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Mokara Spa
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Crema
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Crema
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Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum
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Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum
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Etch
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Etch
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Johnny Cash Museum
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Johnny Cash Museum
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Johnny Cash Museum
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Goo Goo Cluster
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Goo Goo Cluster
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The Farm House
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The Listening Room
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Ryman Auditorium
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Printer's Alley
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Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar
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Robert's Western World
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Robert's Western World
Gone are the days when downtown Nashville was 'just a place tourists went.” Today, the hood is expanding so quickly, it's hard to keep upespecially since this part of town continues to add unique establishments that appeal to visitors and locals alike.
Morning
It can be tricky to find a reliable breakfast joint, but The Southern Steak & Oyster has you covered seven days a week, serving solid options like the Hillbilly wrap, which is brimming with pulled pork, scrambled eggs, chow chow, collard greens, cheddar, and black-eyed peas.
After a hearty start to your day, you'll want nothing more than to sit back and relax. Omni Nashville's Mokara Spa features an array of soothing treatments, like a Babor anti-aging pedicure and an 80-minute blueberry soy scrub and slimming body wrap. When you come out of your bliss-induced spa coma, you'll need a pick-me-up. Just a few blocks away, you'll find Crema coffee at its flagship location as well as its outpost inside Pinewood Socialorder a Vietnamese coffee and settle in or take it with you to your next stop.
Afternoon
The Country Music Hall of Fame is famous for its rotating exhibits, like Alan Jackson: 25 Years of Keepin' It Country, which celebrates the icon-in-residence's music through June. When your stomach starts to growl, make your way to Etch for chef-owner Deb Paquette's cornmeal-fried catfish with walnut, red bell pepper, and pomegranate sauce and fiery plum preserve. Just don't forget dessert: Pastry chef Megan Williams has some decadent spring items to offer, like a Meyer lemon tart made with frozen mousse and lemon curd.
Continuing your music education, the Johnny Cash Museum pays homage to the Man in Black with memorabilia galore from his storied career. Across the street at the new Goo Goo Shop, the century-old company has some sweet treats, like the four-ounce peanut butter pretzel Premium Goo Goo, on top of its line of retro-style merchandise. Down the block, next to The Southern, the just-opened Southernaire Market stocks a mix of local and regional artisanal products. There's also a butcher counter and craft brews available by the bottle.
Evening
Tucked away discreetly behind Etch, The Farm House has fresh fare that changes with the seasonsplus, it's all sourced from Tennessee. Chef Trey Cioccia offers a great selection of shareable plates, like pimento cheese beignets and pork-belly 'pop tarts”: braised, pulled pork belly in a puff pastry with blackberry jam, drizzled with a duck fat maple glaze. Follow up your appetizers with the octopus and seafood sausage, but leave room for something sweetlike the Magic Bar, made with chocolate cream, coconut ice cream, fudge sauce, and graham cracker.
Those looking for a low-key evening of live music need head no further than the Listening Room Café, which often features singer-songwriter rounds or other special performances. For more of a spectacle, there's usually a show at the legendary Ryman Auditorium or an event like a Predators game at Bridgestone Arena.
Feeling like a dive-y stop instead? You never know who might be out in Printers Alley; many a famed musician has been seen at the Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar, particularly on Tuesdays, when Whitey Johnson takes the stage. And for that good old-fashioned honky-tonk fun, Robert's Western World is as good for the locals as it is for out-of-towners.