Nashville Lifestyles' Top 10 Best Restaurants

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10 - Etch

Although Etch has become a bit more difficult to locate lately thanks to so many construction projects surrounding its downtown perch, the restaurant is still at the front of mind for fans of chef Deb Paquette's exotic international influences. Open for lunch and dinner, Etch is a solid destination for everything from a power business lunch to a quick bite before a show at the Schermerhorn.

Paquette's eclectic menu features highlights from around the Mediterranean, with lush layers of flavors pulled from a variety of sources, such as Moroccan spices and Korean chili paste. Plus, Etch's roasted cauliflower dish has earned a vaunted reputation for converting brassica-phobes into fans.

Also not to be missed are the desserts, which talented pastry chef Megan Williams creates in her corner of the open kitchen. Even if you're stuffed from Paquette’s offerings, there's always room for a scoop of Williams' housemade sorbet.

303 Demonbreun St, Nashville, TN 37201; 615-522-0685; etchrestaurant.com | Photo by Jen McDonald

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9 - Chauhan Ale & Masala House

Bright colors, bold spices, heady aromatics: Chef Maneet Chauhan orchestrates an unparalleled feast for the senses at her eponymous ale and masala house. This is no traditional Indian restaurant but rather the celebrity chef’s singular interpretation of global fare, imbued with the flavors of India.

International fusions, like tandoori chicken poutine and paneer-stuffed chili rellenos, are surprising. Chauhan also fashions culinary odes to her adopted home, Nashville (and the South), with such favorites as hot chicken pakoras and an "Indian" meat-and-three. Chauhan became so committed to crafting brews to complement her food—milk chai stout, saffron cardamom IPA—that it spawned a second business: Mantra Artisan Ales. With the use of curried bitters and ginger-cardamom syrups, the cocktails exhibit similar creativity and spice. Meanwhile, this community-minded chef continues to broaden the experience with interactive events like high tea and cooking classes. When Chauhan came to Nashville to open her restaurant, she didn't expect to fall in love with the city, but she fell hard. We'd say the feeling is mutual.

123 12th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37203; 615-242-8426; chauhannashville.com | Photo by Ron Manville

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8 - Prima

Prima seems to be growing past its awkward beginning when an identity crisis plagued the menu—that's why we talked more about what might be the most glamorous room in town rather than the food. Thankfully, chef Sal Avila kept his head down and built a team that could realize his vision. Sure, the meat and potatoes remain—and are really good!—but it's Avila's way with seafood, especially fish, that puts him on another plane. It's a good bet to choose octopus over foie gras and wahoo over steak. Avila has also playfully imported the "chicken on a string" he pioneered at the Music City Food + Wine Festival's live fire cooking area, a nod to his own Mexican barbecue roots—and something that deserves a spot at the fine dining table.

700 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203; 615-873-4232; primanashville.com | Photo by Stephanie Mullins

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7 - The 404 Kitchen

Thanks to the small space afforded to both the kitchen and dining room at The 404 Kitchen, everything about the place has to be tight and right. Fortunately it is, from the focused menu of classic European cuisine that chef Matt Bolus delivers with his own modern twists to the cozy bar, which features a fine collection of spirits stacked to the ceiling on overflowing shelves.

Servers are knowledgeable and helpful with food suggestions, which is necessary since the menu changes frequently and seasonally. Standard recommendations include Bolus' signature burrata starters and any seafood preparation featuring Atlantic fish.

When it comes to pairings, you're in luck because the wine list is full of selections you won't find anywhere else in town. Unless you hear the strains of bluegrass coming from the Station Inn next door, it's easy to forget you're dining in Nashville at this cosmopolitan eatery.

404 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203; 615-251-1404; the404nashville.com | Photo by Emily Hall Dorio

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6 - Sinema

Ambience is one part of the fine dining equation, and in the restored Melrose theater, Sinema beguiles like no other with swanky art-deco splendor. But this stunner would play hollow without food and drink to match. Whether at dinner, brunch, or concessions in the lounge, the menu introduces unlikely or lowbrow ingredients into high-end dishes with quirky elegance.Root beer demi-glace on pork? Pickled potato chip salad? Cap'n Crunch biscotti? Yes, with pleasure.

Other dishes shine because the restaurant highlights global tastes in gorgeous compositions. In the Barramundi, the delicate fish dazzles, planked over coconut scallion Carolina rice and spooned with lobster curry and tropical fruit. The playfully named Pork-n-Beans partners dry-aged chop with apricot-bourbon barbecued black-eyed peas, local greens, jalapeno, and bacon.

Celebrate the freedom of the weekend at a leisurely brunch. Whether it's a croque madame with a halo of fried cheese or the house smoked salmon-egg scramble and caviar butter of Mazel Toast!, make sure it begins with the stellar bubbles service.

2600 Franklin Pike #102, Nashville, TN 37204; 615-942-7746; sinemanashville.com | Photo by Ron Manville

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5 - Margot Cafe and Bar

No doubt about it, the Nashville food scene would not be what it is today without Margot Cafe and Bar forging its trail of marinated olives and house chips with aioli. The restaurant—inspired by the South of France, Italy, and chef Margot McCormack's mother’s kitchen in Nashville—celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.

McCormack bravely opened the space in a broken-down service station just three years after the 1998 tornado ripped through East Nashville—and when hardly anyone thought about dining on the other side of the river. And we all know how much that notion has changed. By forming longtime partnerships with local farmers like Tana Comer of Eaton's Creek Organics and with a menu that changes daily to reflect the best in what’s growing in Tennessee at the moment, she earned Time magazine’s recognition as the Alice Waters of Music City.

Between the warm walls of brick bedecked with copper pots, Margot keeps us grounded with timeless classics that express her influences and this land—from duck leg confit with Brussels sprouts, apples, and Nashville-style hot water cornbread to grilled steelhead with parsnip puree, spinach, and preserved lemon.

1017 Woodland St, Nashville, TN 37206; 615-227-4668; margotcafe.com | Photo by Jen McDonald

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4 - Husk Nashville

Be it through heirloom seeds, "lost" grains, heritage breeds, or centuries-old recipes, Sean Brock is a champion of preserving the South's culinary past and giving it a new voice. This makes him one of the most influential chefs in the nation and his restaurant Husk Nashville a paragon in our city.

Brock's curiosity and creativity come into full expression at the Victorian on Rutledge Hill, as evidenced by the edible landscaping, the stacks of hickory for open wood-fired grill, the shelves with jars of pickled ramps, spiced peaches, and chow-chow, and a roster of farmers and producers. Brian Baxter, recently promoted to chef de cuisine, has been cooking in the restaurant since 2011 and ably executes Brock's vision.

With market-driven menus that change twice daily, Husk remains vital and compelling. Look for ember-roasted Rappahannock oysters, Cheerwine-glazed belly ham, and the ever-changing Southern Plate of Vegetables dish. Discover too, as the team explores Southern sense of place through food, ranging from the poke-cornmeal fritters of Brock's Appalachian youth, Lowcountry Gullah traditions like Ol' 'Fuskie crab fried rice, and the homage to the Nashville plate lunch: an inimitable fried chicken with secret spices, sidled by mac 'n' cheese and braised greens.

37 Rutledge St, Nashville, TN 37210; 615-256-6565; husknashville.com | Photo by Danielle Atkins

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3 - City House

Chef Tandy Wilson's nine James Beard nominations might offer an indication of City House's excellence. But we wouldn't need a single one of those nods to know that the restaurant is tops for its locally sourced rustic cooking, wizard-like service, on-point cocktails, and laid-back chic.

Perhaps most impressively, since opening in 2007, Wilson and his staff have maintained a fine balance of staying true to themselves in the changing Nashville food scene and keeping options fresh. Wilson, for example, might have made his name early on at the restaurant with whole-hog, nose-to-tail ingenuity and resourcefulness, but this year he aims to keep plates brimming with Tennessee's freshest vegetables from local farmers like Tallahassee May.

Either way, it's about making the best of the resources afforded to him. Sunday Supper still makes for one of the best dates in town for options that bring together sausage, sprouting broccoli, garum, red onion, and peanuts. Other options could include catfish-and-caper-topped pizzas and heartier dishes like pork meatballs in tomato ragu. Be sure to save room for dessert, too, as pastry chef Rebekah Turshen taps our nostalgia with modern twists on old favorites—think a cookies-and-cream ice box cake with salted caramel, chocolate, and toffee crumbs.

1222 4th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37210; 615-736-5838; cityhousenashville.com | Photo by Stephanie Mullins

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2 - Rolf and Daughters

When he opened Rolf and Daughters in late 2012, chef Philip Krajeck won us over with his modern peasant fare, served in the cozy environs of a repurposed Germantown factory building. But it's his masterful comforts—innovative, evolving, yet consistently crafted—that keep diners coming back to this neighborhood restaurant and bar.Krajeck's pastas are the stuff of dreams. His garganelli verde with pork ragout and squid ink canestri with 'nduja, shrimp, and squid are so beloved they've become mainstays. But recent additions, like the chittara with green shallots and Sapelo Island clams, could also ascend to that position.

Beyond pasta, other plates entice: Brook trout is sweet in a bowl of melted savoy cabbage, creme fraiche, beet, and dill. Pastured chicken roasted with preserved lemon and garlic confit is sumptuous in its intense juices. Sourdough bread, baked in-house and served warm with a whip of seaweed butter, is a match for any dish.

There's also a concise yet thoughtful wine list (look for some unusual Eastern European selections) and a creative cocktail program. The service? Unpretentious and informed, attentive and well paced.

700 Taylor St, Nashville, TN 37208; 615-866-9897; rolfanddaughters.com | Photo by Danielle Atkins

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1 - Josephine on 12th

Chef Andrew Little stands atop the heap of Pennsylvania Dutch–inspired restaurants in town. We're joking, of course - this is the only place in Nashville where you might find a Teutonic twist on hog maw next to crispy-fried scrapple and a bone marrow custard nesting on pumpernickel crumbs.

What Little does so deftly well is knit together those commonalities with Southern fare. X|X, a ten-course, ten-seat tasting menu on Friday and Saturday nights, has quickly turned into one of the best meals in town, and the food keeps getting better. It's all so comforting, in every sense, with Little's wife Karen running the service and Kayla May's pastries that delight even after seven-plus courses. In just two years, Josephine has vaulted to the top of many best-of lists, and to see it still on an ascendant trajectory only makes it that much more exciting.

2316 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37204; 615-292-7766; josephineon12th.com | Photo by Emily Hall Dorio

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