Nashville, oh Nashville, where to even begin. To be honest, Nashville has never been at the top of my list of places to visit. Country music has never been my thing and I had many other cities I still hadn't made it to yet that I considered "higher priority." But when some of our best couple friends invited us to join them in Nashville for the Fourth of July, we dropped everything and went. We spent three days there and despite the ridiculously intense heat, we enjoyed a lot of wonderful coffee and a lot of amazing food and I started to see where all of the hype surrounding this city came from! The lack of traffic and absence of general business alone (in comparison to Chicago) had me ready to sign a lease and move. Still not out of the question. ;) I can't wait to plan another visit! Here is a round up of all of the places we loved! If you've been to Nashville, share with me some of your favorite spots!
Hattie B's
Not a healthy place in the slightest, but worth every fried bite! Hattie B's serves up hot chicken to your preferred spiciness level and it is so good! Although fried, the chicken isn't nearly as greasy as a lot of other fried chicken I've had. I got the medium spiciness chicken tenders with coleslaw and fries. Highly recommend!
Pinewood Social
If you're not on broadway with all of the tourists, this place is the place to be! It's a super chill bar / coffee shop / bowling alley full of photo-worthy couch sitting areas. They also have a patio full of yard games and even have a pool! We spent our first evening here and contemplated another. It's the perfect spot to work during the day or cap off the evening at. Obsessed!
Dose
Coming from Chicago I was initially slightly underwhelmed by the amount of trendy coffee shops in Nashville, but although there were few, the ones we went to, were great! Dose was no exception. My only consistent disappointment was the lack of oatmilk (my favorite non-dairy alternative), but eventually I anticipate some shops to start carrying it. Dose served up an amazing iced almond milk latte, drip coffee, and a very unique avocado toast (with roasted corn, jalepenos, feta, and pickled onions). It was super close to our air b and b in East Nashville so we popped over there a few times. They had a nice, bright vibe and a wide selection of tiems that I really enjoyed. Definitely recommend checking it out!
Five Daughters Bakery
Known for their 100-layer donuts, this adorable bakery is a MUST if you're in Nashville. Josiah and I shared a peanut butter chocolate one that was really good! Next time I am going to try one of their paleo donuts!
Burger Up
Although Burger Up is known best for it's beef burgers (obviously) after having Hattie B's fried chicken the night before, I decided to go with a lighter option. I ordered the quinoa patty and a kale salad with parmasan, hazelnuts, and dried cranberries. Oh my gosh, it was so good! Everyone else ordered different burgers and they raved about theirs as well. Definitely a solid place!
Barista Parlor
I would consider this a coffee shop for serious coffee lovers, but it was super fun! It's a very open space that had a lot of tables available if you wanted to work here during the day. Although I paid almost $8 for an iced almond milk latte, it was so tasty! The neighborhood (Germantown) that this coffee shop was nestled in was cute and fun to explore too.
Biscuit Love
I don't want to hype this place up to much because I probably wouldn't wait an hour in line again to eat here, but it was a fun experience and seems to be considered a staple when visiting Nashville. I ordered the sausage hash with two sunny side eggs and it was really tasty! According to everyone else at our table the biscuits seemed to be a bit overrated though.
Ugly Mugs Coffee & Tea
The name alone makes me love this place! They serve up an amazing iced almond milk latte and according to my friend Caitlin, vanilla latte as well. Perhaps my favorite thing about this place was their "Love Coffee Love People" t-shirts that they sold. Definitely picking one up on my next trip!
Wild Cow
Located right next to Ugly Mugs Coffee & Tea, this adorable little hippie vegetarian restaurant is stealing hearts of meat eaters and veggie heads alike. I ordered the sweet potato black bean tacos with vegan sour cream on corn tortillas with vegan queso and chips and Josiah ordered the chipotle portabello tacos with pineapple coleslaw on the side. Both dishes were so, so good! Their menu had so many amazing options, I'm sad we only got to eat here once! Be aware that they are closed on Tuesdays so you don't make plans to go only to realize they're closed. Not that that happened to us or anything. ;)
Crema
Probably my favorite coffee shop in Nashville! it reminded me so much of one of my favorite Chicago spots. They served up a delicious avocado toast that had goat cheese on it (game changer!) as well as another amazing iced almond milk latte. It's such a bright and plant filled space --- i love it!
