The 10 Best Restaurants in Nashville
Published · Updated
The Catbird Seat, Husk Nashville, and the chef-owner generation that the relocations of the 2020s validated. Ranked across the seven occasions our editors track. First date, close a deal, birthday, impress clients, proposal, solo dining, team dinner.
The Nashville top 10 for 2026 is led by The Catbird Seat. Editorial runners-up: Bastion, Locust, Rolf and Daughters, Noko.
Nashville's dining year has changed faster than any comparable American city. The relocations of the 2020s brought money, expectations, and chefs from New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles into a city whose restaurant ecosystem was already serious but unrecognised. The Catbird Seat's chef-counter format remains the city's most discussed reservation; Husk Nashville is one of the best Modern Southern restaurants in the country; Bastion, Locust, and Rolf and Daughters represent the chef-owner generation that defined the city's 2010s and continues to set its standards. The neighbourhoods to know are the Gulch for the institutional fine-dining circuit, East Nashville for the chef-owner and most creative newer rooms, 12South for the casual neighbourhood scene, and Germantown for the most exciting recent openings. The wine programs at the top tier are deceptively serious. The city's sommelier community is among the strongest in the South. And the steakhouse architecture through Kayne Prime and Fleming's anchors the city's power-dining register. These ten restaurants are the working list, ranked across the seven occasions our editors track.
Browse the full Nashville restaurant catalogue. Every restaurant on the city page is filterable by occasion. Or skip to a specific occasion: close a deal, first date, proposal, solo dining, team dinner.
The Catbird Seat
Nashville · Contemporary Tasting Menu · $$$$
Nashville's defining restaurant. Fifteen courses served at a U-shaped Tennessee Pink Marble counter, with the chefs performing inches away. The most intimate fine dining experience in the American South.
The Catbird Seat is Nashville's #1 restaurant on our 2026 ranking. A celebratory register that scales for a table of four to twelve. Nashville's defining restaurant. Fifteen courses served at a U-shaped Tennessee Pink Marble counter, with the chefs performing inches away. The most intimate fine dining experience in the American South. The kitchen's discipline and the room's composure are the reasons it earns this position; the food is the proof, but the table is the argument.
The dish to know: a tasting menu structured as an argument. Eight to twelve courses, paired wines, three hours. The wine programme matches the kitchen. Neither showy nor undercooked. And the service team operates at the calibration the room demands. 700 8th Ave S, 5th Floor, Nashville places it in the part of Nashville where the dining year actually happens; the address is part of why the reservation is the right one.
For our editors, this is the Nashville table for birthday Also strong for close a deal, first date. Read the full review on the The Catbird Seat page; book the table when you know the conversation matters.
Bastion
Nashville · Contemporary American · $$$$
Six courses of razor-sharp cooking in an intimate room where Chef Josh Habiger controls every variable. Nashville's most quietly confident restaurant earns its Michelin star with precision and no fanfare.
Bastion is Nashville's #2 restaurant on our 2026 ranking. A celebratory register that scales for a table of four to twelve. Six courses of razor-sharp cooking in an intimate room where Chef Josh Habiger controls every variable. Nashville's most quietly confident restaurant earns its Michelin star with precision and no fanfare. The kitchen's discipline and the room's composure are the reasons it earns this position; the food is the proof, but the table is the argument.
What gets ordered: the chef's tasting menu. Eight courses that argue for a defined geography. The wine programme matches the kitchen. Neither showy nor undercooked. And the service team operates at the calibration the room demands. 434 Houston St, Nashville places it in the part of Nashville where the dining year actually happens; the address is part of why the reservation is the right one.
For our editors, this is the Nashville table for birthday Also strong for close a deal, first date. Read the full review on the Bastion page; book the table when you know the conversation matters.
Locust
Nashville · Seafood & Contemporary · $$$
The most approachable of Nashville's Michelin-starred trio. Chef Trevor Moran's seafood-forward menu earns its star with a crab omelette that belongs in a different city entirely. And intimate counter seating that makes every dinner feel like a private event.
Locust is Nashville's #3 restaurant on our 2026 ranking. A room calibrated for conversation that doesn't compete with the food. The most approachable of Nashville's Michelin-starred trio. Chef Trevor Moran's seafood-forward menu earns its star with a crab omelette that belongs in a different city entirely. And intimate counter seating that makes every dinner feel like a private event. The kitchen's discipline and the room's composure are the reasons it earns this position; the food is the proof, but the table is the argument.
The dish to know: the day's catch, raw bar selection, and a sommelier who knows white Burgundy. The wine programme matches the kitchen. Neither showy nor undercooked. And the service team operates at the calibration the room demands. 2305 12th Ave S, Nashville places it in the part of Nashville where the dining year actually happens; the address is part of why the reservation is the right one.
For our editors, this is the Nashville table for first date Also strong for birthday, impress clients. Read the full review on the Locust page; book the table when you know the conversation matters.
Rolf and Daughters
Nashville · New American to Handmade Pasta · $$$
A 2012 Bon Appétit Best New Restaurant that still outperforms most newcomers. Philip Krajeck's handmade pasta and evolving natural wine list in a converted Werthan factory remains Nashville's most romantic non-tasting-menu restaurant.
Rolf and Daughters is Nashville's #4 restaurant on our 2026 ranking. A room calibrated for conversation that doesn't compete with the food. A 2012 Bon Appétit Best New Restaurant that still outperforms most newcomers. Philip Krajeck's handmade pasta and evolving natural wine list in a converted Werthan factory remains Nashville's most romantic non-tasting-menu restaurant. The kitchen's discipline and the room's composure are the reasons it earns this position; the food is the proof, but the table is the argument.
What gets ordered: the chef's tasting menu. Eight courses that argue for a defined geography. The wine programme matches the kitchen. Neither showy nor undercooked. And the service team operates at the calibration the room demands. 700 Taylor St, Nashville places it in the part of Nashville where the dining year actually happens; the address is part of why the reservation is the right one.
For our editors, this is the Nashville table for first date Also strong for birthday, impress clients. Read the full review on the Rolf and Daughters page; book the table when you know the conversation matters.
Noko
Nashville · Japanese Wood-Fired · $$$
Nashville's most reliable dinner recommendation. Japanese wood-fired technique applied to the American South's best ingredients. Ranked 24th nationally by Yelp for a reason. The crudos, the fish, the fire are uniformly extraordinary.
Noko is Nashville's #5 restaurant on our 2026 ranking. A celebratory register that scales for a table