Nashville’s significant Latine population means that there are many excellent options for tacos around town — but there’s something special about the tortillas coming out of Maiz de la Vida. Chef Julio Herndandez has been on a journey to perfect his masa, which he makes himself from heirloom corn in the style that he grew up eating in Tlaxcala, Mexico. His birria tacos, which are currently served from his food truck in East Nashville, have crunchy exteriors with flavorful, shredded beef within; the accompanying consomé is rich and studded with chopped white onions and fresh cilantro. Stay tuned for Hernandez’s upcoming standalone restaurant, slated to open this fall in the Gulch. 

Since it opened in 2007 in what was previously a sculptor’s studio in Germantown, City House has been cranking out its belly ham pizza. Owner Tandy Wilson’s creation has become a staple on the menu, beloved for its rich combination of mozzarella, oregano, Parmesan, and chilies topped with chunks of pork belly ham, always brined and roasted in-house. The crusts are as airy, charred, and puffed as they should be, and served hot from the wood-fired oven. 

Broadway, downtown Nashville’s main drag, has become the nexus between honky tonks and country music superstars, festooned with bright neon signs and crawling with visitors in sparkly cowboy boots and cowboy hats. But despite an influx of bars with star power like Garth Brooks (his honky tonk is called “Friends in Low Places”), Robert’s remains the trusted spot to hear great music for locals, preferably while eating a bologna sandwich. The sandwich, part of the “Recession Special,” features white bread piled with bologna that’s been seared on the griddle (mustard comes on the side), then served with chips, a MoonPie, and PBR for $6. That’s the best deal on Broadway, hands down. 

When pitmaster Pat Martin opened his whole hog barbecue spot in 2006, Nashville’s barbecue scene took a new direction: upward and onward. Long living in Memphis’s barbecue shadow, Nashville had good options but no superstars. Now, Martin’s has multiple locations and a legion of fans of his smoked meats, including pork, chicken, brisket, sausage, turkey, and more. The real star is the whole hog barbecue, which is comprised of various parts of the hog — mainly shoulder, neck, and belly — that are then lightly dressed in a vinegar sauce and served in a bun or on a platter. 

Located in a corner of the giant parking lot of K&S Market, Nashville’s biggest and best Asian grocery store, is another small strip of restaurants. Within, you’ll find Kien Gang, an 30-year-old Vietnamese restaurant with one of the city’s best bowls of bun bo hue. Their broth is fragrant, spicy, and brims with beef and rice noodles, made even richer with the traditional addition of pork knuckles and cubes of pork blood. It’s a star, though the rest of the menu is equally compelling, and best enjoyed with a cold Vietnamese beer. 

Brown’s has been operating since 1927, when it was opened in a converted mule-driven trolley car just outside of Hillsboro Village. Its narrow dining room and bar with leather-covered stools has been the destination for nearby music row execs, songwriters, stars, and everyone else for the entirety of its time, drawing all kinds of regulars for its renowned cheeseburger. It’s a simple affair — a meaty patty topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, and Duke’s Mayonnaise, with pickle chips speared atop the bun — that has kept this diner going for almost a century. That, plus the first beer license in Nashville and a crew of devoted regulars and employees who’ve been there for decades, make it one of Nashville’s low-key legendary destinations. 

There’s no list of iconic Nashville dishes without the inclusion of hot chicken, a singular food that has blossomed into a stanchion of the food scene. According to legend, the pepper-spiked fried chicken was created as an act of revenge by Thornton Prince’s girlfriend, who wanted to scorch his tongue after he came home from a late night out on the town. But instead, a star was born: Prince perfected the fiery dish and cemented his place in Nashville history. The restaurant and its newer locations are still run by Prince’s descendants, offering an experience that can be delightfully spicy to downright punishing, depending on your chosen heat level. Regardless, all fried chicken is served on a slice of plain white bread with pickles to tame the flames.

Gojo has been a staple of Ethiopian cuisine in the city for decades, located in an extremely unassuming cement block building in South Nashville. Inside, however, is a homey restaurant redolent with spices and incense. The doro wat (spelled Doro Wet on the menu) is a favorite here: chicken legs that have been marinated and cooked with butter, spices, garlic, and ginger, served alongside a hard boiled egg and spongy injera bread. Make sure to order their excellent sambusas, as well as traditional Ethiopian coffee. 

Unfortunately, tableside preparation in restaurants is a dying art. In what was once a world awash in showmanship, it is now rare to see a Caesar salad mixed, a duck pressed, or a prime rib sliced. But some restaurants still do bring that old-school magic. Such is Sperry’s, a 50-year-old steakhouse on the edge of Belle Meade, where wedge salads, filets topped with crabmeat and bearnaise, and brandy Alexanders are en vogue. Always in play, and properly iconic, is the tableside preparation of bananas Foster, with caramelized sugar, flaming rum, and a festive shake of cinnamon served warm over cold vanilla ice cream, immediately. 

Possibly a little known fact: Nashville is home to the largest Kurdish population in the United States. Music City’s “Little Kurdistan” is located in South Nashville, where excellent food from the diaspora can be found at restaurants like Edessa, hidden in an unassuming strip mall. There, the kabobs are wildly popular, grilled over open flame and served on skewers dangling dramatically from tabletop stands. The Adana kabob is particularly iconic, composed of ground lamb and beef with herbs and spices, exceptionally excellent when dragged through Edessa’s creamy hummus. For a group, however, you might as well order the “Kabob Festival,” an absolute bonanza of meats accompanied by all the mezze, soup, rice, and baklava for dessert. 

Head out of downtown’s flashy melee for a country breakfast at Loveless Cafe, a diminutive destination way out on Highway 100, right where the Natchez Trace Parkway begins its 444-mile route down to Mississippi. That’s how Loveless Cafe got its start selling some of the best biscuits, jam, fried chicken, and country ham in the South, when Lon and Annie Loveless converted their home into a motel and restaurant for hungry travelers. Now the motel is closed, but the dining operation is going strong, serving sweet and sticky blackberry and peach preserves alongside fluffy biscuits in what was once the Loveless’s living room.