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The Duke's crew opened this Korean spot in Riverside Village with an Atlanta chef in the kitchen. Sit-down dinner, good cocktails, a little more considered than the rest of the East Side.

Hours not listed · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Right across from Basement East. Good burger. Get there before the line.

Open until 10 PM · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

This is the hot chicken shop you're looking for. Just don't get it above medium on your first try. Trust us.

Open through dinner · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Memphis fried chicken on Dickerson. Get it spicy.

Lunch & dinner · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

A food hall with several kitchens. Grab a burger at Hugh Baby's, a gyro at Music City Gyros, or Vietnamese at Vui's. Useful when the group needs dinner without turning it into a reservation project.

Open through dinner · Counter-service food hall.

Curly fries, chicken on a stick, crispy burgers, and milk shakes thick enough to turn upside down. Maybe get one of each?

Open through dinner · Walk-in counter service.

A slower pre-show dinner room for nights when the meal should have its own space. Lockeland Table is special because it has something for everyone, with every dish done with more care than anyone else.

Dinner, closed Monday · Call ahead on busy nights.

Mas Tacos is an East Side staple. Order a lot, leave happy.

Tue–Sun 11am–9pm · Walk-in counter service.

Mitchell's IS Riverside Village. Relaxed, caring, neighborly. Here at The Rounds, we love the French dip, but we can't advise against anything else.

Daytime · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Butcher counter and meat-and-three. A gem of the community. Roy will probably greet you himself, and will make you feel like you should move to the neighborhood.

Daytime · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

A relative newcomer to the East Side, Schulman's already feels like part of its fabric. Classic rock blaring, greasy eats cooking, and a neon-lit, smoke-filled back patio. Good for a quick bite during the day or an extended--and we mean extended--hang at night.

Open through dinner · Walk-in friendly; call ahead for larger groups.

Sandwiches and fried things from the Turkey and the Wolf crew, now in East Nashville. You'll like the lights and the decor. You'll want to hang for a while. Get the burger.

Daytime through early evening · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Ramen (try the tonkotsu!), izakaya snacks, and a deep Japanese whiskey list. Better for a seated dinner than a quick pre-show bite.

Dinner hours · Call ahead on busy nights.

Daniel Lindley's five-time James Beard-nominated wood-fire room in a 96-year-old barrel-roof warehouse — formerly a cotton bag plant. Mashed potatoes on every table. An 8-foot grill, a 28-foot bar. Less famous than Rolf & Daughters, equally good.

Dinner hours · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Tandy Wilson. Eight James Beard nominations. Won Best Chef Southeast in 2016. The belly ham pizza — pork belly brined and treated like prosciutto cotto — has been on the menu since they opened in 2007. It's still the thing to order. The cornbread gnocchi, too.

Dinner hours · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Julia Sullivan's Food & Wine Best New Chef 2018, James Beard nominee. The raw oyster program is the reason to start at the bar. The smoked mackerel toast and wood-roasted fish are worth knowing about. A polished room that isn't stiff.

Tue–Sat dinner, Sat–Sun brunch · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Named for the cappelletti — 'little hats' in Italian. Descended from Alfresco Pasta, which fed Nashville for decades. The meatball sub and the sausage and peppers sandwich. Italian market, imported goods, great soup. Get here early.

Mon–Sun 11am–8pm · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Family-style Southern in a Victorian house in Germantown. You sit with strangers, the dishes rotate: fried chicken, country ham, biscuits, cornbread, green beans. One price, all-you-can-eat. Pass the dishes. A genuine Nashville ritual.

Daytime through early dinner · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Phil Krajeck's pastas are the reason Germantown has a food reputation. The cecamariti — cultured butter, black pepper, cacio e pepe logic in fresh pasta form — is the dish people talk about years after eating it. James Beard semifinalist. One of the best restaurants in Tennessee.

Dinner hours · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Two dozen kitchens under one roof a block off Broadway. The move when the group can't agree and you want everyone fed before the show without a reservation.

Open through dinner · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Old-school counter-service downtown. A simple, good ice cream stop.

Open daily · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Restaurant and bar with a weekend music room upstairs — a reliable sit-down dinner before a bigger show a few blocks away.

Open through dinner · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Named for I-55, the highway connecting Memphis to New Orleans. Jason McConnell grew up hauling horses down I-55 and fell in love with Delta and Gulf Coast cooking. Fried catfish, po'boys, shrimp and grits in a room with corrugated metal and a gas station light fixture. Featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

Lunch & dinner · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Steakhouse and wine bar on Main Street. Good wine list, dependable dinner when you want to sit and spend a bit. Jason McConnell's room — he also does Red Pony and 55 South nearby.

Dinner hours · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

The Gray's Drug Co. sign has been on Main Street since 1952. The building is from 1876. Michael and Joni Cole restored it in 2013 — original wood floors, tin ceilings, structural timbers. Southern food, live music upstairs on weekends. The right room for a Franklin dinner.

Tue–Sun dinner, live music upstairs Fri–Sat · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Merridee Erickson started selling bread from a log cabin in Fairview in 1981, moved to this old hardware warehouse on 4th Avenue in 1984. Scratch breads, pastries, breakfast and lunch from 7am Monday through Saturday. Whatever you get, take your time.

Daytime · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Jeni Britton's ice cream, Hillsboro Village. Brown butter almond brittle or wildberry lavender. Two scoops. The afternoon is better for it.

Open daily · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

On the National Register of Historic Places. Lynn Chandler opened it in 1939 — a soda fountain that had been on this block since the 1920s. Get the Dreamsicle: vanilla ice cream spun with orange juice and sherbet. Or the griddle burger with crinkle fries. Jimmy Buffett ate here after playing Exit/In.

Mon–Sat 7:30am–4pm, Sun 9am–3pm · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Pat Martin's whole-hog tradition from Henderson, Tennessee. Same operation as the original Nolensville spot. Brisket, ribs, pulled pork on Elliston Place — the pre-show logic if you're headed to Exit/In.

Open through dinner · Elliston Place location; verify hours before you go.

James Beard American Classics winner since 2009. Cafeteria line since 1982 — pick your meat, pick your three sides, pay cash. Kahlil Arnold runs it now. Monday through Saturday until 3pm, closed Sunday — plan around it or miss the show.

Mon–Sat until ~3pm, closed Sun · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Po'boy bread flown in from New Orleans. The chicken and andouille gumbo is the anchor; the debris fries are worth knowing about. This is the real Cajun thing.

Open through dinner · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

One of the most extensive Jamón Ibérico programs in the country. The bacon-wrapped dates, the croquetas, the pulpo. Dim lighting, marble and tile. A deliberate Gulch dinner.

Dinner hours · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Chef Julio Hernandez started making tortillas during the pandemic from his garage — masa milled from nixtamalized corn his family has grown in Tlaxcala for generations. James Beard semifinalist before the restaurant even opened. The tortillas are the whole deal. Get whatever's wrapped in one.

Dinner hours · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

$1.50 oysters at happy hour Monday through Friday, 5 to 7pm — one of the better steals in The Gulch. Gulf Coast-rooted, New Orleans-inflected. Brack May is in the kitchen.

Open late for the neighborhood · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Carey Bringle named the restaurant after the leg cancer took when he was a kid. Texas Monthly called the dry-rub pork ribs the best Memphis-style in the country. That's the order. Don't skip the pimento cheese.

Open til close · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Reliable, affordable Mexican on Gallatin Pike. No pretense, no wait on most nights. Locals eat here constantly.

Lunch & dinner · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Chriss Goyenechea named it after his kids Mae and Max. Full Filipino market and restaurant in Madison. Chicken adobo, sisig, lumpia, palabok, sweet longanisa. All-you-can-eat buffet with live music every Friday and Saturday. A real find on Gallatin Pike.

Lunch & dinner · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Doug Havron named it after his daughter Gabriella. Opened 2009 in the building that used to be Hap Townes. Grass-fed beef, house-baked buns, milkshakes made with house-made syrups. Lunch only — closes around 2:30pm. The pre-show stop when the show starts in the evening.

Lunch only, closes ~2:30pm · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Wood-fired tacos and a rooftop with margaritas. The easy pre-show anchor in Wedgewood-Houston before a GEODIS night.

Hours not listed · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Burgers and craft beer, right on 8th Ave. Open through late. The practical 8th Ave South anchor.

Open late · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Bread and pastries. The quiet Franklin daytime stop.

Daytime · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Local ice cream on Music Valley Drive. The sweet stop before the show.

Open daily · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Hand-cuts steaks in-house daily, bakes yeast rolls from scratch. Consistent, family-friendly, wide price range. The wide-net dinner before a long Opry night.

Dinner hours · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

It's Waffle House. Open always. No explanation needed.

24 hours · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Family-owned Thai in a tiny house-shaped building on 8th. The pad thai is the reason people wait. Get there when they open. Closed Sunday and Monday — plan around it.

Lunch & dinner, closed Sun–Mon · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

Norman Fox opened it in 1973. The original sign came from a Memphis franchise and still hangs outside. For the 50th anniversary they sold glazed for 25 cents — the 1973 price. Get the glazed.

Daily 5am–9pm · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.

The Inglewood outpost of the local burger chain. Same formula: burgers, craft beer, open through late.

Open late · Walk-in; reservations help on busy nights.