The quick answer
Nashville's signature dish is hot chicken: fried chicken coated in a cayenne paste, served on white bread with pickles, at a heat level you choose. Hattie B's, Prince's and Bolton's are the names to know.
The city's everyday food is Southern: meat-and-three plates at cafeteria-style counters such as Arnold's, skillet-fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits with country ham, and banana pudding or chess pie to finish.
Start at mild or medium heat. A 'hot' at most shops is very spicy, and a Bolton's 'medium' is as hot as the top level elsewhere.
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Get FeedMii for iPhone10 dishes to try in Nashville
The dishes Nashville is known for, with rough prices and where to order each one.
Hot Chicken
Fried chicken brushed with a fiery cayenne paste or dusted with a dry rub, laid on white bread and topped with dill pickle chips. The Prince family traces it to Thornton Prince, whose girlfriend doused his chicken with cayenne to punish him, and he liked it.
How to eat it: Choose white or dark meat (or tenders), then a heat level. Hattie B's runs from Southern (no heat) to 'Shut the Cluck Up!!!'; Prince's from Plain to XXX Hot.
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Hot Fish
A breaded fillet of whiting or catfish given the hot chicken treatment and served the same way, on white bread with pickles.
How to eat it: Order the whiting at Bolton's in East Nashville, where The Infatuation calls the hot fish the best in town.
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Meat-and-Three
A fixed-price plate of one main and three vegetable sides, the classic Nashville lunch. Sides include mac and cheese, turnip greens with pork and green beans.
How to eat it: Take a tray, read the specials board and pick the meat first. Arnold's serves lunch only.
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Southern Fried Chicken
Plain Southern fried chicken, the dish hot chicken grew out of. Arnold's makes it on Mondays from a family recipe more than 50 years old, and Monell's serves skillet-fried chicken at every meal.
How to eat it: Order it if your group can't take the heat. Loveless will add Nashville hot seasoning for $1.
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Buttermilk Biscuits
Soft, flaky buttermilk biscuits served with jams and preserves. The Loveless Cafe has made them from Annie Loveless's recipe since 1951, up to 10,000 a day.
How to eat it: Split one while it is warm and add preserves, or pour red-eye gravy over it.
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Country Ham and Red-Eye Gravy
A thin, salty slice of dry-cured country ham, fried and served with red-eye gravy made from the ham drippings and black coffee, plus eggs, grits and biscuits.
How to eat it: Pour the gravy over the ham, grits or a split biscuit; it is thin and salty, so a little goes a long way.
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Pulled Pork
Pork smoked for many hours, pulled into strands and piled on a bun, usually with slaw. Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint smokes for up to 24 hours.
How to eat it: Order a sandwich with slaw on it, and go early: smoked items can sell out.
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Banana Pudding
Layers of vanilla custard, vanilla wafers and sliced banana, topped with whipped cream or meringue. Hot chicken shops, meat-and-threes and the Loveless all serve it.
How to eat it: Order it with hot chicken: the cold custard is the best way to cool your mouth down.
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Chess Pie
A simple Southern pie of sugar, butter and eggs, sometimes with buttermilk or cornmeal, baked until the top crackles. Arnold's serves both plain and chocolate chess pie.
How to eat it: Pick up a slice at the end of the line at a meat-and-three.
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Goo Goo Cluster
Marshmallow nougat, caramel and roasted peanuts covered in milk chocolate, created in Nashville in 1912 and considered the first combination candy bar. It has long been sold at the Grand Ole Opry.
How to eat it: Buy them at the Goo Goo Chocolate Co. shop downtown, where you can also design your own.
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9 places worth the trip
Ranked with the hot chicken first, then the Southern classics. All were open on Google as of October 31, 2026.
Hattie B's Hot Chicken (Midtown)
Midtown, 19th Ave SOur top pick for hot chicken: listed in the 2026 Michelin Guide American South, praised for cooking its chicken consistently, with six heat levels from none to ghost pepper.
- Order
- Dark-meat quarter at 'Medium' or 'Hot'
- Price
- About $13–17 for a quarter-chicken plate with two sides (estimate)
- Tip
- Open daily until 10 pm (midnight on Fridays and Saturdays). Lines are long at peak times; the Melrose branch on 8th Ave S is usually calmer.
Prince's Hot Chicken Shack South
Nolensville Pike, south NashvilleThe family that started it all: Prince's is run by André Prince Jeffries, great-niece of hot chicken's creator, and won a James Beard America's Classics award in 2013.
- Order
- Leg quarter (thigh and drumstick) or tenders at 'Medium'
- Price
- About $10–15 for a quarter chicken with bread and pickles (estimate)
- Tip
- Closed Sundays. Branches also run at Assembly Food Hall downtown and at the airport.
Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish
East Nashville, Main StA dry-rub hot chicken that runs hotter than anyone else's, and the hot fish The Infatuation calls the best in town.
- Order
- Hot fish (whiting) and a chicken leg quarter, both at 'Mild' unless you love heat
- Price
- About $10–15 for a chicken quarter or hot fish plate (estimate)
- Tip
- A Bolton's 'medium' is about as hot as the top level elsewhere. Every plate comes with white bread and pickles.
Arnold's Country Kitchen
The Gulch, 8th Ave SThe meat-and-three Nashville is proudest of: open since 1982, a James Beard America's Classics winner in 2009, and listed in the 2026 Michelin Guide.
- Order
- Roast beef (every day) or Monday's fried chicken, with mac and cheese, turnip greens and chess pie
- Price
- About $15–20 for a meat-and-three (estimate)
- Tip
- Lunch only: 10:30 am–2:45 pm on weekdays and an 11 am–3 pm Saturday brunch. Grab a tray and check the specials on the board.
Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint (Downtown)
SoBro, 4th Ave STennessee barbecue smoked for up to 24 hours, in a big downtown space with a beer garden and live-music stage a few blocks from Broadway.
- Order
- Pulled pork sandwich or tray
- Price
- About $12–16 for a pulled pork sandwich with one side (estimate)
- Tip
- Open until 10 pm (11 pm on weekends). Go early in the evening; smoked items can sell out.
Monell's
Germantown, 6th Ave NAll-you-can-eat Southern cooking served family-style at shared tables since 1995, with skillet-fried chicken at every meal.
- Order
- Whatever comes to the table: skillet-fried chicken, vegetables, biscuits and dessert
- Price
- $17.95 per adult for weekday lunch, drink and dessert included, plus tax (Monell's website, Oct 2026)
- Tip
- You sit with strangers and pass the bowls to the left. Breakfast and lunch daily; dinner Tuesday to Saturday.
The Loveless Cafe
Bellevue, about 30 minutes southwest of downtownA roadside cafe open since 1951, famous for its biscuits and country ham breakfast; worth the drive for breakfast.
- Order
- Country ham with red-eye gravy, biscuits, cheese grits, hashbrown casserole
- Price
- Country ham breakfast $18 (half $14); quarter fried chicken with two sides $15.50; banana pudding $5.60 (Loveless Cafe menu, Oct 2026)
- Tip
- Opens at 7 am on Fridays to Sundays and 8 am on weekdays. The Infatuation rates the sides, such as cheese grits and hashbrown casserole, above the biscuits.
The Catbird Seat
The Gulch area, 8th Ave S (5th floor)The splurge: a Michelin-starred tasting menu of 13 to 16 courses served at a U-shaped counter facing the chefs.
- Order
- The tasting menu, with the wine or non-alcoholic pairing
- Price
- The splurge: $175 per person, prepaid, before tax and tip (The Infatuation, Mar 2026)
- Tip
- Open Wednesday to Saturday evenings. Bookings for each month open on the first day of the previous month at noon.
Goo Goo Chocolate Co.
Downtown, 3rd Ave SThe home shop of the Goo Goo Cluster, Nashville's 1912 candy bar, a short walk from Broadway.
- Order
- Original Goo Goo Clusters; design your own at the in-store kiosks
- Price
- $7.99 for a box of three Original Goo Goo Clusters (Goo Goo website, Oct 2026)
- Tip
- Open daily 10 am–6 pm; easy to combine with a walk on Broadway.
Places checked as of October 2026. Opening hours change, so check before you go.
Tips for eating in Nashville
- Order one heat level below the one you think you can handle. 'Medium' is already spicy at most shops, and Bolton's runs hotter than the rest.
- Order a banana pudding or a sweet tea with your hot chicken to cool things down.
- Arnold's serves lunch only, so plan hot chicken for dinner and the meat-and-three for lunch.
- The Loveless Cafe is about 30 minutes from downtown, so make it a breakfast trip: biscuits and country ham are what it is known for.
- Touring more US food cities? See the best food in Chicago and the best BBQ in Austin.
Can't pick? Let FeedMii decide.
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Download free for iPhoneFrequently asked questions
What food is Nashville famous for?
Hot chicken first: fried chicken in cayenne paste on white bread with pickles. Nashville is also known for hot fish, meat-and-three plates, buttermilk biscuits with country ham, and the Goo Goo Cluster candy bar.
Where is the best hot chicken in Nashville?
Hattie B's is listed in the 2026 Michelin Guide and praised for its consistency. Prince's is the original, run by the family that created the dish, and Bolton's in East Nashville makes the hottest dry-rub chicken and the best hot fish.
How hot is Nashville hot chicken?
You choose. Hattie B's runs from Southern (no heat) through Mild, Medium, Hot and Damn Hot to Shut the Cluck Up!!! (ghost pepper). Prince's goes from Plain to XXX Hot. If you are unsure, start at Mild.
What is a meat-and-three?
A Nashville lunch plate: one meat and three sides at a fixed price, served cafeteria-style. Arnold's Country Kitchen in the Gulch, open since 1982, is the best-known.
Where should I eat in Nashville for the first time?
Hot chicken at Hattie B's or Prince's, lunch at Arnold's, barbecue at Martin's downtown, and breakfast at the Loveless Cafe. For one big night out, book The Catbird Seat.