Top Restaurants in Tennessee (2024)

This open yet cozy space, with woven baskets as light fixtures, serves upscale bites influenced by the street food and beach cultures of Southern California, Uruguay, and Brazil. Tacos and rice bowls dominate the menu, as well as fresh-squeezed juice and co*cktails.

Opened in February 2016, this small restaurant (and bar) seats only 24 diners (RSVPs are encouraged; walk-ins are welcomed when space is available). Parties of four to six are offered a five-course, prix fixe meal; smaller groups may order à la carte from a selection of American fare.

Deft knife-juggling chefs prepare steaks, shrimp, scallops, and lobsters on a steel cooking table surrounded by diners. Known for the Benihana special (grilled lobster with house dressing of mustard and ginger sauce), this lively place, complete with karaoke, also has a sushi bar. The restaurant is housed in a stunning Japanese-style building near the Memphis Hilton in East Memphis. There's a children's menu and an early-bird supper deal.

Biscuit Love opened its first outpost in the Gulch, with the hip new breakfast spot so popular that lines poured out the door each morning. Now the popular eatery is open in Hillsboro Village, serving up homemade biscuits and breakfast plates until 3 pm each day. Be warned: unless you get there early, be prepared to wait in line.

What goes better with buttermilk biscuits than a historical Queen Anne Victorian home? This one, affectionately known as the Corn House (after the Corn family who lived there from 1920 to 1980), is home to some of the best Southern brunch around, from the traditional (biscuits and sausage gravy with a side of cheese grits) to the unconventional (a biscuit burger with pimento cheese and tomato jam).

What started as a beloved Airstream food truck is now a brick-and-mortar staple in the neighborhood that's hailed for its daily scratch-made Southern-style biscuits. There are nine different biscuit sandwiches to choose from, made with a variety of meats, gravies, and toppings, but there are plenty of tempting "Without a Biscuit" options like the surprisingly tasty egg-topped Lindstrom made with shaved brussels sprouts, hazelnuts, and shredded Parmesan.

This floating restaurant and bar is on a secluded marina, tucked away in a combination neighborhood and industrial area in true Nations fashion. The dockside dining options include many seafood options, large salads, and shareable appetizers.

The Belmont Boulevard location of Bongo Java is a popular hangout for Belmont students. Accordingly, its food menu is more college-centric (think breakfast sandwiches) than Fido's, though in recent years the local coffee favorite has expanded its menu (and remodeled its building) to suit the needs of the rapidly growing neighborhood.

The eastern outpost of the local Bongo Java empire, this location is in East Nashville's bustling Five Points neighborhood. Stop in for coffee, tea, pastries, sandwiches, and more, served up in a refreshingly unpretentious environment by a friendly, knowledgeable staff. Bongo also has beer on tap and a selection of board games (thanks to a 2017 merger with Game Point Café), so it's the perfect spot to transition from daytime work to evening play.

For those craving a burger that's a cut above the rest, Burger Republic offers up 15 different variations—like a fancier version of the In-N-Out classic or a Southern-inspired burger with a pimento cheese--stuffed patty—with a focus on locally sourced meats and ingredients. For the full artery-clogging experience, order a handmade shake spiked with your choice of booze.

A comfortable neighborhood hangout (there’s a second location in east Nashville) serving—you guessed it—burgers, as well as soups and salads, Burger Up is popular with all ages, including young families. Beef and other meats are sourced from a local farm and butcher shop; some desserts feature Nashville-made Pied Piper ice cream.

Though it only opened in 2015, Butcher and Bee is already a Nashville culinary mainstay. The restaurant is convenient both to downtown and to East Nashville's Five Points, and offers guests a variety of dining options, from a casual weekend brunch to an elegant dinner of small, shared plates, all of which find the middle ground between Middle Eastern and Southern American influences. The whipped feta is a must-try.

This popular midtown hangout offers a healthy version of Mexican cuisine (no animal fats are used), including spinach enchiladas, vegetarian burritos, and chile rellenos (cheese-stuffed fried green chilies).

A long-standing staple of Sylvan Park, Caffe Nonna serves Italian dinner in an inviting and intimate café setting. Pizzas are baked fresh in a brick oven, pasta is served with house-made sauces, and the wine list rounds out the experience.

A perennial favorite, this barbecue joint and steak house draws crowds for its hickory-smoked ribs and its views of the action on the Tennessee River. There's a dedicated dock for the restaurant, and many locals arrive by water to take in the scenery on the spacious deck. You'll find additional locations throughout eastern Tennessee.

Casual healthy dining that is easy on the wallet is Calypso Cafe’s focus, making it a popular, laid-back lunch spot. Calypso Cafe’s menu features Caribbean influences, with an emphasis on chicken and fresh produce, creating tropical flavor combinations like their Lucayan salad and famed corn muffins that easily satisfy nutrition-focused eaters and those with dietary restrictions.

They sell plenty of dry-style barbecued ribs in this downtown restaurant in an 1890 building, in an alley just north of the Peabody Hotel. A diverse group chows down in the antiques- and collectibles-filled basem*nt dining room, and the service is among the most efficient in town. The menu also includes shoulder sandwiches, pork loin, chicken, and a shrimp skillet.

A Southern answer to French cuisine, Chateau West serves French-inspired lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. Their upscale yet relaxed setting matches the quality and accessibility of their entrées.

This Memphis institution serves sophisticated dishes from a multi-course tasting menu in an ornately decorated dining room Downtown. Nightly creations might include beef tenderloin, or Chilean snapper with portobello mushrooms on a horseradish reduction. Desserts include baked Alaska (sponge cake topped with ice cream and meringue, then baked) and crème brûlée. Afternoon tea is served Tuesday through Saturday from 2 to 3, but you'll need to make a reservation 24 hours in advance.

You can’t miss the bright red facade or the window where you can order the signature chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies; sometimes there's a tray of samples at the window. This location opened in the summer of 2018, but the bakery has been around since 1985 and tins of the cookies are familiar and beloved holiday and celebratory gifts.

As a restaurant, concert venue, and wine bar, the versatility of City Winery’s offerings make it a standout in the city. The Barrel Room restaurant and wine bar within City Winery serves hearty, Southern-inspired fare for brunch and dinner with an extensive wine list.

Look for the large gravel parking lot at the Track One development and you’ll find this delightful spot serving large, fresh sandwiches with foodie-worthy options—and any sandwich can be made into a salad. The interior is cozy, there are several picnic tables on the front porch; fill out one of the postcards next to the checkout and Clawson’s will mail it.

Part grocery market, part travel agency, part restaurant, Coco’s Italian Market is dedicated to and passionate about all things Italian. Their house specialities remain proudly authentic to original Italian recipes that won't break the bank.

This steak house has major chops: if an exquisite cut of beef isn’t epicurean enough for you, you can pair your steak with lobster, crab, scallops, or shrimp. And with a long, luxurious co*cktail menu and plenty of aperitifs, desserts, and even a port flight, your meal can drag on all evening with no end to indulgences in sight.

There's always a line at this no-frills barbecue restaurant in East Memphis. Once you taste the ribs (or sandwiches, or beef, or pork platters …), you'll understand why.

Opened in the summer of 2018, Crest is billed as Nashville's first donation-based coffeehouse—in other words, it's pay what you wish for the coffee and teas. It hosts trivia nights, open-mics (welcome to Nashville!), and also takes part in the Wedgewood-Houston art crawls. Baked goods from Sweet 16th Bakery in east Nashville.

Heaping plates of flapjacks aren't hard to come by in Gatlinburg, but they're not all served on rough-hewn tables in a dining room modeled after an early-20th-century logging camp. But the rustic digs and taxidermied animals—including a coyote lying over the fireplace—aren't the primary appeal: that's the skillets of sausage, scrambled eggs, and towering "griddle cakes."

The throwback vibe at this downtown creamery—complete with staff wearing signature red-and-white checkered blouses—makes ordering a cookies-and-cream shake feel like the wholesome Americana it should be. Ice-cream flavors are simple and straightforward—sweet cream, chocolate, strawberry—but do include dairy-free options like raspberry Dole Whip. Long lines form by 7 pm most evenings.

A hot dog stand housed in a converted gas station, Daddy's Dogs offers creative topping combos on your choice of a beef or vegan hot dog. They also have a small selection of filling sides.

Dose is one of the neighborhood’s better-kept secrets; its location on the border of Midtown and Sylvan Park makes it a less frequented (and, subsequently, quieter) café than the larger chains closer to downtown or Vanderbilt University. This is a good thing, because their daily fresh-baked goods, specially blended coffees, and delicious breakfast and lunch options are ones you’re going to want to keep all to yourself.