Located in the charming Germantown neighborhood, 5th & Taylor made a big splash when it opened in 2015, and the buzz has not subsided. Housed in a textile warehouse turned restaurant, the creative spot serves Southern American cuisine like onion-bacon tarts with fromage blanc and beer can chicken. The dining room is as well thought out as each dish, featuring sky-high ceilings, a partially open kitchen and a massive sculpture of a man riding a horse in the center of the dining room.

What once was an auto-repair shop in the Gulch is now Adele’s, a chic New American restaurant from chef Jonathan Waxman, a contestant on Top Chef Masters and the owner of Barbuto in New York. Staying true to its roots, the restaurant has an industrial aesthetic, with bare walls, high ceilings and glass garage windows that are opened during nice weather. Named after Waxman’s mother, the restaurant also serves some of its namesake’s best recipes, including the indulgent Adele’s burger, which comes topped with bacon-onion jam and buttermilk cheddar. Additional highlights include the JW chicken and the coconut cake. Dinner is served daily, but lunch is only offered on Fridays and Saturdays and brunch is a Sunday-only affair.

Bar Taco is one of Nashville’s great Mexican joints, serving fresh fish tacos, flavorful guacamole and margaritas with a hefty dose of tequila. The trendy restaurant, which also boasts popular outposts in Connecticut and New York, reaches its buzziest peak around 10 at night.

Visitors seeking casual Southern fare need to look no further than Biscuit Love, located in the hip Gulch neighborhood. The near-constant line (often wrapped around the block on weekends) is a testament to the food, and the convivial dining room is the perfect place for a lazy brunch. Some favorite menu items are the Nasty Princess breakfast sandwich (Nashville-style hot chicken and cheddar galore), the Bonuts, a biscuit–donut hole mash-up and the Chronic Bacon bloody mary.

Sometimes when a restaurant decides to open a second location, the result is a lesser version of the first. That is not the case for Butcher & Bee, an iconic Charleston sandwich spot that opened an outpost in a former mattress store in East Nashville in late 2015. This new restaurant has its own vibe, primarily because it is a proper restaurant with a full bar. The eatery features an open kitchen with a wood-burning grill, ample indoor and outdoor seating and a unique loft area perfect for private parties. The interior décor is minimalist and elegant, allowing the sole focus to be on the food. The menu stays true to the flagship restaurant’s roots, with creative takes on classics including turnip cacio e pepe and lamb and grits with goat cheese croquettes.

City House is one of those restaurants where most of the ingredients sound foreign but come together to make something magical. In a homey brick building in Germantown, this Goop-approved haunt is a reliable Nashville classic. Chef Tandy Wilson does simple Italian so well that you would be remiss not to order multiple pizzas and pastas for the table.

With interesting preparations of seasonal veggies to complement the main course, City House never misses the mark. The menu switches over to a family-style Sunday Supper every week, and pork is usually the star; scrapple gets an upgrade with pepper sauce and the thin-crust options include a light and flavorful pizza with peppers, corn, ricotta, garlic and oregano.

This upscale steakhouse is as much New York City as you can expect to find in Nashville, and the service is top-notch. Cotton candy-topped bacon is the way to start your meal, followed by steak and a side of some of the best macaroni and cheese you will ever have. When ordering, keep in mind entrées are served with light and buttery popovers, but don't let that stop you from getting a side of cream corn brulée. Prepare for a feast, as large portions give way to full bellies and happy diners.

Lockeland Table burst out of the gate in late 2012, becoming a Nashville hot spot when it was a nominated for Best New Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation. The small dining room in East Nashville is hard to get into, and for good reason: the southern-inspired menu serves upscale comfort food, from wood-fired pizzas to roast chicken with pimento cheese grit cakes. There is also a kids-menu for little ones.

Lacking any signage out front, this Prohibition-era-inspired speakeasy attempted discretion when it opened in 2009, but any in-the-know Nashvillian is aware that this is hands-down the best cocktail bar in the city. Upon entering visitors are welcomed with a small waiting room lined with bookshelves, a hostess stand and a heavy velvet curtain, behind which the low-lit bar with limited seating is located. Waiters play the part (think suspenders and slicked back hair) and can advise you on the menu or create something special based on your preferences. The menu is divided by spirit, and there is a small but delightful food menu—favorites include tater tots with dill crème fraîche and mini s’mores—so you can nibble as you imbibe.

A pasta-lovers heaven, Rolf & Daughters opened to applause in late 2012, and was ranked third on Bon Appétit’s list of Best New Restaurants of 2013. In a redesigned dining room in Nashville’s Werthan Mills Factory, the eatery has a chic industrial, occasionally noisy, interior and a lovely outdoor patio. On a recent Sunday, I enjoyed their spaghetti carbonara and a glass of wine al fresco, and it was the ideal, comforting Sunday meal. The garganelli verde with pork ragout is another must-order entrée.

This culinary experience is in a class of its own in Nashville. Chef Trevor Moran, who previously worked at Copenhagen's Michelin-starred Noma, serves 32 guests per seating, around a u-shaped bar so diners can watch him work. It’s a tough reservation to score, but it is truly the finest dining experience in Nashville. While the seven-to-nine-course tasting menu changes daily, one of the biggest hits is an amuse bouche of crisp chicken skin topped with chile powder, dill salt and a light and fluffy Wonder Bread puree.

The Southern has a lively, fun ambiance and is popular with both locals and visitors thanks to its location in downtown Nashville, close to the bars and tourist sites on Broadway. Dinner draws a crowd (thanks to the aforementioned bars located nearby) and getting a reservation here can be challenging. The Southern’s most popular meal, though, is weekend brunch thanks to upscale comfort dishes like fried chicken and waffles, steak and biscuit benedict and hotcakes with whipped butter.