17 Best Restaurants in Day Trips from Nashville, Tennessee

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). There are additional locations in The Gulch and Hillsboro Village. 

This coffeehouse is in a literal house, built in 1904 in Downtown Franklin, and during a good mid-morning lull, you can curl up with a cinnamon toast crepe in one of the sitting rooms and listen to a record or read a book. The library room is an especially good spot to pass a rainy afternoon with hot soup and a grown-up grilled cheese sandwich.

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 cocktail 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.

Located inside The Factory, this dreamy bakery seems to glow with soft pink light. They specialize in donuts, but not just any old donuts—these are 100-layer croissant-donut hybrids, cream-filled and glazed in flavors like chocolate–sea salt and maple-bacon (they also have a wide selection of paleo and vegan donuts). There are locations in East Nashville and 12South. 

This coffeehouse opens first thing in the morning and stays open through breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There’s plenty of porch space to enjoy your rosemary-honey latte outside, and in the evening they expand their drink menu to include craft beer and wine. The menu is Southern comfort food with a New South twist (like johnnycakes with house-pickled okra and bacon-onion marmalade), but coffee is still the main event. All their coffee is locally roasted by their own roasting company, and you can buy it by the bag from the café. There are multiple locations around Nashville. 

Franklin’s first coffee-roasting company is an honest-to-goodness great place to get a cup of coffee. Located inside The Factory, Franklin’s converted industrial shopping complex, it’s also a great place to get an honest day’s work done on your laptop. In addition to their ethically sourced and roasted coffees and selection of teas, there’s usually an assortment of croissants, scones, and donuts available.

Southwest of Nashville on Highway 100, The Loveless Cafe serves up its famous scratch-made biscuits and country ham every day of the week. Long waits for a table are typical, so be prepared to do some shopping and play a round of cornhole while you wait. When the café opened in 1951, it was just chicken served at picnic tables on Lon and Annie Loveless’s front porch. But over the years, the restaurant has expanded to include every iteration of Southern breakfast and supper. In 2004 the remainder of the on-site motel was converted into quaint country shops—chief among them the Hams & Jams Country Market, where you can get free coffee all day, Southern-inspired home goods and gifts, and barbecue to go.

It’s impossible to overstate how cozy this Irish pub is. There’s live music every night of the week, but on Friday and Saturday, you can catch the owner himself performing traditional Irish tunes with his band, Nosey Flynn. After dinner, Finn McCool's Giant Ice Cream Pie is an unbeatable treat, but you’ll need at least four people to finish a slice. Or, if you’re after something a little stronger, McNamara’s serves every Irish whiskey you can get in Nashville. If there’s a long wait downstairs, they also serve the full menu upstairs in the semi-secret sports bar.

As soon as you squeeze through the front door of Meridee’s Breadbasket, you’ll feel at home. The shelves are stocked with fresh-baked bread, and the cabinets are full of peanut butter pie and butterscotch bars. There are quilts on the walls and baskets hanging from the ceiling, helping the jumble of tables to feel more neighborly than crowded. The service is as charming as the setting: ask any employee which bread you should order with your chicken salad sandwich, and they'll discuss it with you for as long as you like.

Diners flock to this two-story 1867 white-frame house (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) with a white picket fence to feast family-style at tables laden with Southern favorites like fried chicken, meat loaf, fried catfish, stuffed vegetables, and sliced tomatoes, along with corn on the cob, homemade biscuits, cornbread, pecan pie, lemon icebox pie, fruit cobblers, and strawberry shortcake. And, yes, the famous whiskey distilled nearby is used in some of the recipes. Dinner (that's lunch) is served at 11 am and 1 pm Monday–Saturday. An additional 3 pm seating is added most Saturdays April–Oct, but check the website before making your plans. Reservations are highly recommended.

For a neighborhood joint that takes diner fare to the next level, Nadeen’s balance of folksy and classy won’t disappoint. The rolls for their Philly cheesesteaks actually come from Philadelphia, and their biscuits are made fresh every morning.

Half café (pressed juices, coffee, and wraps) and half restaurant (tacos, burrito bowls, and a full bar), Nectar Urban Cantina is great whether you’re in a hurry or have more time to kill. Inside an updated Tudor-style house, they offer fresh Mexican-inspired cuisine in a bright casual space. If the weather’s nice, check out their beer garden and outdoor margarita bar.

Maybe it’s the graffitied walls, maybe it’s the local bee-pollen honey, but this crunchy sandwich shop inside a converted garage is undeniably cool. Come any time, morning or night, and you’ll find a goat cheese–smothered waffle, a hummus-stuffed veggie wrap, or a late-night cocktail that will suit your needs.

If SunDrop and fried chicken set your heart aflutter, this Southern grocery store/restaurant combo is not to be missed. The cherrywood smoker out back churns out piles of pork, chicken, and brisket every day, and you can buy their signature barbecue rub and sauce at the register. On your way out, after you’ve polished off a slice of fruit cobbler with homemade ice cream, shop the produce section for local eggs, milk, and greens. There’s live music every night of the week except Sunday.

This sophisticated eatery serves innovative Southern cuisine in an upscale environment for a dining experience that’s elegant without compromising on fun. The menu changes six times a year to keep up with the freshest ingredients, and their award-winning wine menu shouldn’t be overlooked. There’s bar seating on both the first and second floors, but for a table, a reservation is your best bet.