On the Dave Chang Show, we want our listeners to get great local recommendations from those in the know. That's why we have our Atlas segment, which we break out with special guests or after a trip: so you can have the best travel and eating tips around.
Kahlil Arnold of Arnold's Country Kitchen in Nashville, TN (soon to have a sister location) came on the podcast recently and talked to Dave about meat-and-threes, so-called Southern hospitality, and more. While Dave had Kahlil on, Dave asked him where you have to eat when you are in Nashville.
Find out where Kahlil, born-and-raised in the Nashville dining scene, recommended right here (his notes in italics)!
Listen to the whole episode with Kahlil Arnold to find out all about why you should go! But to sum it up — delicious, Southern hospitality, old school meat-and-three, with great service and great dishes.
Bad Idea opened up about a year ago in an old church in East Nashville. I've been freaking out about that place. I've probably been 4 or 5 times. Like a swanky speakeasy kind of bar feel to it. But the food is amazing. And, this guy named Colby [Rasavong], I think he worked in New York for a little while and worked for Sean [Brock].
Pastry Chef Alyssa Gangeri is was from New York originally. She came down here and what's crazy about her place is that she can't have gluten, but she makes the best damn croissants and biscuits I've ever eaten, which is crazy.
The new chefs at Catbird are freaking knocking it out. They're across the street from me, so I get to get little samples. The new Catbird chefs are freaking super talented.
City House kind of came in and set the scene, in my opinion, as far as the the evolution of table service and set the bar on food, and they were so welcoming to other people in the industry to kind of say, "hey, there's plenty of room for everybody."
That just opened up. I still haven't gotten to it, but a lot of people are loving it.
One of the founders of the fine food industry in Nashville. Kind of the the next evolution of the food chain because they were the ones who were doing it before anybody else was doing it.
Pat Martin's cheeseburger spot. And I will fight people all the time: it's the best cheeseburger in Nashville. It's a chain restaurant, but they're freakin fantastic. He also has a "Slugburger" (deep-fried porkburger) and his barbecue on the menu.
Ryan Poli's place. When we [my girlfriend and I] first went there about four months ago, she was like, what took us so long? We've been there eight times since.
This is not something you do every day, but one of those places that you go eat there and you think, "Wow, this is amazing."
The Loveless does a great job. Their breakfast is a traditional southern breakfast. They have some great country ham.
One of the founders of the fine food industry in Nashville. Kind of the the next evolution of the food chain because they were the ones who were doing it before anybody else was doing it.
Martin's smoked wings with Alabama white sauce. Yeah. Pat knows what he's doing. And the redneck taco with pork, on a whole cornbread cake with slaw and sauce on top. I mean, he does it right. He does the whole hog. And there's nothing sexier than walking in to a restaurant watching them smoke a whole hog because you can't cut the corners with that. It shows through the flavor.
It's old, and used to be a little dive, hole-in-the-wall restaurant that has a great cheeseburger — it's now expanding into yet another location.
Every time I eat there, I feel the love and the barbecue ribs are freakin' [great].
I love his ribs. I love his brisket. And Bill is their head; he's a funny guy. And he loves what he does.
It's a must if you want to know good ol' Nashville, what Nashville was, and the base of Nashville food. You need to go eat at Silver Sands because that's what meat-and-threes started off being like.
If you want o understand Southern food, it's there: like ham hock, braised pig feet. She does a really good job at understanding what the basic southern food should be. And her food is made with love and soul in it. I would say it's a really good base to understand that. It's ain't the prettiest place you're going to go eat, but it's southern. She welcomes you in. She has a glow about her.
I go to Saint Vito all the time. Michael Hanna is doing an incredible job making that focaccia pizza, but also making a bunch of southern, southern stuff, and his cacio e pepe. And it's very traditional.
Swett's — no website
If you want to know another meat-and-three, their breakfast brings you back. Sitting down, you feel like you went farm-to-table. It's good ol' biscuits, gravy, scrambled eggs, and country ham.