Nashville

Power rankings

Everything you heart goes into your ranking. Play This or that to sort it fast, or drag to fine-tune. Our top 10 combines both lists: your #1 is worth 10 points, #2 is worth 9, and so on.

Before we go Done

• TanyaRolf & Daughters is booked (Sapphire table). Drop the night and time in a note below.
• EitherBook Henrietta Red on OpenTable for Thu at 5:30. Also a Sapphire table, and oyster happy hour runs 5 to 6.
• BothSapphire plan: Tanya's card at Rolf, Neil's at Henrietta Red. Two cards on one bill may not both get the credit.
• NeilChainsmokers tickets bought and on both phones. Vanderbilt Box Office, general admission was $40 to $60 before prices went up Monday. 18+.
• EitherHeart a Friday dinner option in the Friday card.
• NeilCauponor (14 seats, from the Peninsula team) is only open Wed and Thu this week. Book it on OpenTable or let it go.
• NeilSeats: Neil is 16A (Comfort) on the flight down. Put Tanya next to him and pick seats for BNA→ATL. ATL→EWR is already 11E/11F.
• NeilTwo spare Ryman tickets: sell by Tuesday night or bring friends.
• TanyaTraackr breakfast at Fouquet's Wed 9:30 to noon: in or out? Only works with carry-ons and leaving Tribeca by 11:15 for LGA.
• BothLights on the Lawn's theme is 2016. Outfits?
• BothBags: the Ryman bans backpacks, and Lights on the Lawn has said no bags at all in past years, so plan on pockets Friday. Pack boots and chargers.

Land, drop bags, walk the neighborhood Done

• 1:25pmDL2748 LGA → BNA, lands 2:49pm. Leave for LGA by about 11:15.
• 3:30pmUber to Germantown, about 15 minutes. Self check-in after 3.
• 4:00pmWalk two blocks to the Farmers' Market (the Market House is open till 8) and Bicentennial Mall Tanya. Part of the park is fenced off for renovation.Snack at Spread Tanya: sourdough, sandwiches, a wine room. Open till 8.
• 5:30pmClose Company Tanya at the Neuhoff, the Death & Co team's cocktail bar with a disco ball. Opens at 4.
• DinnerRolf & Daughters Tanya Sapphire if Tanya's table is tonight.Or Cauponor, the 14-seat seafood tasting, which is only open Wed and Thu this week. Tailor and Peninsula are closed Wednesdays.
• LateMother's Ruin Tanya, one block from the house, open till 2. Or Charmers Tanya, the Peninsula team's dark bar with a river patio and a smash burger.Want a show? Ashley McBryde plays The East Room at 8, and Young the Giant is on the Opry at 7. Brooklyn Bowl is dark tonight.

• Landed and checked in
• Farmers' Market and Bicentennial Mall walk
• Dinner
• Nightcap

Ryman night Done

• MorningCoffee at Neighborlily Tanya (opens at 8) or Babychan, the Japanese café at the Neuhoff (also 8). Basket Case Tanya opens at 7:30.
• DayPick one downtown: Country Music Hall of Fame, the National Museum of African American Music, or Third Man Records (Jack White's shop, 623 7th Ave S). The Nashville Film Festival also opens today.
• LunchArnold's Country Kitchen, the Beard-winning meat-and-three near the museums, 10:30 to 2:45.Or Little Hats Market Tanya back in Germantown.
• 5:30pmHenrietta Red Tanya Sapphire Book Oyster happy hour until 6.
• 6:45pmFree Sidewalk Sessions outside the Ryman on PNC Plaza: Hunt Pearson plays from 6, and there's an outdoor bar.
• 8:00pmCameron Whitcomb with Noah Rinker at the Ryman Tickets in handOpening night of the Kingdom of Fear tour. Doors around 7, entrance on 4th Ave. No backpacks. Lyft code RYMANAUD takes 50% off two rides.
• AfterRobert's Western World for real honky-tonk, then Tootsie's out the Ryman's back alley.Or the new Palm Tree Club rooftop at Chief's (Kygo's crew, DJs on Thursdays), a few blocks down Broadway.

• Museum or Third Man
• Henrietta Red at 5:30
• Cameron Whitcomb at the Ryman
• One honky-tonk after

East Nashville by day, Chainsmokers at night Done

• BrunchBabychan at the Neuhoff (brunch 10 to 2:30), or Mother's Ruin brunch from 11. Geist only does brunch on Saturdays.
• AfternoonOver to East Nashville to wander Five Points for vintage and records. Tacos at Mas Tacos Tanya on McFerrin Ave.
• 4:00pmTiki at Pearl Diver Tanya, opens at 4.
• 5:15pmDinner, pick one (heart it): Musicians Corner in Centennial Park: a free show with food trucks and a bar, a 10 minute walk to the concert. Josh Rouse plays at 7:15. Fogg Street Lawn Club Tanya: a British pub with rooftop lawn bowling, 10 minutes from campus. Peninsula at 5 Sapphire: the Beard-winner dinner, then a 15 minute Uber.
• 7:30pmThe Chainsmokers at Lights on the Lawn XV, VanderbiltAlumni Lawn, 2201 West End Ave. 18+, rain or shine, no re-entry. A student DJ opens. About 7,000 people, and it's a benefit for the Mary Parrish Center.
• AfterEveryone leaves at once, so walk a few blocks up West End before calling a car. Then Attaboy (open till 2) or Skinny Dennis (till 3).Or Vinyl Vault, the new hi-fi listening bar in an old bank vault downtown. It's only open Fridays and Saturdays, so tonight is the night.

• Brunch
• Five Points wander
• Pearl Diver
• Chainsmokers

Slow breakfast, then home Done

• 8:00amMonell's opens at 8, three blocks away. Family-style breakfast, $18.95, walk-in.Quicker: coffee at Neighborlily or Babychan, or egg coffee at the new Em & Mẹ two blocks away. All open at 8.
• 10:00amCheckout. Pack before breakfast.
• 10:30amUber to BNA, about 15 minutes. The AIDS Walk starts at the Neuhoff at 8:30, so expect closed streets nearby. DL2867 leaves 12:44pm, connects in ATL, lands Newark 6:39pm.

• Packed before breakfast
• Checked out by 10
• At BNA by 11:15

Tanya's picks for this trip

The 19 places she saved between Sep 6 and Sep 20. Heart the ones you want. Open the list in Google Maps.

Eat & drink

Tanya on her list · Sapphire $150 credit · New opened in 2026 · ★ Neil's must-do · ♡ want it · ✓ went

Germantown and the Neuhoff (walk)

• ★ Rolf & Daughters Tanya Sapphire · 700 Taylor St · pasta, wood fire, natural wine. 5 to 10 nightly.
• ★ Henrietta Red Tanya Sapphire · 1200 4th Ave N · the oyster bar. Happy hour 5 to 6.
• Cauponor New · Neuhoff · 14-seat seafood tasting from the Peninsula team, on the NYT's 2026 best restaurants list. Wed and Thu only this week.
• Tailor · 620 Taylor St · South Asian tasting menu. Thu to Sat, book on SevenRooms.
• The Optimist Tanya · 1400 Adams St · Ford Fry's seafood and oyster hall
• City House · 1222 4th Ave N · Tandy Wilson's Southern-Italian, belly ham pizza
• Geist · 311 Jefferson St · old blacksmith shop with a Champagne Garden. Dinner Wed to Fri, brunch Sat from 10.
• Monell's · 1235 6th Ave N · family-style Southern in a Victorian house, breakfast from 8
• Little Hats Market Tanya · 1120 4th Ave N · Italian deli, 11 to 8
• Babychan · Neuhoff · Japanese café and bakery from the Kisser team, from 8am
• Close Company Tanya · Neuhoff · the Death & Co team's cocktail bar
• Charmers Tanya · Neuhoff · dark bar, river patio, smash burger
• Mother's Ruin Tanya · 1239 6th Ave N · our local, open till 2
• Neighborlily Tanya · 606 Monroe St · coffee by day, cocktails and Sicilian pizza by night

East Nashville (5 to 10 min ride)

• ★ Attaboy · 8 McFerrin Ave · no menu, no reservations, the best cocktails in town
• ★ Peninsula Sapphire · 1035 W Eastland Ave · Iberian. 2025 Beard Best Chef Southeast. Closed Wed.
• Kisser Sapphire · East Nashville · Michelin Bib Gourmand, same team as Babychan
• Bad Idea Sapphire · East Nashville · also on the Sapphire list
• Pearl Diver Tanya · 1008 Gallatin Ave · serious tiki, opens at 4
• The Fox Bar & Cocktail Club · Inglewood · Pecan Pie-Tais. The bar is first come.
• Skinny Dennis · 2635 Gallatin Pike · the Williamsburg honky-tonk's Nashville room, free country most nights
• Mas Tacos Por Favor Tanya · 732 McFerrin Ave · the taco lunch, plus a truck at the Neuhoff
• Dino's · 411 Gallatin Ave · oldest dive on the east side, late burgers

Downtown, Gulch and Midtown

• ★ Robert's Western World · 416 Broadway · the honky-tonk locals pick. Order the Recession Special.
• Tootsie's Orchid Lounge · 422 Broadway · the purple one behind the Ryman
• Arnold's Country Kitchen · 605 8th Ave S · meat-and-three, weekday lunch
• Fogg Street Lawn Club Tanya · 648 Fogg St · British pub, rooftop lawn bowling
• Zaytinya New · the W, Gulch · José Andrés mezze, Butterfly on the roof

Michelin stars

• Bastion Sapphire · Wedgewood-Houston · starred tasting room in back, walk-in nachos bar up front
• The Catbird Seat · Midtown · counter tasting menu
• Locust Sapphire · 12 South

Ideas wall

Saw something on TikTok? Friend sent a rec? Drop it here with a link.

What else is on that week

Bluebird Cafe: every early show is sold out, so the walk-up line is the only way in. Bachman-Turner Overdrive shows up on ticket sites for Wed 9/23 at the Ryman, but the band's tour has Nashville in March 2027, so that listing looks wrong. Just after we leave: Nashville Oktoberfest (Oct 1 to 4) in Bicentennial Mall.

Basics

• Getting around. Walk anything in Germantown. Uber to the Ryman is about 5 minutes, East Nashville about 10, Vanderbilt about 12, BNA about 15. No rental car needed.
• Ryman. Church pews, so bring a layer. Entrance on 4th Ave. No backpacks, and everyone goes through a scanner. Lyft code RYMANAUD takes 50% off two rides (up to $10 each).
• Lights on the Lawn. 18+, no re-entry, rain or shine. In the Uber or Lyft app, pick the Sarratt Student Center / Rand Hall pickup zone, or walk up West End first to beat the surge.
• Weather. Wed sunny 84°F, low 62. Thu sunny 83°F, 77°F at showtime. Fri sunny 82°F, 76°F at 7pm and 66°F by 11. Sat sunny 85°F. Monday's storms clear out Tuesday.