Music City Food & Wine Festival
The Scene covers dozens of events every month, from concerts and music festivals to art openings and craft fairs. All that work pays off when we get to be in charge of organizing our own event, like the FW Publishing-sponsored Music City Food & Wine Festival, which takes place April 24 to 27, 2025. Sure, we’re biased, but we think it’s the best in the biz. A regional destination event for locals and tourists alike, MCFW is a weekend-long culinary celebration that includes a chef competition, a vendor market, samples from top wine and spirits brands, and special dinners and brunches that happen throughout the city. It’s kind of a big deal — find out more at musiccityfoodandwinefest.com.
Campione’s Taste of Chicago
If you find yourself north of the city in Gallatin, make sure to stop by Campione’s for some of the best Chicago-style hot dogs you can find in Tennessee. Not a hot dog fan? Their menu boasts Italian beef, pastas and pizza as well.*Â
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The Horn CoffeeÂ
In this warmly lit Somali cafe, the team offers many delectable foods, including a savory pastry called the sambusa, a Somali variation on the Indian samosa.Â
Elliston Place Soda ShopÂ
Elliston Place Soda Shop has been serving locals Southern comfort food and sodas for more than 80 years. It’s a true Nashville institution — George Jones was photographed sitting in one of its booths for the cover of his 1976 record Alone Again. These days, the soda shop is best known for its indulgent milkshakes and Miss Linda’s meringue pies.*
Tutti Da Gio
The unassuming Tutti Da Gio in Hermitage offers some of the best Italian food you’ll find in Nashville, and possibly anywhere. The menu includes handmade gnocchi and pasta, paper-thin prosciutto and thin-crust pizzas baked in a brick oven that we like so much we gave it our Best New Italian writer’s choice in the Scene’s 2022 Best of Nashville issue.*
Best of Nashville Winner:
Best Chicken: S.S. Gai
Based out of East Nashville’s The Wash, S.S. Gai offers Thai chicken in two styles: gai tod (crispy and fried) and gai yang (smoky and grilled). Both are served with sticky rice, fried garlic and shallots, tamarind chili fish sauce, aromatic chili vinegar and local veggies and herbs.
