Nashville's Most Indulgent Bites

Carne Mare: Mozzarella Sticks and Caviar

Caviar is practically the universal synonym for indulgent. Want to make something fancy? Add a dollop of salt-cured roe. Such is the singular appetizer of mozzarella sticks and caviar on the menu at Andrew Carmellini’s Carne Mare (on the lower level of the W Hotel in the Gulch). The basic mozzarella sticks (yes, they look like the ones that come out of the freezer case) offer the same soft accompaniment as crème fraîche usually does, allowing the brininess of  the caviar to come through. The combo feels a little bit absurd, but extravagances often do. MARGARET LITTMAN

Pepperfire Hot Chicken: Apple Jack

On its own, Pepperfire Hot Chicken’s Peppercheese (a deep-fried pepper-jack grilled cheese sandwich) is downright decadent. When the West Nashville hot chicken joint adds three tenders to it (that’s called a Tender Royale), it’s doubly so. But when they top the whole thing with sweet baked apples for the house specialty known as the Apple Jack? Good Lord, that’s where these maniacs earn “indulgent” status. Yes, it’s as delicious and food-coma-inducing as it sounds — truth be told, it’s the dish that in part inspired this very issue. D. PATRICK RODGERS

Xiao Bao: Fried Mochi

Mochi in these parts are typically served as dessert, balls of glutinous rice-flour dough with ice cream inside. But the mochi at Xiao Bao, a food trailer currently operating at the Dive Motel, are filled with a divine caramelized pork, fried, then served with nuoc cham (a tart Vietnamese dipping sauce) and lettuce leaves for wrapping. It is an insanely satisfying contrast of savory, sweet, sour, salty, fried and awesome. Keep an eye out for Xiao Bao’s full-service McFerrin Park restaurant, due to open in the coming months. JACK SILVERMAN

Butter Milk Ranch: Croissants

Butter Milk Ranch’s classic croissant, with 140 buttery and flaky layers, is itself a treat worth battling 12South traffic. But if you want true indulgence, splurge on one of the bakery’s many flavored options — croissants that are stuffed, slathered and twice-baked with dulce de leche cream, almond frangipane, guava jam and more. The Babka Croissant is filled with babka filling, 70 percent dark chocolate and hazelnuts; the Churro Croissant is rolled in cinnamon and sugar and comes with a side of Mexican hot chocolate sauce for dipping. Craving savory? Try one of their breakfast sandwiches on a pretzel croissant for salty, crispy and tender perfection. MEGAN SELING

Peg Leg Porker: BBQ Nachos

Sometimes the proper solution isn’t the most elegant one. Hell, the solution in question might be as lowbrow as pouring bright-yellow nacho cheese from a can over a platter of tortilla chips piled high with smoky barbecue pulled pork and sauce. That’s the choice that Peg Leg Porker owner Carey Bringle made when he came up with this popular plate for his barbecue joint. Add a smattering of jalapeños for some extra heat or upgrade your nachos to “machos” with the addition of beans and slaw. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

San Antonio Taco Company: Queso

At SATCO, line cooks have stopped making queso to order. Instead, they keep a short parade of shallow containers on the counter, steadily replenishing the supply line as orders disappear with fish tacos and Buffalo wings. The pale-orange side order starts a meal as a dip for thin, crispy tortilla chips. But it always ends up as a condiment, pushing diners to find more creative ways to use it until an otherwise well-mannered patron is scraping the bottom of a Styrofoam container with a soft-shell fish taco. Eat at your own risk and pay some respect to San Antonio Taco Company, which is nearing 40 years of neighborhood Tex-Mex near Vanderbilt University. ELI MOTYCKA

The Waffle Taco: Morning Waffle Taco

I can make a cogent argument that the namesake dish at charming Antioch eatery The Waffle Taco is a perfectly well-rounded breakfast. After all, the bubble waffle provides grains, and it’s topped with proteins (scrambled egg, cheese, bacon, turkey sausage) and vegetables (hash browns, avocado, tomato, onions). And I still stand by it, even though my points become a tad less airtight when I get two-thirds of the way through the meal and have to ask for a to-go box — or the second I pick the thing up with both hands and try to eat it like an actual taco. STEPHEN TRAGESER

Hi-Fi Clyde’s: Sloppy Seconds Burger

The Sloppy Seconds burger was inspired by the Hot Mess at Hi-Fi Clyde’s sister restaurant Milk & Honey, and it’s only available for brunch. That’s probably a good thing, because you’ll need the extra time to recover from that double-stacked burger topped with an over-easy egg, avocado, chorizo, pickled red onions, cilantro, chipotle cream, hot pepper jam and Clyde’s version of Cheez Whiz. Enjoy that afternoon food coma/nap. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Redheaded Stranger: Green Chile Cheeseburger

Chef Bryan Lee Weaver originated this ooey-gooey cheeseburger as a brunch special at his flagship restaurant Butcher & Bee. Now it’s a centerpiece of the Tex-Mex menu at his East Side outpost Redheaded Stranger. Weaver’s obsession with Hatch chiles from New Mexico shows up as a salsa of chopped peppers on top of the burger. The kitchen wraps the burger tightly in foil to melt the American cheese, which becomes one with the beef patties and Gifford’s bacon. The potato bun provides the backbone to keep the mess somewhat manageable. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Joyland: CrustBurger

There’s nothing better to indulge in than joy. The idea behind Sean Brock’s East Nashville outpost Joyland is to capture that uncomplicated childhood pleasure of getting a burger and shake … albeit one with premium ingredients. Order a CrustBurger, which comes loaded with Bear Creek Farms beef, gooey cheese and tangy sauce — perfectly grilled, bun and all. MARGARET LITTMAN

Babo: Loaded Pancake

East Nashville’s Babo Korean Bar — owned and operated in part by the team behind Duke’s, the crown jewel of Five Points — has a really lovely lineup of traditional Korean eats, from glass noodles to bibimbap. But they’ve also got less traditional fare, including their addictive kimchi hot dog and this indulgent pick, the loaded pancake — a scallion pancake topped with kimchi and drowned in a glorious sauce trinity of Kewpie Mayo, furikake and Bull-Dog sauce. It’s an intoxicating blend of sweet and savory, and the chewy texture of the pancake, crisp around its edges, simply cannot be beat. D. PATRICK RODGERS

The Mockingbird: Seoul Purpose

The menu at The Mockingbird is filled with items that have fun names like Don’t Worry, Brie Happy and When Kale Cheeses Over, but no dish is more over-the-top than the Seoul Purpose. The Korean-inspired main features bulgogi-style hanger steak (the cut that butchers set aside for themselves when cutting beef) topped with a fried egg and a potato latke waffle. Basically steak and eggs with a side of potato waffles, it’s an exemplary breakfast-for-dinner treat. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Subculture: Churrasco Sandwich

I’m not sure exactly what the “stately pleasure domes” of the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem “Kubla Khan” look like, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they resemble these signature mounds of decadence at South Nashville’s Subculture. Expertly crafted with marinated skirt steak, fragrant chimichurri, creamy avocado and a runny egg, the Churrasco Sandwich comes on a toothsome bun of Chilean country bread that’s perfect for dipping in the glorious river of runoff that’s sure to spread across your plate. STEPHEN TRAGESER

Gabby’s Burgers & Fries: The Mattadelphia

It’s not a big secret that Gabby’s Burgers & Fries has a special menu made up of dishes created by or in honor of favorite customers and local sports figures. (Heck, it says “secret menu” right on the restaurant’s home page.) Among the clandestine items is the Mattadelphia, an employee’s cheesesteak variation that features diced chicken, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and jalapeños grilled and smothered in pepper jack on a butter-toasted hoagie bun. Pat’s and Geno’s are in trouble! CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

I Dream of Weenie: Mac-and-Cheese Weenie

Longtime Five Points lunch outpost I Dream of Weenie is an East Nashville institution — a spot that’s always been there for hungover revelers and picnicking families alike. In addition to fairly straightforward dogs like the Frank and to the Point and the Slaw Weenie, the cute little non-mobile VW bus also offers rotating specials that can get pretty far-out. But the one that keeps on calling out to us after all these years is the Mac-and-Cheese Weenie — homemade cheddar mac on top of a hot dog that makes for one of the heartiest and most satisfying bites on this whole list. Never change, I Dream of Weenie. You are perfect as you are. D. PATRICK RODGERS

TailGate Brewery: Mac-and-Cheese Pizza

There are boring people who insist macaroni-and-cheese is merely a side dish, but Canada’s favorite comfort food is surprisingly versatile, as anyone with a decent frontal cortex and a reasonably well-stocked pantry knows. Add breadcrumbs and ham or bacon (and hot sauce if you know what’s good for you), and it’s a meal-centering casserole. Top your hot dog with it (read above). Or put it on a pizza. The kitchen minds at TailGate Brewery are always willing to put, well, pretty much anything on their pizza. Regulars impatiently anticipate the calendar flipping to November for the newest version of the Thanksgiving Feast pizza. (Yes, there’s turkey and dressing and potatoes and sometimes cranberries, and it’s delicious.) October means the sausage-and-mustard-adorned Oktoberfest pie. A year-round staple of the specialty menu is the Mac and Cheese Pizza: melted nacho cheese just on this side of queso blanco, macaroni (with just a dash of crispiness from the pizza oven), seasoned bread crumbs and Canadian bacon. The rib-sticking pie is ideal for soaking up that extra pint of Orange Wheat beer. It’s a hearty, homey combination best eaten leisurely out back at TailGate’s headquarters with the sun setting stunningly over the hilltops. J.R. LIND

Nicoletto’s Italian Kitchen: Buffalo Chicken Mac ’n’ Cheese

Imagine two of the tenderest tenders you’ve ever eaten tossed in a classic Buffalo sauce just hot enough to make you sniffle. Imagine they’re gently laid across a bed of Nicoletto’s creste di gallo noodles and swimming in a bowl of creamy Buffalo cheddar sauce. Now, drizzle all of that with a subtle ranch dressing and sprinkle on a handful of green onions, if you’re so inclined. Now wake up and order, because this dream is real, thanks to Nicoletto’s Italian Kitchen. JONATHAN SIMS

Mother's Ruin: Old Bay Waffle Fries

There’s not much healthy on the menu at this popular Germantown watering hole — it’s got “Ruin” in the name, after all. While the Cholula/honey-glazed wings and double cheeseburger often get the spotlight, we’re partial to a side dish: waffle fries dusted with Old Bay seasoning. Served with spicy ketchup and house-made caramelized onion dip, they’re the perfect late-night bar snack. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

La Cucharita: Bandeja Paisa

Don’t ask me how or why, but I stumbled across a Nashville subreddit dedicated to the city’s best hangover-recovery food. That’s where I discovered bandeja paisa, a traditional Colombian dish that has just about everything you’d need to soak up last night’s sins. At La Cucharita in South Nashville, their version comes with beans and rice, grilled steak, sausage and chicharrones, plantains, avocado and cornbread, all topped with a fried egg. It’ll either cure you or kill you. Either way, no more hangover! CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

HoneyFire Barbeque Co.: Brisket Queso

Smoked brisket is a notoriously tricky meat that most people don’t try to tackle at home. When you find someone else who does it well, take advantage of it. They smoke a mean brisket at HoneyFire, and when it’s presented as an add-in to their creamy white queso dip, it’s even better. However, when that queso is poured over HoneyFire’s Honey Flat Fries as part of an occasional brisket poutine special, you should just jump in your car immediately and head to Bellevue. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

The BE-Hive: Fried Chxn Sandwiches and Crunch Wraps

Being vegetarian or vegan in Nashville’s meat-filled landscape of chicken, barbecue and meat-and-threes can be frustrating. Thankfully, The BE-Hive Deli and Market in East Nashville knows herbivores want to — and deserve to! — pig out too. Their menu is full of vegified comfort food — Italian hoagies, Philly cheesesteaks and chili-cheese tots. But the best and most regionally appropriate offering is the Fried Chxn Sandwich. A fat, surprisingly juicy seitan “chicken” cutlet is fried and, if you’d like, dunked in Buffalo or Nashville Hot sauce and stacked high with lettuce, tomato, onion and enough ranch to drip down your forearms with every bite. For more junk-food fun, don’t miss their Taco Bell-inspired Crunch Wrap — it’s stuffed with taco-seasoned “beef” and plant-based queso and just $5 every Wednesday! MEGAN SELING

Sunda New Asian: Sumo Bloody Mary

Bloody marys are divisive, I get it. Not everyone likes tomato juice. Not everyone who likes tomato juice thinks it should be boozified. Not everyone wants to mix salad fixins with vodka. As for me, I think the world’s most famous hangover analgesic should be an all-the-time drink instead of being confined to post-bender brunches. There are plenty of joints offering extravagant interpretations of Fernand Petiot’s most famous creation (at Party Fowl, they stick, among other things, two Cornish game hens on skewers as garnish), but Sunda’s interpretation, served in a 32-ounce Mason jar, hits the right mix of delectable and absurd. It starts with Sunda’s standard Asian-inspired bloody mary mix, then adds a fusion-tastic dim sum platter: grilled cheese with tocino (Filipino sweet marinated pork belly), longanisa (a Filipino sausage), a pork belly bao bun, a snow crab handroll, Japanese-style fried chicken, lumpia egg rolls, the restaurant’s signature potatoes and, because I guess they needed a vegetable, cucumber. If, like me, solving the hangover isn’t worth the shellfish-caused anaphylaxis, the crustacean parts of the cocktail can be omitted or served on the side for your dining partner. Sure, it’s $38, but it’s a meal (and a complete restorative) in a glass. J.R. LIND

Chopper Tiki: Robo Zombie

Friends, I ask you — what is more indulgent than a $16 cocktail delivered to your table ablaze? East Nashville’s Chopper Tiki is a fun spot, committed to authentic, traditional tiki drinks like mai tais, hurricanes and Singapore slings. But nothing beats the Robo Zombie, an over-the-top concoction of Jamaican rum, fassionola, citrus and flaming — literally, flaming — cinnamon. Your bartender or server is likely to make a big show of sprinkling on the cinnamon to make the flames dance, which is great. What would be the point otherwise! The Zombie is a sweet, satisfying, photogenic tipple that goes down smooth — and for an extra $29, you can take home the festive mug it comes in. Plus, these things are strong as hell — hence the one-per-customer limit. D. PATRICK RODGERS

The Vesper Club: The Martini and Caviar Experience

The one-hour caviar-and-cocktail tasting at The Vesper Club at The Continental may just be the best 60 minutes of your week. Beverage director Jonathan Howard and chef Sean Brock have selected a quintet of delicious caviars from around the globe and thoughtfully paired each with some version of a cocktail — mostly vodka-based, natch. Each cocktail showcases different techniques, including some that are shaken, stirred and dramatically thrown from tin to tin. The elegant presentation is dinner and a show. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Lockeland Table: Chicken Liver Pâté

On the Lockeland Table menu since day one, chef Hal Holden-Bache’s chicken liver pâté starter has been an expression of his culinary history in one dish. His training in upscale cuisine at hotel restaurants like The Greenbrier and the Capitol Grille shows in the precious jar of pâté that is technically flawless. His rustic sensibility and dedication to seasonal and regional ingredients shine through with the addition of house-made smoked peach jam and a creamy, unctuous layer of Benton’s bacon fat. Gout sufferers should steer clear of this dish. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Bourbon Steak: Tomahawk Ribeye

Indulgent doesn’t necessarily mean bigger and pricier, but the 36-ounce tomahawk ribeye at Bourbon Steak atop the JW Marriott also fits in those categories. One of Bourbon Steak’s signatures is its incredibly attentive service (it’s at the core of Michael Mina’s restaurants), and that extends to the $182 prime beef, which is carved at your table. Bourbon Steak offers a trio of sauces, including béarnaise and chimichurri, but a steak like this doesn’t need any other accompaniment. MARGARET LITTMAN

Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint: To-Die-For Deep-Fried Oreos

Yeah, dipping Oreos in milk is great — but have you ever tried deep-fried Oreos? The heat of the fryer softens the chocolate cookies and makes the cream all gooey and melty. That, encased in a shell of fried dough topped with powdered sugar, provides a transcendent and deeply unhealthy dessert experience. Jack Brown’s does it right. KELSEY BEYELER

Slim & Husky’s: Cinnamon Rolls

Never content to stick with what’s been done before, Slim & Husky’s reinvents cinnamon rolls in the same way they’ve remade pizza — by mastering the basics, then elevating them to another dimension entirely. Take the Cookie Monsta, for example. It’s a top-notch, freshly baked roll, but instead of standard cream cheese icing, S&H goes for broke with a white chocolate sauce, then sprinkles chocolate cookie crumbles on top. The Too Short Cakes has chunks of real strawberries mixed into a sugary glaze, plus cream cheese, plus graham cracker crumbles. It’s like your dessert is having dessert. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

Goo Goo Chocolate Co.: Make Your Own Goo Goo

Is the classic Nashville marshmallow-and-peanut Goo Goo confection not enough for your sweet tooth? Head to the Goo Goo Chocolate Co. experience on ThirdAvenue South and design your own. Using an interactive kiosk, you can construct your own layers with mint, caramel, sea salt, potato chips — whatever satisfies your cravings — all covered in chocolate. Then, you’ll watch your hefty 4-ounce creation be built in front of your eyes. Prices start at $15. Don’t plan to eat it all in one sitting. MARGARET LITTMAN

Biscuit Love: The B-Roll

Cronuts, brookies, cruffins and turduckens — the culinary world loves a good food mash-up. Newer to that list is the B-Roll, Biscuit Love’s cinnamon roll made with tender, flaky buttermilk biscuit dough. What happens in the oven is nothing short of magic — as the bun bakes, the buttery cinnamon-sugar mixture melts into every delectable layer of dough. The result is an ooey-gooey beast unlike any other, a cinnamon roll deeply fortified with cinnamon-sugar flavor, every scrumptious bite is as sticky-sweet as the last. It’s finished off with a pecan sticky-bun sauce, because sure, and a little cloud of tangy cream cheese icing. Neither topping is necessary, both are appreciated. MEGAN SELING

Nashville Jam Co.: Bronut

Well off the beaten path of indulgent brunch options, Berry Hill’s Nashville Jam Co. offers breakfast and brunch standards peppered with Cajun influence. Omelets and shrimp-and-grits reign supreme, but try the Bronut, which stands alone as a monument to pure brunch decadence. Homemade biscuits, salty and slightly sweet, are deep-fried and topped with cheesecake topping and blueberry compote de la casa. A supremely indulgent play on biscuits and jelly. ALIJAH POINDEXTER

Cotton & Snow: Spiked Cotton & Snow

Cotton & Snow’s array of cotton candy, ice cream, shaved ice and more is a great way to satisfy a sweet tooth in the heat of the summer. The Assembly Food Hall sweets outpost’s Spiked Cotton & Snow option offers cotton-candy-flavored shaved ice, a swirl of vanilla ice cream, a cloud of cotton candy — and vodka. It’s really just a cotton candy flavor bomb with enough alcohol and sugar to give you a considerable buzz. KELSEY BEYELER

Dessert Designs: Firefly Cake

Dessert Designs’ Firefly Cake will make you question everything you thought a classic two-layer cake could be. A layer of rich chocolate truffle cake is topped with a round of moist, decadent sour cream pound cake that somehow tastes more like butter than an actual stick of butter. Is it finished off with traditional buttercream? Maybe some kind of basic ganache? No. It is drenched in cascading caramel icing that is so thick, so decadent, that the finished product looks like a cake castle — an impenetrable fortress of caramelized sugar. But do not be fooled! The moment that icing hits your tongue it begins to melt into a soft, smooth sauce, escaping the cloying, overwhelming mouth-feel of lesser-quality caramel. Who cares how, just cut me off another slice. MEGAN SELING

Anne’s Cakes: Coconut Crème Cake

Anne’s Coconut Crème Cake is ultra moist — I once wrote that it “looks like the stippling of fresh oil paint on a seascape.” I stand by that claim, though a wintery landscape may be more appropriate — Bob Ross would be inspired. The icing is soft, whipped and not too sweet as to be overwhelming. But that doesn’t make a slice any less indulgent. Blanketed in grated coconut, the cake is rich and pillowy — perfect for celebrating occasions both great and small. Find it by the slice at Midtown Cafe, Sperry’s Mercantile, Cole’s Kitchen, The Picnic Cafe and The Café at Thistle Farms. Whole cakes are available by special order at these locations. ERICA CICCARONE