So you’re coming to Nashville for the NHL All-Star festivities. If you’ve been here before, welcome back; if you’re new, we are excited to have you. Let me begin by saying that Nashville has a bit of a complex. This whole ‘It City’ status has brought a lot of newcomers to town that have decided to stick around, changing up the atmosphere and landscape a bit (you will notice a lot of construction cranes). We are still all about the Southern Hospitality though, so whether you stick around the Hipster areas (12th South, the Gulch, East Nashville) or just down by the honky tonks, you’re bound to have a great experience while here.

That being said, let me also inform you that Nashville is called “Music City” not “Country Music City”. Yes, we are best known for Country music and we will defend it to the death, but there’s more than just honky tonks, cowboy boots and hats. By the way, we can spot a tourist in a heartbeat. No one really wears cowboy boots or hats. Not the majority, anyway. Back to music, Nashville is home to such bands and artists as Paramore, Kings of Leon, Kesha, and Jack White, just to name a few. So for locals, it was kind of a bummer to just see Country artists listed as musical performances for All-Star Weekend. However, one cannot be too upset as that is what Nashville was built upon, so let’s not forget our roots before we get wiped out by condos.

With all the formalities behind us, let’s get to the must-eats! I’ll put this out there now that I am in no way a foodie or expert on restaurants. I just know what I like and what I think you’ll like, too. Also, I love hockey just like you, so you should totally trust me. Okay, let’s do this:

– RESTAURANTS – Southern Comfort –

UNCLE BUD’S CATFISH SHACK
2719 Old Lebanon Road, Nashville, TN
Unclebuds.com

PUCKETT’S GROCERY & RESTAURANT – NASHVILLE
500 Church Street, Nashville, TN
PuckettsGro.com

THE SOUTHERN STEAK & OYSTER
150 3rd Avenue South, Nashville, TN
TheSouthernNashville.com

BARLINES
250 5th Avenue South, Nashville, TN
Barlinesnashville.com

– RESTAURANTS – Barbecue –

PEG LEG PORKER
903 Gleaves Street, Nashville, TN
peglegporker.com

MARTIN’S BBQ JOINT
3108 Belmont Boulevard, Nashville, TN
martinsbbqjoint.com

SMOKIN’ THIGHS
611 Wedgewood Avenue, Nashville, TN
Smokinthighs.com

JACK’S BARBQUE
416 Broadway, Nashville, TN
Jacksbarbque.com

– RESTAURANTS – Meat ‘n Three –

ARNOLD’S COUNTRY KITCHEN
605 8th Avenue South, Nashville, TN
Arnoldscountrykitchen.com

THE PIE WAGON
1302 Division Street, Nashville, TN
ThePieWagon.com

– RESTAURANTS – Hot Chicken –

PRINCE’S HOT CHICKEN
123 Ewing Drive, #3, Nashville, TN
Prince’s Hot Chicken

HATTIE B’S HOT CHICKEN
112 19th Avenue South, Nashville, TN
HattieB.com

BOLTON’S SPICY CHICKEN & FISH
624 Main Street, Nashville, TN
BoltonsSpicy.com

– RESTAURANTS – Random –

GABBY’S BURGERS AND FRIES
493 Humphreys Street, Nashville, TN
GabbysBurgersandFries.com

M.L. ROSE – CRAFT BEER & BURGERS
2535 Franklin Pike, Nashville, TN
MLRose.com

THE SMILING ELEPHANT
2213 8th Avenue South, Nashville, TN
TheSmilingElephant.com

THE PHARMACY BURGER PARLOR
731 McFerrin Avenue, Nashville, TN
ThePharmacyNashville.com

BISCUIT LOVE
316 11th Avenue South, Nashville, TN
BiscuitLove.com

PANCAKE PANTRY
1796 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN
ThePancakePantry.com

Since you will be here for the All-Star festivities, I won’t bother going into anything else you should check out beyond food. If you do somehow get bored and want some options of activities to do around Nashville, just tweet me @Lady_Preds and I’ll give you a local’s opinion.

Whatever you choose to do or eat, Nashville is excited to have you visit our awesome city.