#herb oldie is somehow that guy and gets every guy and girl in town to swoon

[isimchi]

played the Oldies instead of inviting the reaper over and… yea.

[abiteofnat]

GOT OUR NASH(FILL) OF NASH(VILLE)...

Because if there was a thing to be eaten in this city, boy did we eat it. They like to do it big in the south and I was not prepared for just hOW big our three days in Nasty Nash would be, from the food to the people to the number on the thermometor. Luzi and I took a tour-de-midwest adventure by way of MegaBus to the land of Johnny Cash in the late summer weeks when we believed good weather and positive thinking was fleeting, as once school picks back up fun is a fallacy, especially because three months ago I was sitting in an arena surrounded by the best & brightest peers with tequila bottles hidden up their graduation gown sleeves and I believed I HAD DONE IT. The four years of education that were truly some of the best of my life had ended, and I was so proud to walk out a scholar... until last week when graduate classes began and I found myself back in those same rooms with the same familiar dread of 7:15 p.m., when every student goes to Chipotle on our break and comes back with a full-on burrito bowl meal that we ALL get to enjoy with them. Really. I love school.

But we needed this last hurrah. 

So nine hours later and hundreds of miles seen through MegaBus windows, some McDonald’s consumed along the way for road trip posterity, we tumbled out into the late afternoon sun of NASHVILLE! Step number one: get to the Airbnb and drop off our suitcases and wash our smelly selves. Step number two: EAT SOME FRIED FOOD AND HEAR AT LEAST 1-5 FIDDLES. 

We chose our first spot, ACME Feed & Seed, due to multiple suggestions to check it out and because it’s a four-story bar alongside the river. Um, that sounded ideal. And it was. We ordered fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese and remoulade along with a deep-dish cherry cobbler toped with vanilla bean ice cream as our intro dinner, and found a place to sit amidst the dark, crowded scene of the first floor. There was a live band playing excellent songs that the crowd seated at tables and along the extensive bar were vibbing with, and while we snacked on the most incredible candied cherry and whole-grain oatmeal topped cobbler we slowly realized we did it; our yolo trip had begun!!! There’s a weird part of traveling where you don’t really believe you’re at the destination until a couple hours later and the travel has worn off, and then suddenly you’re just present in the location and the moment and it’s exhilarating. We looked at each other and the devil was in our eyes and that night went from chill tomatoes & beer to DRANKS at the three-story bar smack dab in the middle of Lower Broadway, a soon-to-be home base for us called Honky Tonk. 

Honky Tonk is where you go for loud live music, people singing along with that live music, tons of open balconies and tables and dance floors, and cheap-ish drinks that allow you to have a wild evening should you be open to that. We fell in love on the spot and a drink called a “Yee-Haw” became my #1 beverage of choice, and both guys that offered to buy me a drink looked entirely stricken that they had to order a “Yee-Haw” instead of a “Can I get a, uh, Bud Light? Yeah. Bud Light. That sounds manly.” 

The top floor is where it’s at, as they play only well-known but kinda old country music and you get a full view both directions on Broadway. The bright neon lights and exceptional masses of people really did make it seem like THE place to be, and so we stayed. For three nights. Along with checking out other bars, of course. 

Food wise, this trip was remarkable. We tried a little bit of everything whenever we could, and here are my top top places for Nashville noshing. 

1. Barista Parlor 

Barista Parlor is the exact kind of coffee shop you want to find in a city of hipsters, music, metal, and heat. This giant factory/warehouse turned “parlor” was cool in every way: quiet, dim-lit, full of fun knick-knacks and decor, and had a gorgeous wooden floor with the logo carved into it. 

The coffee was incredible, and my iced latte was served in that type of glass that makes everything taste a little bit trendier. We had heard of Five Daughters bakery and their hundred-layer donuts, so given the opportunity to snag the last chocolate one they had RIGHT THERE we had to take it. This crisp, hand-pulled espresso in almond milk along with a REAL, fried-to-the-extreme donut proved to be a heart-stopping breakfast. Like, do not eat one of these donuts if you have a history of heart disease. But holy wow, it was incredible. It was greasy and chocolate-y and somehow still flaky like a croissant, and the glaze on top was genuine milk chocolate melted down and dripped all over. Barista Parlor won over my corporate- America barista heart, and should I ever move to Nashville I’m taking my barista skills there to go up a level. 

Luzi approved!

2. Five Daughters Bakery

Ok this bakery was the damn cutest thing I’ve ever seen. It has pink, it has green, and it looks like every preppy brand teamed up to make gluttonous food for fashionable lil people. The area where this place is located is where Draper James (Reese Witherspoon’s store) is, and the murals that make the city of Nashville so very Instagram-able. We’re talking “I Believe in Nashville” and the blue + white stripes that make for a very dynamic photo. There are a million tiny stand-alone boutiques, coffee stops, and trendy places to buy a candle so if you have an afternoon to burn this is your area. After donut #2 of the day of the same variety (even though they have a dozen + types of donuts to choose from), we stopped at Frothy Monkey for a caffeine pick-me-up. 

3. Frothy Monkey 

Luzi was like a kid in a candy store when we made it here, because this place was her #1 to visit and I was so happy we stumbled upon it! This location near Five Daughters is like a house turned coffee-shop fort, and it’s incredible cozy inside and out. Tables were hard to snag but we got one right on the front porch and sat like a couple of oldies just watching the people go by and enjoying yet another perfect latte. Nashville knows how to do coffee very well. We went back the morning before our MegaBus home departed and it was just as cute and good at a different location, and they appeared to offer huge beautiful breakfasts if you wanted to sit in a more formal dining area. A coffee house that can also serve up a mean omelette? Hell yes. 

4. Biscuit Love

After a long night of debauchery and all-around YOLO moments Luzi and I greeted the day with sunglasses and a hunger for heavy southern food that frightened us both, so off to The Gulch for biscuits and cheese and hopefully a lot of butter. We waited in the fast-moving line along with bachelorette parties galore, adorable young families, and bros just looking to brunch and it was clear that is area is up n’ coming as a top young people living spot. Biscuit Love was an adorable cafe with a straightforward but intriguing menu circling around, you guessed it, biscuits and gravy and all those good things. We both got a biscuit with eggs and cheese and some iced coffee, and WOW that was just what the doctor warned against. The biscuits were huge and fluffy, moist to the middle but with a crunchy outside, and the eggs were folded to be eaten sandwich style should you wish. The inside is a very basic “country-chic” feel and offers the right amount of cute but practical that one wishes for when they’re eating a cheesy biscuit in the most elegant way they can. I was a big fan and would for sure return to try whatever else isn’t slathered in non-vegetarian gravy! 

5. Martin’s BBQ! 

This place stole the show for me. A very kind dad recommended it to us on the first night and we were hesitant because there’s always caution when a fifty year old man chooses to talk to two young women at a bar packed with people our age, but once we arrived at some real authentic BBQ I was thrilled. As I am a pro at making meals out of sides we got deviled eggs, mac & cheese, coleslaw, and some herb-pancake that was far too delicious for how cheap it was to sample. Luzi got the fried chicken that I drooled over from across the table, but the sides were all amazing and it was my absolute favorite meal we had there. The interior of this place is like a giant covered beer garden with tons of picnic and hightop tables and then trees and foliage all over, completed with bars and arcade style games once you move further inside. It’s loud, smoky, casual, and yet so perfect for a beer and some homestyle food. Plus, it’s only a couple blocks from Broadway so after you’re done and dawn has turned to dusk you just wander over to the nutty part of town for the night! 

Honorable mentions include: the Florida Georgia Line bar that’s across from the Johnny Cash Museum; it has an excellent rooftop and by day is perfect for day drinking while at night turns into a RODEO of sorts. Plus their food in the lower levels is actually delicious and they play country music videos on the walls the whole time. Man I love country music and greasy food put together. Also, The Little Octopus offers a fancier evening setting if that’s what you’re looking for, with healthy & delicious tapas-style options such as fried yukka with aioli and rice and beans topped with a spicy tomato sauce. We treated ourselves on our last night out and got a flavor-filled, high class experience there that let us reflect on our time in Nash and get really emo about leaving. In 72 hours we really really fell in love with that city, from our sketchy but lovely Airbnb to everyone that kept asking “BUT WHERE’S THE REST OF YOUR GROUP” when they refused to believe it was just two of us doin’ a girl’s trip. 

Would I go back? Absolutely. By way of the Megabus? Nope. But it was an excellent experience, and Nasty Nash filled our tummies & souls. 

Until next time, Happy Eating!

-Natalie