The Field Guide · updated June 2026
East Nashville is the Williamsburg–Bushwick of Nashville: the creative, slightly unruly side of the river. This is our living shortlist: what's essential, what's new, what's popping up, and exactly how to get to all of it. Distances measured from your front door at McFerrin & Main.
The legendary taco spot is on McFerrin, the same street as your front door. Cast-iron chicken tacos, fried avocado, elote, quart-size margaritas, Diners Drive-Ins & Dives famous. Saturday chilaquiles only happen on Saturday. Go early.
Sommelier-founded Laotian kitchen in a converted church, and the east side's buzziest room. Get the scallop crepe. Open until 1 AM, which matters more than you think it does right now.
Wood-fired, seasonal, warm. The neighborhood's special-occasion anchor for over a decade. Book ahead; bar seats for walk-ins.
The east side's most photographed room, and a Michelin Guide listee. Breakfast through dinner, seven days: savory oats with poached egg, a long marble bar, and the best people-watching before noon.
Shortlisted for the James Beard Best New Restaurant award. Tiny, walk-in only, lunch just four days a week. If you get a seat, you got lucky.
Warm spices and pita pulled hot from a wood-burning bread oven. Dinner only, closed Sundays. One of the most exciting kitchens on the east side.
Small, intimate, seasonal menu that changes constantly. Special without being stuffy. Pricier, and worth it.
Unassuming from the street, consistently excellent inside. Mezze-style small plates built for sharing, right on Main.
Scratch burgers, house sodas, and a tiered beer garden that hits capacity-for-a-reason by mid-afternoon on weekends.
NY-style slice window open late. The great equalizer of the east side: musicians off stage, kitchen crews off shift, and you.
Back in East Nashville inside Hunters Station with melty classics plus rotating soft-serve. The food-hall setting means everyone in your group wins.
The secret ramen pop-up that got too good to stay secret, now brick-and-mortar in East Nashville. Proof of how this neighborhood works: pop-up today, line out the door tomorrow.
New open-air gathering spot stacked with food trucks and vendors (QBOP and rotating friends). The kind of place you go for one drink and stay for four hours.
Seriously playful soft-serve: Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch toppings, milkshakes, sundaes. The after-dinner walk, solved.
Next door. Adjacent to the building, at 8 McFerrin. Sister bar to the New York original and one of the best cocktail rooms in America. There's no menu: tell the bartender what you like and what kind of mood you're in. Trust them.
The back patio is a giant resort cabana with string lights and movies playing on mute. Tiki drinks done properly. Peak East Nashville summer.
Cocktails and wood-fired pizza in a converted Victorian, with the patio where the east side goes to be looked at. Locals outnumber hotel guests, which tells you everything.
The tiered garden out back is one of the best outdoor drinking spaces in the city, burgers optional.
The famous record store lives in a former church: rooms of vinyl, rooms of books, and a Frothy Monkey coffee bar inside with a patio. Living Waters Brewing is next door. This is the coffee-in-the-music-shop you heard about, and it's better than the rumor.
The east side's big room, known to everyone here as The Beast. Touring acts most nights of the week, a short walk from the door. Check the calendar before you book: the good ones sell out.
The neighborhood venue, three minutes from your door. Motown Mondays, $2 Tuesdays, and the best dance floor on the east side.
Tiny, perfectly curated bookstore. The kind of place that cancels your afternoon plans for you.
Need a real office day? WeWork runs three floors of The Wabash at 901 Woodland, one block from your door, with day passes available. Stay Golden, the restaurant & roastery in the same building, handles the coffee and brunch side of the workday.
Riverside trails for the morning run or dog walk, and home of the farmers market (below).
Tuesdays 3:30–6:30 PM (April through October; shorter hours Nov–Dec) by the Shelby Park playground at 1500 Davidson St. Produce, bread, meat, dairy, crafts, live music. Walk down with a tote, walk back with dinner for your full kitchen.
The internet-famous "Grip, Rip & Dip" bagels (back-to-back Brooklyn Bagelfest winners) landed in Nashville this year. Worth the 10-minute drive. Your parking spot will be waiting when you get back.
East Nashville runs on pop-ups: ramen counters, natural wine nights, vintage markets, supper clubs. They move fast and sell out faster. We track them in the Journal and the Dispatch so you don't have to scroll three apps.
The Backstory
Five Points is named for exactly what it is: a five-way intersection at the heart of Historic Edgefield, one of Nashville's oldest neighborhoods, where blocks of Victorian homes survive from the streetcar-suburb era of the late 1800s.
The neighborhood has been knocked down twice, by the tornado of April 1998, which tore through Edgefield and Lockeland Springs with $100M in damage, and again in March 2020. Both times East Nashville rebuilt itself weirder, tighter, and better than before.
That rebuild energy is why the east side became the city's creative engine: cheap-then rents drew the musicians and chefs, the revitalization of the early 2000s built the venues and kitchens around them, and the result is the neighborhood outside your door: murals over Victorian brick, James Beard nods next to dive bars.
The Eighteen sits at McFerrin & Main, on the walking line between Five Points and downtown. New building, old neighborhood, best corner of both.
The Practical Part
Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub all cover East Nashville densely. most of the restaurants in this guide deliver to the building. Set your address to 18 McFerrin Ave and the east side comes to you.
Pro move: groceries via Instacart or Kroger delivery to stock that full kitchen for longer stays.
Uber and Lyft both run thick here. Downtown/Broadway ≈ 5 minutes, Nissan Stadium even closer, BNA airport ≈ 20 minutes. Surge hits after stadium events, so walk a block off the main drag before requesting.
Bird, Lime, and Spin e-scooters and e-bikes are scattered all over the neighborhood. Download the app, scan, ride. About $1 to unlock plus ~$0.35/min. Ride in bike lanes, park upright out of the sidewalk path.
You have on-site parking at The Eighteen, in a neighborhood where parking is folklore. Leave the car, walk Five Points, and drive only when you're leaving the east side.
WeGo buses run straight shots between East Nashville and downtown if you'd rather skip rideshare.
Want this guide in your inbox monthly, with the pop-ups that haven't been announced yet? That's the Dispatch, below.