During the years I lived in Nashville, watching winter’s endless gray give way to spring’s brilliant tapestry of dogwoods and cherry trees before blossoming into summer’s lush verdant canopy always felt like a personal reward. I live in Charleston, South Carolina, now, but a recent trip back to Music City reminded me that as the weather warms, Nashville comes fully into its own. The city is booming and growing, and no knocks on the honky-tonks of Lower Broadway, but some of the most exciting spots I visited were neighborhood joints. Chic new shops, vibey restaurants, and artsy boutique hotels come courtesy of a robust class of artists, chefs, makers, and creators beyond the music business. Here are a few of the places worth checking out, whether you’re a local or, like me, playing one for the weekend.
Downtown—Beyond Lower Broadway
It’s easy for Lower Broadway’s bright lights to blind you to downtown’s other attractions, so on this trip, I sidestepped honky-tonk highway to explore a wider array of cultural landmarks. Sound thrums throughout the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), which debuted in 2021, from the live lobby performances to the slew of interactive exhibits that celebrate the musical legacy of gospel, jazz, blues, hip-hop, and R&B, including a recording studio complete with your own virtual backup choir.
At the Frist Art Museum, I marveled at the building’s art deco interiors as much as Van Gogh’s Sheaves of Wheat, part of a traveling exhibition, The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse, and a highlight of the museum’s twenty-fifth season. (The exhibition that replaced it looks moody and fascinating, too: International Surrealism from Tate: Fifty Years of Dreams.)
Another architectural landmark, the Arcade, a 1902 indoor shopping corridor modeled after Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, reopened in late 2025 after phase one of a multiyear renovation led by acclaimed Nashville architect Nick Dryden. Residents will recognize institutions like the Peanut Shop alongside fresh iterations of familiar Nashville brands like Urban Cowboy Bar and the new Bar Roza, the latest addition to chef Julia Jaksic’s portfolio. “Preservation isn’t about freezing a place in time,” Dryden says of the project, “but designing carefully so the space can remain relevant for the next generation.” Upstairs, the Arcade Arts’ Artist in Residence program manages twelve rent-free studios for a slate of local artists. And just up Fourth Avenue, the historic Noelle hotel, an earlier Dryden project with a similar emphasis on local art (look for commissioned portraits of notable Nashvillians throughout), offers easy access to downtown’s attractions and a rooftop bar with one of the best views in town.
In the Gulch, a booming urban neighborhood sandwiched between downtown and Music Row, the creamy enchiladas suizas at chef Julio Hernandez’s Maiz de la Vida, where artful plates merge Mexican flavors with Tennessee produce, were one of the best bites of my trip. Fonda Fina, Hernandez’s intimate new twelve-seat restaurant in North Nashville, opened days after my visit but offers a mouthwatering reason to return.
Near the Party—but Not in It
Historic Hillsboro Village—minutes from downtown’s revelry—is filled with small shops, cafés, and as of early 2026, a chic nineteen-room boutique hotel from New Orleans–based hotelier Róbert LeBlanc. Two reimagined Craftsmans (once the home of Asylum Records and Spirit Music) house most of the Chloe Nashville, where you’ll find an on-site restaurant, three bars, a sunny pool deck, and a tidy patio and garden as well as regular live music. The layered, art-filled guest rooms are the work of designer Sara Costello, and the friendly staff put the whole Chloe experience over the top.
Adjacent to Hillsboro Village, 12 South has rapidly become the city’s premier shopping destination. National and international brands from Faherty to Sézane now occupy much of the real estate along 12 South Avenue, the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare, but it’s the unique inventory and personalized experiences at locally owned boutiques like Emerson Grace, Imogene + Willie, and Ranger Station that make navigating 12 South’s crowds worth the effort.
A Reimagined Riverfront Relic
On the banks of the Cumberland River near Germantown (just north of downtown), the Neuhoff District is one of Nashville’s buzziest communities. New City Properties, the Atlanta-based group known for Ponce City Market, is the creative force behind the restoration of the fourteen-acre site, a maze of towering meatpacking facilities built in the early 1900s. Instead of erasing Neuhoff’s industrial past, New City has celebrated it, artfully preserving the brick-and-concrete remains while layering in garden-like green spaces, offices, apartments, and an impressive lineup of beautiful shops like the his-and-hers Sid and Ann Mashburn boutiques as well as stylish restaurants, including an outpost of the East Nashville mainstay Mas Tacos and Babychan, a new all-day café from Brian Lea and Leina Horii of Kisser fame. The Japanese-inspired bakery’s pastry case, filled with curry tarts and black sesame Swiss rolls, is the undeniable star.
WeHo on the Rise
Bastion, Wedgewood-Houston’s longtime tasting-menu restaurant and cocktail bar, received its first Michelin star in 2025, but that’s not the only thing drawing folks to this former industrial hub. The walkable community is a haven for artists, and it’s rapidly earning a reputation as a thriving design district. This trip, I popped into Krystle Wordsworth’s gallery-like studio and shop Hall Pass Vintage, browsing her eclectic collection of sculptural furniture, art, and lighting. Inside a nearby storefront shared by Anna Lisa Design and Virginia Richardson Antiques, you’ll find a mix of funky mid-century finds and traditional European antiques. But there’s been an explosion of new development, too, centered around AJ Capital Partners’ Wedgewood Village, a mixed-use project, attracting both luxury retailers like European fashion houses Hermès and Brunello Cucinelli as well as local outfitters like the hotly anticipated Bell Bird Books, set to open this summer. On the restaurant front, neighborhood favorites include Iggy’s, the inventive Italian joint from Catbird Seat alums, brothers Ryan and Matthew Poli, and Cafe Babu, Shivani Darsinos’s Indian- and Greek-influenced coffee shop, where the photo-worthy interiors are as beautiful as Darsinos’s traditional chai, a family recipe.
West Nashville like a Local
My husband, Tanner, and I found our own Nashville family in the cluster of communities that make up West Nashville, putting down roots in leafy Sylvan Park. Entrepreneurs (and Sylvan Park residents) Erin and Alex Tolbert felt a similar affinity for the vibrant historic neighborhood and recently transformed an early-twentieth century foursquare into a luxuriously appointed eight-suite bed-and-breakfast. From the Sylvan Park Boarding House, which opened in May, guests can walk to a dozen local restaurants, but residents are buzzing about Tantisimo, the breakfast-to-dinner Latin American café next door, which also offers Tuesday evening salsa lessons. Reed Smythe & Company—the bright, collected home goods boutique from the late Julia Reed and Keith Smythe Meacham—is no longer within walking distance since the shop moved closer to the Belle Meade neighborhood. But the elegant-meets-eclectic inventory, including Britain-made textiles in colorful botanical prints, Italian spatterware in a rainbow of hues, and Southern fine-art photography, is worth the short trip to the new White Bridge Road storefront.
In nearby Green Hills, scoop up a signed copy of Ann Patchett’s new book, Whistler, at the author’s beloved bookstore, Parnassus, which celebrates its fifteenth anniversary this year. If you’re celebrating your own anniversary or just in the mood to treat yourself, you’ll find plenty of sparkle at Department, a petit boutique filled with heirloom-quality fine jewelry from contemporary brands like Marlo Laz and Sophie Bille Brahe. At Yearly Co., discover delicate, made-in-Nashville bracelets and bangles.
WEast Side Vibes and Bites
East Nashville’s abundance of culinary riches ensures that the rest of the city keeps Resy alerts set for the cool-kid community’s most in-demand dining rooms, from Noko to Peninsula. This trip, I returned to a favorite East Nashville hub at the intersection of Woodland and Sixteenth streets, where a noteworthy newcomer is Mama Bread. At the bakery and market from Jennifer Latham, a veteran of San Francisco’s acclaimed Tartine Bakery, you’ll find both local Bloomsbury Farms produce and Latham’s famed sourdough loaves. In the same building, you can shop the new outpost of local clean beauty retailer Lemon Laine, from longtime East Nashville entrepreneurs Evan Lenoir and Laura Lemon. And the couple serves drinks upstairs at Groceries Etc., their cozy new vinyl listening room and bar.
Dickerson Pike, once the main artery between Nashville and Louisville, is again a must-visit destination thanks in large part to a pair of artsy and imaginative new restaurants—Fancypants and Junior. “Dickerson Pike is one of the few areas in our rapidly evolving city that still feels a bit like a blank slate,” says chef Phil Krajeck. “Its proximity to downtown and our sister restaurants, Rolf and Daughters and Folk, just made sense.” Junior might be housed inside an old Piggly Wiggly shopping center, but its elegant, sexy dining room would be right at home in New York, Paris, or Mexico City. Chef Brian Mejia’s menu is similarly sophisticated yet approachable and leans toward the comforting old-world flavors of France and Italy. One piece of advice: If the chocolate soufflé is on the menu, order it.
Elizabeth Hutchison Hicklin is a Garden & Gun contributing editor and a full-time freelance writer covering hospitality and travel, arts and culture, and design. An obsessive reader and a wannabe baker, she recently left Nashville to return home to Charleston, South Carolina, where she lives with her husband, their twins, and an irrepressible golden retriever.
