Pop visits Nashville - 10 Restaurants in 7 Days

Nov 4

Nov 4 Pop visits Nashville - 10 Restaurants in 7 Days

This past week, I got to show my grandpa (Pop) around Nashville. The majority of the places we went to just happened to be restaurants… oops!

Here is the eating itinerary from the week. And of course, there were multiple trips to White Bison scattered between meals.

His first dinner in Nashville had to be barbecue!

Sunday night he flew in and we hit the ground running off to The Row Kitchen & Pub. We were able to listen to some great live music and eat some even better barbeque. I got a pulled pork sandwich with fries and added probably a little too much barbecue sauce on the sandwich. Pop got the meatloaf which he said was the best meatloaf he had ever had.

Monday we got a little bit of a late start on the day because I had to go to class. However, that didn’t stop us from eating at one of my all-time favorite fast-food restaurants, Zaxby’s. You might be thinking “why on earth did Madison take her Pop to a fast food restaurant while he is visiting her?” My answer to that great question is that Zaxby’s is not on the West Coast. So I had to make sure that Pop was going to get the full Nashville/Southern experience. Pop got the caesar Zalad and I got my favorite go-to meal: chicken strips with Zax Sauce.

Tuesday was the starting day for the 12th Avenue South experience for Pop. We first had to stop at White Bison, a must if you are a coffee lover. I am somewhat addicted to the iced white bison mocha. After our coffees and walking around the avenue, we ate at Bartaco. Now here is where things got interesting. I have lived the past 19 years of my life telling just about everyone that I hate guacamole. Well.. that certainly changed when I realized that somehow I had eaten the whole bowl of guacamole pop got to try. So after having eaten what was supposed to be a shared bowl of guacamole, we shared a plate of the baja fish, crispy rock shrimp, and miso cod tacos. All were delicious.

Tuesday night we both got to experience our first Nashville Predators game, which called for pizza at Five Points Pizza. Here we both got a slice of pepperoni pizza and their special slice of the day: a sausage, green peppers, and mushroom pizza.

Nothing says a great dinner like Italian at Trattoria Il Mulino.

Wednesday was such a busy day it was until around 4 o’clock we realized that we had not eaten. So we decided to make dinner a big meal. Thanks to a great suggestion by my mom, Pop and I ate at Trattoria Il Mulino. In my opinion, you can never go wrong with Italian food. Pop got the roasted lamb which he let me try a bite of which was mouth-watering delicious. I got the Pappardelle which is pasta with lobster in a cream sauce. After this fantastic and very filling meal, I passed out the moment my head hit the pillow.

Thursday, we went back to 12th Ave South for some Edley’s Bar-B-Que. I think you can’t leave Nashville and not be able to say that you ate barbecue at least twice. Here Pop got the brisket sandwich with a side of baked beans and coleslaw. I got another pulled pork sandwich with a side of mac and cheese and grits. For dinner, we were joined by my three roommates for a great dinner at Burger Up on 12th Ave South. Dinner was so much fun to be able to introduce my grandpa to my three roomies. The dinner was filled with lots of laughs and some great burgers.

I was already a taco in before I realized that I had not snapped a picture of these great fish tacos.

Friday, I got out of class early which meant we were taking a road trip to Franklin. Before we could get on the road we had to stop at White Bison again. Can’t take a road trip without another white bison mocha. Once we got to Franklin we were suggested to eat at 55 South and try their fish tacos. I can not stress this part enough… if you are visiting Franklin and love fish tacos, you have to stop at 55 South. The fish tacos were absolutely amazing. I don't think I came up for air once. I just wanted to keep eating. That night for dinner we ate at Bourbon Steak House with family from Franklin. It was a great meal, but the company that was kept was so much better.

Saturday was a sad day. Pop had to go back to Washington. Of course, I couldn’t drop him off at the airport on an empty stomach, so we stopped at Another Broken Egg. I have never been a big breakfast girl, but if you take me to Another Broken Egg and get me a plate of chicken and waffles with a coffee… I might be able to say I’m more of a breakfast girl. Pop got the sunrise spanish scrambler. I am happy to report that I even got him to order a side of the city grits with me. Just a couple of West Coasters slowly being converted to a couple of Southerners by the power of grits.

Though I probably consumed more than double the recommended amount of calories for a week, it was so great to have my pop here with me in Nashville. It’s always fun to go out to eat at great restaurants, but it’s even better when you have one of your favorite people with you.