Nashville's dining scene continues to raise expectations and cement itself as a global dining destination.
Last year, Michelin's preeminent dining guide doled out its first honors to Nashville restaurants, recognizing 24 local spots for high-quality and unique dishes. More recently, The New York Times named two Nashville restaurants to its 50 best in America
, both of which opened within the last year or so.While international institutions are celebrating what's here, dozens of Tennessee restaurateurs are focused on what's next.
Some notable projects, including Terry Black's BBQ, Dalts reopening and both SS Gai's and Bad Luck Burger Club's East Nashville brick-and-mortar have pushed their openings into 2027 due to construction, but plenty more
are preparing for imminent openings.
Here are 10 exciting restaurants and bars slated to open soon.
Maminette
French native Philippine Maillard joked that she had to move to Nashville to fall in love with one of the only Frenchmen in Tennessee. On a 2022 vacation, she met her husband Alexandre Meunier, and by the end of the year, they opened The Authentique wine bar in East Nashville. This fall, the couple will launch their sophomore restaurant Maminette at 104 Graylynn Dr. in Donelson, including a menu based on handwritten recipe books belonging to Maillard's grandmother, whom the cafe is named after.
"I learned to cook pretty much from her and a lot of practice," Maillard said. "Everything is processed everywhere, but here, quality is our number one concern."
Most of her ingredients will be imported from France, and the team will make almost every item to order, promising the freshest French food in Nashville.
Noko Yaki
After more than two and a half years of planning and construction, Noko Yaki is finally preparing to open on West End in the former Tin Angel space. From the team behind Noko and Kase, owner Jon Murray said it's an Asian-inspired steakhouse, though he doesn't want it to feel quite like a traditional steakhouse.
The meat-forward restaurant will center on Shinpo grills, the gold standard for Japanese smokeless yakiniku grilling. Here, staff will cook for diners rather than leaving them to tend the grill themselves. Murray said the menu is still in development, but the idea is to balance the familiar with the unexpected while keeping the food approachable and, above all, "craveable." It will open in fall 2026.
Au Cheval
Chicago's Au Cheval will bring its much-discussed cheeseburger to 12 South this fall with a target opening of mid-November. Brendan Sodikoff of Hogsalt Hospitality is partnering with restaurateur Sam Fox on the 5,000-square-foot restaurant in the Ashwood development. The burger stacks two prime beef patties with American cheddar, pickles, onions and dijonnaise on brioche, while the broader menu draws on diner fare with dishes such as foie gras with scrambled eggs, roasted marrow bones and steak frites. Expect a few Nashville-specific additions and a design that takes cues from the Chicago and New York locations.
Cala Cala
Josh Walker of Xiao Bao and Ryan Costanza of Present Tense are teaming up to open Bar Cala Cala this fall in East Nashville's historic Greenwood neighborhood. The restaurant will pair Italian island cooking with natural wines and cocktails, while doubling as a listening room with a hi-fi sound system. The team is keeping further details under wraps for now.
Vidorra
Texas-based Vidorra will make its Nashville debut at Cummins Station, bringing another concept from Milkshake Concepts, the Dallas hospitality group behind Nashville restaurants Harper's and The Finch.
The energetic Mexican restaurant is known for a broad menu of tacos, enchiladas and shareable dishes, along with a substantial tequila and cocktail program. Vidorra will take over the former Cinco de Mayo space at 209 10th Ave. S., giving the growing brand its first Tennessee location.
Mother’s Ruin, 12 South
Mother's Ruin is expanding to 12 South, with its second Nashville location slated to open at 2906 12th Ave. S. later this year. Founded in New York City in 2011, the cocktail bar arrived in Nashville's Germantown neighborhood in 2019 and has since added locations in Chicago, Austin and Charleston. Its sixth outpost will carry on a casual, no-reservations approach. Brunch will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends, with an all-day menu available until 1:30 a.m. nightly.
Puesto
Over a decade ago, a Mexican-American family opened its first restaurant in La Jolla, California. Puesto found immediate success with its signature crispy cheese-wrapped tacos and opened two more West Coast locations. This year, owners Alex, Eric and Alan Adler and Isi Lombrozo are traveling cross-country, opening their first location outside of California in Nashville Yards.
It's expected to open before the end of 2026.
Flight Club
More than 1 billion darts have been thrown at Flight Club since the London-founded pub got its start in the Shoreditch neighborhood in 2015. While the bar features a classic English aesthetic, the darts themselves are high-tech and feature an automatic scoring system. Just three years after opening, the brand took off worldwide, partnering with Chicago hospitality company State of Play to bring Flight Club to the United States.
It will open in Nashville Yards on the first floor of The Pinnacle in early 2027.
Nocturna, formerly Cultivar
Cultivar is no more. After announcing plans for the plant-filled, hi-fi bar in 2025, partners James Beck, Nic Berry, Vinny Maniscalo and Storm Sheler decided to pivot. Their new concept in the same location, 1803 Fifth Ave. N. in Salemtown, is now set to open before the end of 2026.
The owners are all hospitality veterans, hailing from acclaimed spots like Patterson House, Urban Cowboy and Fifth and Taylor. It's unclear which details from the Cultivar plan will carry over to Nocturna, but creative cocktails seem to be a certainty.
The Greenwood
Prominent Nashville hospitality owner Bill Miller and his company Icon Entertainment and Hospitality will open a new Palm Springs-inspired bar in East Nashville before the end of 2026 called The Greenwood. A few significant brands in Icon's portfolio include The Johnny Cash Museum, Schulman's, Nudie's Honky Tonk and Skull's Rainbow Room.
Icon hasn't released menu details yet, but there will be a rooftop, dining room and patio. The Greenwood is located next door to Schulman's at 2105 Greenwood Ave.
Mackensy Lunsford is the senior dining reporter for The Tennessean. Reach her at mlunsford@tennessean.com. Hadley Hitson covers business news for The Tennessean. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work,subscribe to The Tennessean.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 10 highly anticipated Nashville restaurants coming this fall, winter
