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Start a Top 5 for Soul FoodEditor’s picks
Press picks, until locals rank their own Top 5s. Sourced from the local food press. As seen in The Infatuation and Nashville Scene. Updated August 2026.
Arnold's Country Kitchen · The Gulch
The James Beard-honored gold standard of meat-and-threes, roast beef, fried chicken, blistered cornbread and a steaming cafeteria line.
Swett's · North Nashville
A family-run North Nashville diner since 1954, fall-off-the-bone baked barbecue chicken, casseroles and peach cobbler.
Monell's · Germantown
Sunday dinner at Grandma's, fried chicken, pot roast and sides passed family-style around communal tables.
Wendell Smith's Restaurant · Sylvan Park
An old-school West Nashville plate-lunch counter for country-fried steak, meatloaf and proper Southern sides.
Silver Sands Café · North Nashville
A beloved, tiny soul-food cafe doing fried catfish, smothered chicken and homemade desserts.