Hot Chicken and Meat-and-Threes: Nashville’s Classic Plates
Ask a Nashvillian what the city tastes like and you'll hear two answers. Hot chicken is fried chicken coated in a fiery cayenne paste and served on white bread with pickle chips. The meat-and-three is simpler still: choose one main and three sides from the day's lineup, usually with cornbread or a biscuit.
Both started as everyday food. Spicy fried chicken was served in Nashville's Black neighborhoods for generations before it went national, and the steam tables have long fed office workers, musicians and families side by side. This guide pairs the kitchens that made hot chicken famous with the cafeterias and family tables that still define a Nashville lunch. Go hungry, go at midday, and order one heat level milder than your pride suggests.
Prince's Hot Chicken
South Nashville (Nolensville Pike) · 5814 Nolensville Pike, Nashville, TN 37211
This is where it all began. The Prince family is credited with opening Nashville's first hot chicken restaurant, starting at 28th Avenue and Jefferson Street in North Nashville, and the recipe has stayed in the family ever since. The James Beard Foundation named Prince's an America's Classic in 2013. There are now several Prince's counters around town, but the South location on Nolensville Pike is the one worth the pilgrimage.
Tip: The heat here runs high, so first-timers should start at mild or medium and work up on the next visit. Grab extra napkins.
Bolton's Famous Hot Chicken & Fish
East Nashville · 624 Main St, Nashville, TN 37206
Bolton's is a small, no-frills East Nashville shop that seasons its chicken with a dry rub rather than a slick of spicy oil, which gives the heat a grittier, slow-building bite. It's also one of the best places in town to try hot fish, the chicken's lesser-known Nashville cousin, which arrives dressed with mustard, onion and pickles to cut the burn.
Tip: Order the hot fish, catfish or whiting, alongside a piece of chicken, and split both so you can compare.
Hattie B's Hot Chicken
Midtown · 112 19th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203
Hattie B's is a family-run counter that has grown into a hot chicken name known far beyond Nashville, and its Midtown original made the Michelin Guide's first American South selection in 2025. Heat climbs from a no-spice Southern style to levels meant as a dare, and sides such as pimento mac and cheese and banana pudding are worth saving room for.
Tip: The Midtown line can stretch down the block at peak times, so aim for a late weekday lunch, order ahead online, or try the West Nashville or Melrose locations.
More on Nashvegas.com: Fourteen Years From One Midtown Storefront, Nashville’s Hot Chicken Is About to Double Again
Arnold's Country Kitchen
8th Avenue South, near the Gulch · 605 8th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203
Arnold's is the meat-and-three that others get measured against. The Arnold family opened this concrete-block cafeteria in 1982, it won a James Beard America's Classics award in 2009, and Michelin recommended it in its first American South guide in 2025. Grab a tray, slide down the line and point at what looks good.
Tip: Vegetables are the quiet stars, so let the greens, fried green tomatoes and cornbread take up most of your tray, and plan on lunch. Diners can validate parking in the lot beside the building.
Monell's
Germantown · 1235 6th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37208
Monell's serves Southern cooking family-style in a 1905 Victorian house in Germantown. You're seated at big shared tables with whoever walks in next, and platters of skillet-fried chicken, vegetables and biscuits make their way around until everyone surrenders. The menu changes every day, so no two visits are quite the same.
Tip: Follow the house custom and pass every bowl to your left. Morning people can get the same family-style experience at the country breakfast.
Wendell Smith's Restaurant
West Nashville · 407 53rd Ave N, Nashville, TN 37209
On the corner of Charlotte Avenue and 53rd, Wendell Smith's has been a West Nashville fixture since 1952 and is now in its fourth generation of family ownership. It's a true neighborhood meat-and-three, with a rotating daily menu, fried chicken and roast beef, vegetables made from scratch and a big country breakfast. Regulars drive in from as far as Dickson and Clarksville.
Tip: Get there early if you want breakfast; the biscuits and gravy can run out for the day.
Elliston Place Soda Shop
Midtown (Elliston Place) · 2105 Elliston Pl, Nashville, TN 37203
Elliston Place Soda Shop has been feeding Midtown since 1939, pairing an old-fashioned soda fountain with meat-and-three plates. Order a meat and a few vegetables, then finish the way regulars have for generations, with a milkshake or a slice of pie.
Tip: It's a short walk from Centennial Park, so pair a late lunch here with an afternoon stroll around the Parthenon.
Plan it
Heat scales vary from kitchen to kitchen, so read the menu descriptions and order one level below your comfort zone the first time. Keep a cold drink and a creamy side such as mac and cheese close by. At a meat-and-three, mac and cheese counts as a vegetable, and nobody will blink if you pick three starches.
Meat-and-threes are mostly lunch-first operations, and these spots are spread across town, from East Nashville and Germantown to West Nashville and Nolensville Pike. A car or rideshare makes it easy to pair one hot chicken stop with one meat-and-three in a single day. Expect counter or cafeteria service at most of them, and check current hours before you go.
More Nashville guides: Honky-Tonk Highway: A First-Timer's Guide to Lower Broadway · Free Things to Do in Nashville: Museums, Parks and Views · Beyond Broadway: Nashville's Best Listening Rooms · all guides
Last checked October 2026. Places change: if something in this guide has, tell us at press@j3media.vip and we will update it.
