Here are 25 popular Nashville restaurants that didn’t get their start in Tennessee

A wave of well-known restaurants from across the U.S. has swept into Nashville in recent years with more to come. Some are backed by investment funds and national hospitality groups, while others are small businesses and plenty more fall somewhere in between.

While Nashville’s dining scene has gained notoriety on its own from purely local businesses like City House, Etch and The Catbird Seat, renowned restaurants and bars like Pastis and Attaboy opening in Nashville have garnered just as much attention.

Here’s a list of 25 Nashville establishments that got their start elsewhere:

Bartaco

With prominent locations in 12South and East Nashville’s Five Points, the elevated street food chain Bartaco maintained a presence in Nashville over the last decade. The New York-founded restaurant got its start 2010 and first came to Music City in 2015.

A few years later, private equity firm L Catterton acquired the Bartaco brand as part of an approximately $650 million deal. The firm is also a majority investor in companies like Birkenstock, Ganni, Barcelona Wine Bar and Hanna Andersson.

Two Boots Pizza

Midtown’s colorful, eclectic pizzeria Two Boots Pizza opened its doors nine years ago — the brand’s 13th location nationwide. Its cornmeal crust pizza got its start in New York’s East Village in 1987, and now, it’s one of seven, with all other locations in the New York Metro area. The local owner, Sam Boyer, moved from New York to open the Nashville restaurant. A Smyrna location also opened in 2020, but it has since closed.

Blanco Cocina + Cantina

Blanco, a Fifth + Broadway Tex-Mex favorite, opened in downtown Nashville in 2021 with a menu full of chimichangas, tacos, margaritas and tequila and mezcal flights. It was the eighth location of the concept owned by Sam Fox Restaurant Concepts. Based out of Phoenix, Ariz., restaurateur Sam Fox’s company is also behind brands like Doughbird, Pushing Daisies and North Italia (until The Cheesecake Factory acquired it in 2019).

Hawkers Asian Street Food

Hawkers Asian Street Food is an Orlando-based chain that opened its tenth location on East Nashville’s Main Street in 2020. Hawkers’ colorful interior, pillowy bao buns and spicy kimchi fried rice quickly established the restaurant as a go-to in Music City. Now, it’s one of 15 locations nationwide with others in cities like Dallas, Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C.

Xiao Bao

From its Meridian Street spot in East Nashville, pan-Asian Xiao Bao regularly receives recognition as one of Nashville’s top restaurants with its ever-changing menu that has included beef tallow fries, salmon crudo and a delicious selection of natural wines. However, it’s not a Nashville original. The first location opened in Charleston, S.C., as Xiao Bao Biscuit, and when owners Joshua Walker and Duolan Li moved to Nashville, they brought their restaurant with them.

O-Ku

Nashville’s upscale sushi spot O-Ku was the restaurant’s sixth location nationwide, with others in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Charleston, S.C., Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C. The eatery is owned by the same Charleston-based restaurant group as Oak Steakhouse, which also has a Nashville location.

Mother’s Ruin

A cornerstone to the nightlife offerings in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood, bar and restaurant Mother’s Ruin got its start in New York’s Nolita area. The original New York owners TJ Lynch and Richard Knapp added Nashville partners James Metze and Nick Pfannerstill to open the second location in December 2019. It’s known for small plates all-day, brunch and strong cocktails. Now, there’s also a Mother’s Ruin in Chicago and one opening soon in Austin.

Attaboy

When the no-menu cocktail bar Attaboy first opened on the Lower East Side of New York in 2012, critics called it “game-changing.” It had a similar effect in Nashville. Entrepreneurs Sam Ross and Michael McIlroy opened the bar’s second location on McFerrin Avenue in 2017 and have since opened other Nashville favorites like Hearts and Lakeside Lounge.

Carne Mare

In 2021, James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Carmellini created a local outposts of New York’s Carne Mare for the W Nashville. The Italian chophouse maintains just the two locations, serving up items like grilled oysters, filet mignon and spicy lobster spaghetti. It’s a part of New York-based NoHo Hospitality.

Barcelona Wine Bar

The Spanish tapas and wine bar Barcelona opened its doors in Edgehill in 2016 with a low-lit interior, wrap-around bar seating and a large rotating menu. Its original location is is Norwalk, Conn., and now, there are over 20 Barcelona restaurants nationwide. Like Bartaco, private equity firm L Catterton acquired the brand in 2019.

Hampton Social

A now-classic stop for Nashville bachelorette parties, Hampton Social isn’t original to Nashville. The Chicago-based seafood and rose spot opened its three-story bar and restaurant downtown in 2019. Brad Parker of Parker Hospitality launched the first Hampton Social in 2015, and he’s since expanded to 12 locations and counting. The newest will open soon in Dallas.

Postino

The trendy wine bar Postino took over the space previously occupied by Taqueria del Sol on the main thoroughfare of Nashville’s 12 South neighborhood. Bruschetta boards and wine specials are key tenants of the concept — offered across its almost 30 locations in five states. Postino is owned by Upward Projects, a hospitality group based in Arizona.

Boqueria

When the tapas bar Boqueria Nashville opened in 2022 at Fifth + Broadway, it became the restaurant’s first location in the South. Restaurateur Yann de Rochefort created Boqueria in 2006, debuting the concept in New York’s Flatiron District. It’s since expanded to 11 locations nationwide, still concentrated in New York.

Husk

Chef Sean Brock’s fine-dining Southern restaurant Husk elevated Nashville’s restaurant scene to new heights when it opened in 2013 with upscale fried chicken and dishes rooted in local agriculture, but it wasn’t the company’s first location. The original Husk is in downtown Charleston, S.C. and opened in 2010. Now, there’s also a third location in Savannah, Ga.

Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint

With locations in Germantown, Edgehill and coming soon to Green Hills, Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint almost always ranks among the best burgers in Nashville, even though it’s not a Tennessee original. The company got its start in Harrisonburg, Va., and now has 21 locations with at least two more set to open this year. Local businessman, founder and CEO of Blackbird Media Chenault Sanders operates the Nashville Jack Brown’s locations.

Oak Steakhouse

The Indigo Road Restaurant Group’s Oak Steakhouse debuted its Nashville location in 2017. At the time, it was a high-profile move for the Charleston hospitality firm. Managing partner Steve Palmer said he was especially excited to join the community as “Nashville’s food scene continues to grow and receive national attention.”

Hall’s Chophouse

Another big name Charleston restaurant, Hall’s Chophouse came to Nashville in 2022. It regularly lands on best restaurant lists in South Carolina, and after two successful years in business, parent company Hall Management Group recently opened a Nashville original seafood restaurant, Hall’s Catch.

Frankies 925 Spuntino

East Nashville’s Frankies 925 Spuntino has its roots in New York. A pair of childhood friends opened Frankies 457 Spuntino in Brooklyn in 2004, and it quickly developed a cult following. Southerner and hospitality veteran John Burns Paterson worked at Frankies in Brooklyn for years before moving to Nashville and opening the company’s Tennessee outpost in 2023.

Butcher & Bee

Known for small plates, dips and sandwiches, Butcher & Bee opened in East Nashville in 2015. It was then the second location for the Charleston, S.C., restaurant, but the South Carolina restaurant closed in 2023. It’s owned by Honest to Goodness Hospitality Group, which also owns Redheaded Stranger and Fancypants.

Emmy Squared

You may have seen Emmy Squared’s emblematic smirking pizza slice with eyelashes and heels around Nashville, but she’s not a Music City native. The Brooklyn pizzeria first brought its Detroit-style pizza to Nashville in 2018 with a location in the Gulch. Now, it has a spot in Germantown, Five Points and Green Hills too. There are almost 30 locations nationwide.

Monday Night Brewing

The brewery in Neuhoff District’s repurposed meatpacking facility is based in Atlanta. Monday Night Brewing opened in Nashville with a massive taproom in 2021, one of the first business to make its debut in the Neuhoff area from the developers behind Atlanta’s Ponce City Market.

Fonda 12 South

New York chef Roberto Santibañez opened his elevated Mexican restaurant Fonda 12 South last year, following in the footsteps of several other Fonda locations across New York. Santibañez said his friend and fellow restaurateur Howard Greenstone, who runs Red Pebbles Hospitality and owns spots like Adele’s and Sadie’s, played a significant role in bringing him to town.

Velvet Taco

With three Nashville locations, Velvet Taco is a fast casual Tex-Mex staple in Music City. The brand has over 40 restaurants nationwide and is majority-owned by private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners L.P. The very first Velvet taco location was in Dallas.

Sauced

Nashville’s newest wine bar Sauced is another concept that comes from Brooklyn, New York. It’s the bar’s first location outside of New York, though it’s offered pop-ups in Los Angeles. Four Happy Men Hospitality owns the concept, as well as Loosie Rouge, Loosie’s Kitchen and Etiquette.

The Henry

The Henry, one of 12 South’s newer businesses, is an American restaurant with a full-service bar, restaurant and coffee shop. While its bold red exterior and bright “Come early, stay late” neon sign fit well into the trendy neighborhood, the 2803 12th Ave. South location is actually The Henry’s sixth nationwide. The original restaurant opened in 2013 in Phoenix, Ariz., and others followed in California, Florida and Texas.

Hadley Hitson covers business news for The Tennessean. She can be reached at [email protected]. To support her work, subscribe to The Tennessean.