Here is a guide to Nashville food and drink that I experienced on my Nashville Road Trip. The locations included restaurants focusing on hot chicken, barcades, a community-style buffet, a board game café, and a restaurant with live music. I enjoyed each place, but each has unique offerings to serve their customers.
The places I experienced are Hattie B’s, Music City Chicken Company, Two Bits, Headquarters, Monell’s, Game Point Game Café, and Acme Feed & Seed.
HOT CHICKEN
Chicken in Nashville is a dish best served hot, as in spicy, so one thing you have to taste-test while in Nashville is hot chicken.
HATTIE B’S
Hattie B’s serves hot chicken in a variety of formats: dark meat, white meat, tenders, chicken and waffles, chicken sandwiches and more. The friends I stayed with in Nashville recommended Hattie B’s and Hattie B’s delivered!
I ordered the chicken and waffles with white meat (meaning a breast and wing). Both were delicious! Hattie B’s cooked the chicken to an ideal level of hot spice. They also created waffles that were soft and moist. Add in the maple syrup and black eyed peas, and I discovered where is the love—right on my plate!
Outside Hattie B’s: A Long Line 
Neat Mural
There are several locations in Nashville, and I went to the one at 8th Street and Melrose.
MUSIC CITY CHICKEN COMPANY
I also went to Music City Chicken Company near Broadway in downtown Nashville and ordered tenders in hot and not-so-mild flavors. I enjoyed the not-so-mild tenders the best, only because the hot tenders overwhelmed me with spice. They cooked the tenders well and I recommend you check them out.
Lots of places have hot chicken in Nashville, but some additional recommendations for hot chicken via my college friend, Dave, include Prince’s and Bolton’s.
BARCADES—TWO BITS and HEADQUARTERS
While in Nashville, I found out there’s something called a barcade, where you can order adult beverages and play classic video games! I’m fascinated by this concept, and really enjoy video games, so this was totally my thing.
TWO BITS
The first barcade I visited in Nashville was Two Bits. There’s plenty of screens to catch sports games, and so I watched my favorite football team, the Baltimore Ravens, defeat the Cleveland Browns to clinch the #1 seed in the playoffs.
The barcade has good drinks on tap, and I had an Angry Orchard, my go-to drink.
As for the arcade part, most of the games from which to choose are free. All the classics are there, including Donkey Kong, Centipede, and Frogger. You also have a wildlife hunting game, racing games, and bubble hockey featuring the hometown Nashville Predators and the Chicago Blackhawks. My college friend grew up in Chicago, so now I understand why he took me to this barcade.
Note: the bubble hockey game is for pay, as are some other games, but most are free.
Funny story, I actually got stuck in the barcade bathroom for a few minutes. The lock on the door is one of those “pull-cylinder-bar” locks and I couldn’t get it unstuck after I locked it. I texted my friend about getting stuck, but soon after, I got out of the bathroom. Just be careful on the lock there, haha!
HEADQUARTERS
Next I went to Headquarters, which had all sorts of Christmas decorations, creating a great festive atmosphere. Wreaths, candy canes and lights decked the halls, and arcade games lined the walls and second floor.
Saints and Titans fans packed the bar, as the Saints-Titans game occurred earlier in the day. They have a big screen and smaller TVs streaming a football game later in the day.
I enjoyed the selection of arcade games at Headquarters, and I played classics with my college friend like NBA Jam, Wayne Gretzky Hockey, Cruisin’ USA, and the Simpsons game. Headquarters also has bubble hockey, which we played and had a great time.
Headquarters also has some Instagram-friendly booths to take pictures and share on the platform, including a “Grandma got run over by a reindeer” section and two chairs to sit in labeled “Naughty” and “Nice.” I sat in both and polled my followers on Instagram.
Apparently 69% picked the Naughty photo and 31% picked the Nice photo. Guess I saved Santa a trip!
Overall both barcades have good arcade selections, but I enjoyed Headquarters’ game selection and festive atmosphere a little better. Two Bits was a bit smaller, and not as crowded, so it is probably a better place to have a good conversation than Headquarters. I recommend both to you.
MONELL’S—A COMMUNITY EATING EXPERIENCE
Another unique dining experience I had while in Nashville was Monell’s. My friends specifically took me to the Manor location near the airport.
The restaurant invites guests to sit with other guests they’ve never met before and eat southern brunch fare. As we found common bonds with a deep-sea fisherman, nurse, Alabama alum and Texan native, we dined on all-you-can-eat food like fried chicken, eggs, grits, pancakes, biscuits, bacon, and ham.
All of it was so good, and it was good to have conversations with people you’ve never met. We all got along well on our long table.
I was a bit overwhelmed at first, but I’m happy I went and stuck it out.
The restaurant inhabits an old southern manor house, and features interior decorating that combined the Christmas season and the southern style of the original owners, Col. Russell and Anna Cole. Painted yellow on the outside and with reddish walls on the inside, I liked the layout of the restaurant.
It’s all one price per person, and for under $18, it’s a really good deal.
GAME POINT GAME CAFÉ
After some trekking around Nashville, we stopped at a board game café, Game Point, where customers get small food fare and beverages (coffee, tea, alcoholic and more) and then can grab a game to play with people.
The board game café is popping up in a lot of places around the country because the café provides some good fare, but more importantly, a place to meet people over something casual without looking awkwardly at each other.
I drank a caramel apple cider, a seasonal beverage that tasted good to me. But my focus was on the board gaming.
Board gaming is a notable side passion of mine. I attend board game conventions, including the PrezCon Convention in Charlottesville, Virginia, where I have won 3rd place in a couple of game tournaments. There’s several other board game conventions across the country and around the world. I’ve been developing a prototype for a board game, and would love to play-test the game at conventions in the new year.
At Game Point, the games library is free to check out games. Some locations require a fee or have you give your license so that you will return the game, but the honor system is in place here.
Normally, I would check out games that were more challenging, but I didn’t have the mental bandwidth that day to handle those complex games. I played a couple simple notable games, Lost Cities and Machi Koro, with my college friend.
Lost Cities is a two-player game where players start “expeditions” using same-color card sequences, putting cards of increasing numbers on the table. The key is that each adventure costs 20 points, so the player must make up the cost of the expedition with the sequence of cards. The player with the most points once the draw deck runs out wins.
Machi Koro is a 2-4 player game where players must build four landmarks to win. Players purchase businesses using coins obtained from rolling numbers that correspond to cards they have. Each landmark built gives an additional ability for the player in the game. The first to build the four landmarks in their city wins.
The games library at Game Point is solid. They have American classic board games, more recent Euro-style games like Catan, and some of the newer releases like Viticulture. You’ll have more game selections at board game conventions, but the library selection is more than satisfying at Game Point.
As for the game results, I won the Lost Cities games and my college friend won Machi Koro. It was a good stop to rest after pushing myself to take pictures and traverse the city.
ACME FEED & SEED
I end with a restaurant on Broadway Street, Acme Feed & Seed, that features live music. Ironically, this was the first restaurant I visited chronologically.
You’ll find several places along Broadway Street where bands and musicians perform live music—primarily country music because Nashville is the main hub of country music in the United States of America. Country music isn’t usually my first choice of music that I listen to, but I respect good music, and the musicians who perform here are excellent.
The restaurants are like a proving ground for musicians looking to make it big in country music. The one band that performed at Acme Feed & Seed when I was there performed quite well.
Meanwhile, for lunch, I had the Heaven-Lee ribs and three sides—collard greens, mac-n-cheese, and cole slaw, with sweet tea.
The restaurant has four floors, including a rooftop view of Broadway Street, the Cumberland River and Nissan Stadium, where the Tennessee Titans play. I ate my lunch and listened to live music on the first floor. The second floor has a bar and lounge to hang out. The third floor has an event space available for rental.
Rooftop view of Broadway Street 
Nissan Stadium
The climb up the stairs was tiring, so fortunately, there are chairs to rest yourself.
It’s a good local restaurant that has history of business dating back to 1890. Check it out as you visit downtown.
SOME ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
So first off, I’d like to thank my college friend, Dave, for recommendations he gave as a local to Nashville. Without him, I would have not been able to find my way through the food and drink scene in Nashville. I also appreciate him towing along while I did some of my work. He even helped with some of the photography when I was in the pictures.
Per Dave, here are some other recommendations of food and drink: Robert’s Western World, Tootsie’s, Crazy Town, Bluebird Cafe, Kung Fu Saloon, Martin’s, Edley’s and Peg Leg Porker.
Enjoy Nashville’s Food and Drink!
If you’re interested in learning more about my road trips, check out more posts here or subscribe to my blog.