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Philippe Chow
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Curry Boys BBQ
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Golden Prawn #3 cr: VictoriaQuirkPhoto
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Eleven 11 cr: CONNOR ROBERTSON
East Meets West
CURRY BOYS BBQ
1304 McGavock Pike, Nashville; curryboysbbq.com
Call it genius: the meld of Thai curries with Texas barbecue yields an incredible taste sensation, or as the Curry Boys put it, “a flavor unexpected by most, but desired by all.” Originating in San Antonio, the award-winning team brought their first outpost to Riverside Village, delighting diners with pulled pork nachos in curry queso, chicken with yellow curry, and smoked brisket and fixin’s ladled in green curry sauce.
Recommended: Brisket Smoke Show; The Tony Porker; Ube Cheesecake
ELEVEN11
913 Dickerson Pike, Nashville; eleven11nashville.com
Tucked in the former Piggly Wiggly—Dickerson Road site, Eleven11 is a tiny 11-seat restaurant counter, a cocktail lounge, and a discotheque, combining the cocktail wizardry of Alexis Soler and Michelle Pham (both of Old Glory) and the culinary expertise of Chef Son Pham. Michelle and Chef Son collaborated on the menu, drawing on their shared Vietnamese heritage.
Recommended: Scallop with yuzu kosho, citrus, and smoked onion oil; Hand-cut Garlic noodles; Ribeye with shiitake shoyu
Curry Boys BBQ
Eleven11
Philippe Chow
Golden Prawn #3 cr: VictoriaQuirkPhoto
PHILIPPE CHOW
209 10th Ave S #235, Nashville; philippechow.com
From mainland China to Hong Kong to New York to Nashville, Philippe Chow demonstrates his signature flair, incorporating classic Beijing fare (Peking Duck!), ChineseAmerican favorites (Honey-glazed Pork Ribs, Fried Rice), and East-West fusion (Snapper in ginger bouillabaisse) served in a posh setting in Cummins Station.
Recommended: Scallion Milk Bread buns; Tableside Peking Duck; Wild Caught Snapper in ginger bouillabaisse
GOLDEN PRAWN #3
1404 McGavock Pike, Nashville; goldenprawn3.com
Chefs Gracie Nguyen and Chad Newton of You Are Here Hospitality saw a need for a good, local Chinese-American takeout place and filled it. Golden Prawn #3 is tucked in a small storefront in Riverside Village, where they prepare it all better than any Chinese takeout you remember. Tapping into memories of favorite dishes, they developed recipes and elevated them.
Recommended: From the Hot Line: two Mains (i.e., Mongolian Beef and Orange Chicken), Half order each Fried Rice and Chow Mein, Egg Roll, Potstickers, Egg Drop Soup
By the numbers, 2025 was a stellar year for Nashville dining — five James Beard Foundation semifinalists, one finalist, and a Best Chef Southeast honor — while the Michelin Guide’s American South edition further validated the scene with three starred restaurants, seven Bib Gourmands, a Green Star, a Sommelier Award, and 12 recommended spots. New openings arrived at a steady clip of roughly three per month, reshaping neighborhoods and expectations alike.
By another measure — our taste buds — the year stacked up as stunning. Food trucks leapt into brick-and-mortar spaces, hospitality groups from major metros planted flags in Music City, and local independents branched into sister concepts. Nashville takes its food seriously, but never at the expense of a good time — and nowhere captures that better than this issue’s cover star, V Modern Italian in the Gulch.
Born from European aperitivo culture and built for all five senses, the 7,000-square-foot see-and-be-seen space blends velvet booths, a leafy patio, DJ nights, and a lively bar with Italian classics reimagined. Collaborations with Michelin-starred Chef Stefano Ciotti shape playful dishes — house-made pastas and Neapolitan wood-fired pizzas made with a sourdough starter tracing back to 18th-century Italy — while cocktails by Federico Pollarolo keep the energy high from brunch to late night. It’s exactly the kind of place Nashville dining has become: ambitious, social, and just as much about atmosphere as appetite.
Led by V Modern Italian, the following is a snapshot of those places that captured our hungry eyes and appetites.