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It used to be a bad idea to arrive hungry at Nashville International Airport (BNA). But major renovations have yielded a slew of inspired restaurants and food from local brands, including classic Southern meat and threes, barbecue specialists, a wildly popular Nashville hot chicken shop, and even a couple of lauded breweries — with even more places on the way. For once, a layover might sound exciting.
Here’s an alphabetical list of the best places to eat and drink at Nashville International Airport, whether for a sit-down meal or a grab-and-go snack. For an updated list of all available dining options, check BNA’s website.
400 Degrees: Nashville’s own Aqui Hines deep-fries her Nashville hot chicken, which sets it apart from most other purveyors who skillet-fry their birds. This is some of Music City’s best hot chicken paired with homestyle sides, local beers, and cocktails. [Concourse C]
8th & Roast Coffee Co.: A traveler’s best bet for caffeination, this coffee shop was born in Nashville in 2009, and it was BNA’s first local option to grant a reprieve from that pesky Starbucks line. [Concourse C and D]
Bar-B-Cutie Smokehouse: Founded in Nashville in 1950, this tried-and-true barbecue brand now has franchises in a few Southern states. Meats smoked on-site are served in sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner alongside country sides, local beers, and cocktails. [A/B Rotunda]
Barista Parlor: Local favorite Barista Parlor offers coffee, signature breakfast biscuits all day, sandwiches, pastries, and cookies. [Concourse C]
Bongo Java: The grandfather of Nashville coffee also serves hearty breakfast options all day long as well as rotating vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free items. [Concourse C]
Green Beans Coffee Co.: The only dining option before you head through security, this international coffee chain is more about accessibility than quality, offering passable bakery items and specialty coffee drinks. There’s also live music to welcome you to BNA or send you off in true Nashville fashion. [Pre-security]
Kijiji Coffee: Edward C. Stevenson and his wife, Linda, helped revitalize historic Jefferson Street in their neighborhood of North Nashville when they opened the city’s first Black-owned coffee shop in 1997. The local roaster mostly focuses on wholesale now, but you can find two Kijiji kiosks at BNA. [Concourse A and B]
Little Harpeth Brewing: This local craft brewery focuses on German-style lagers like pilsners, a rarity in this day and age of all things IPA. The large airport taproom serves a rather extensive food menu (check out the sandwiches) and a couple of gluten-free options. [Concourse B]
Ole Red: Country music superstar Blake Shelton’s honky-tonk has quickly become an essential stop for entertainment with solid food on Broadway, and the growing chain brings that Music City energy to BNA too. In addition to live music, you’ll find biscuits and tater tot poutine for breakfast, redneck nachos, burgers, and chicken-fried steak for later, and a bunch of over-the-top cocktails and shots. [Concourse C]
Party Fowl: This upbeat local sports bar chain offers unusual hot chicken dishes (like a Nashville hot deconstructed Cobb salad or hot chicken Cuban sandwich) to pair with local brews and boozy slushies at a full bar. [Concourse D]
The Pharmacy Burger Parlor: One of East Nashville’s patio powerhouses serves its burgers and German-style wursts and beers at a sit-down BNA restaurant now, alongside retro soda fountain favorites like phosphates and ice cream sodas. [A/B Rotunda]
Pig Star by Peg Leg Porker: Pitmaster Carey Bringle’s Memphis-style barbecue at Peg Leg Porker is some of Nashville’s best — the Gulch restaurant’s wings and pulled pork are popular choices, and Eater named the dry ribs one of the country’s 23 essential barbecue dishes in 2016. Sit down with smoked meats and a cocktail at the BNA location, called Pig Star. [Concourse B]
Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant: This regional chain originated as a Leiper’s Fork grocery store in the 1950s before becoming a boisterous destination for live music and Southern food, including fried chicken and barbecue for dinner plus meat-and-three specials like blackened catfish with collards, mashed potatoes, and cowboy caviar. The airport location is sizeable. [Concourse D]
Pyramids Cafe: Since 1993, this has been a vegetarian-friendly Mediterranean option in the home of hot chicken. [Concourse C]
The Southern Steak & Oyster: BNA scored another classic with this one, a locals’ favorite downtown for deviled eggs dripping with Louisiana hot sauce, barbecued shrimp, chicken with collards and country ham gravy, and of course steak and oysters. [Concourse D]
Swett’s BBQ: Seven decades of family expertise inform the comfort food at Swett’s, which serves in meat-and-three specialties like country-fried steak, meatloaf, candied yams, fried cornbread, and peach cobbler. [Concourse C]
Tailgate Brewery: A craft brewery with a growing number of locations throughout Tennessee, Tailgate features a dozen beers on draft plus breakfast sandwiches and pizza whole or by the slice at its airport taproom. [Concourse C]
Tennessee Brew Works: Hit the BNA location of this Nashville brewery for top-notch beers and burgers. [A/B Rotunda]
Tootsies Orchid Lounge: Get a little taste of Nashville’s boot-scootin’ Broadway scene at the BNA location of this iconic purple honky-tonk, a steady sit-down spot for bar fare, drinks, and of course, live music. [Concourse C]
The Urban Juicer: If you want something fairly quick or light, you could do worse than the smoothies, juices, wraps, and salads here. [Concourse C]
Yazoo Brewing Company: It’s hard to be mad at the proliferation of brewery taprooms at the airport; this is another local winner where you can have a beer at the bar, get one to go, or grab a six-pack. [Concourse C]