I came to Nashville, Tennessee for two weeks for work. It was not the most fun reason to be in Nashville, but I tried to make the most of it. One of my former colleagues at Deloitte moved here in the beginning of 2015, and I met up with him and his friends a few times to get a little taste of the city.

From the second I walked off the plane, there was live country music being played at the airport. Everyone seemed so happy, and lots of people said hi when you walked by. The landscape was hilly and green, really pretty, and I bet it would be amazing here in the summer.

Food and drink 

The Sunday night after I flew in, my friend took me directly to Broadway to experience the live music of Nashville. The street looked like Vegas, all lit up, bar, after bar, after bar; I understood now why people called Nashville NashVegas.

Acme Feed & Seed

The first place we went to was Acme Feed & Seed. It had a really cool environment. The first floor was a restaurant with live country music, the second floor was a more intimate setting, the third floor was reserved as a private event space, and the rooftop had a bar, and DJ that was playing house music (which of course I loved!). The rooftop had a really amazing view of the Cumberland River, all the way down Broadway Street with the Nashville Skyline in the back, and of the famous Cumberland Park and Pedestrian bridge. They had the bridge lit up with Red, White and blue for Veterans Day, which was a really beautiful site. I would definitely come back here with my friends and family.

Tootsies Orchid Lounge

Tootsies is a Honkey Tonk country music bar with three levels, and has live music on every floor. The moment I stepped in the door, I knew this place would be really fun. There was an all girls band on the first floor, and they were singing standing on the bar like in Coyote Ugly. The bands play for free, and just get tips from the patrons. Every floor was jammed packed with people vibeing to the music. Since I do not listen to Country Music, I was not sure I would enjoy it, but the bar was actually such a fun time.

Robert’s Western World

Robert’s is known for being a traditional country western bar, playing sings like Johnny Cash, and western classics. The men playing on the stage had that thick southern accent, and the really got the crowd clapping and dancing.

Rolf and Daughters

This restaurant is located in Germantown, Nashville, and it reminded me of a Los Angeles bar. It was very new and modern, with a hipster vibe. The bartender was a mixologist, and made me a hand crafted “fruity drink with egg white” drink of choice. I tried the Crostini, chicken liver, radish, green tomato, which was delicious; I never thought in my life I would ever try chicken liver, but I figured if I don’t like it, I don’t have to eat it. I also had the Blood sausage, apple, mustard which was good; the blood sausage made me a little nervous, but the taste of the sausage was delicious. My favorite was the Casonsei, swiss chard, ricotta, walnut, aged balsamic, which was like ravioli, and the walnuts on top put the icing on the cake.

Five Points Pizza

Five Points is located in East Nashville, which is considered the newer trendy area of Nashville, and not as touristy. They have 4.5 stars on yelp, and it is truly deserved. We ordered the Garlic Knots which are basically to die for and leave you could probably just eat them as a meal; I had to hold back so that I still had room for the pizza when it came. We ordered the Meatball Pie, which came with fresh and shredded mozzarella, thinly sliced meatballs, red onions, garlic. Delicious!