Wine Spectator Award-Winning Restaurants in Nashville

Aba Nashville

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Award of Excellence

Aba Nashville occupies a prominent address on Houston Street in the Gulch, bringing Mediterranean-inflected cooking to a city better known for hot chicken and honky-tonks. The kitchen draws on Eastern Mediterranean traditions, with a service program built around close coordination between front-of-house and the bar. It sits in a mid-to-upper tier of Nashville's expanding serious-dining scene.

Authentique

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Award of Excellence

Authentique holds a World of Fine Wine 3-Star Accreditation, placing it among a small cohort of Nashville restaurants where sourcing decisions and kitchen discipline carry formal recognition. Located on Gallatin Avenue in East Nashville, it represents the neighbourhood's shift toward serious, ingredient-led dining that reaches beyond Southern comfort-food conventions.

Also recognized by World's Best Wine Lists Awards

Barcelona Wine Bar Nashville

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence

Barcelona Wine Bar Nashville holds a White Star recognition from Star Wine List, placing it among Nashville's more serious wine-focused dining destinations. Located in the Villa Place development in the 12South corridor, it operates within a national group known for its Iberian-leaning wine programs and small-plate formats. For wine-first dining in a city still building its sommelier culture, it functions as a reliable reference point.

Also recognized by Star Wine List

Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence

On the 34th floor of a downtown Nashville tower, Bourbon Steak occupies a tier of American steakhouse dining where provenance matters as much as preparation. The wine program holds a White Star recognition from Star Wine List and a World of Fine Wine 3-Star Accreditation, placing it among the more seriously stocked cellars in the city. It is the kind of room where the sourcing story behind the beef is part of the point.

Also recognized by Star Wine List, World's Best Wine Lists Awards

Deacon's New South

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Award of Excellence

Positioned on Church Street in downtown Nashville, Deacon's New South occupies a stretch of the city where the old honky-tonk corridor gives way to something more considered. The kitchen draws on Southern culinary tradition while sitting squarely in Nashville's emerging fine-casual tier, making it a reference point for visitors tracking how the city's dining scene has matured beyond its barbecue-and-hot-chicken reputation.

Drusie & Darr by Jean-Georges

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence

Drusie & Darr by Jean-Georges brings a major national fine-dining name to Nashville's downtown core, landing on Resy's Best of the Hit List for 2025. The restaurant occupies 231 6th Ave N and represents the kind of chef-driven, design-conscious expansion that signals a city's arrival as a serious dining destination. For Nashville's upper tier, it is a meaningful new data point.

Also recognized by Resy

etch

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Award of Excellence

On Demonbreun Street in Nashville's SoBro corridor, etch sits among a small tier of downtown restaurants where the room, the menu, and the occasion are designed to work together. It draws comparison to peers like Bastion and The Catbird Seat for ambition and format, and functions as a go-to address when the meal itself needs to carry the weight of a milestone moment.

Gannons Nashville

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Award of Excellence

Located on 4th Avenue North in downtown Nashville, Gannons sits within a city whose dining identity has shifted considerably over the past decade. As Nashville's restaurant scene has grown more sophisticated, venues in this part of the urban core occupy a different competitive register than the honky-tonk strip. Gannons represents a point of reference for the evolving downtown dining conversation.

Halls Chophouse Nashville

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence

Halls Chophouse on West End Avenue occupies a specific tier in Nashville's steakhouse scene: a family-owned operation that runs with the polish of a national chain but the floor presence of an independent. The room carries the weight of a traditional American chophouse, and the service culture is among the more discussed in the city. Reservations are advised, particularly on weekends.

Husk Nashville

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Award of Excellence

Husk Nashville has maintained a consistent presence on Opinionated About Dining's North America lists since 2023, placing it among the more critically watched Southern restaurants in the city. Located on Rutledge Street in the Rutledge Hill neighborhood, the restaurant operates under chef Ben Norton and draws a crowd that spans local regulars and visiting food writers. It is one of the more credible arguments for serious Southern cooking in a city not short on the genre.

Also recognized by Opinionated About Dining, Resy

Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse Nashville

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Award of Excellence

Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse in Nashville brings the Cincinnati-born steakhouse group's signature emphasis on ritual and wine program depth to downtown's 4th Avenue corridor. Recognized with a White Star by Star Wine List in 2022, the restaurant sits at the intersection of American chophouse tradition and a wine list serious enough to attract dedicated collectors. It occupies a different tier from Nashville's progressive tasting-menu scene.

Also recognized by Star Wine List

Marsh House

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence

Marsh House occupies a considered position in Nashville's increasingly serious dining scene, drawing on the city's Southern roots while operating at a register that places it alongside the more ambitious kitchens in the 12South and Gulch corridors. For visitors planning around Nashville's competitive reservation window, it warrants early attention and a clear sense of what to expect before booking.

Pastis – Nashville

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence

Pastis Nashville occupies a corner of the Gulch with enough earned credentials to place it squarely on Resy's 2025 Best of the Hit List. The room draws on the French brasserie template, translated for a city that has absorbed several waves of serious restaurant investment over the past decade. At 512 Houston Street, it sits within walking distance of Nashville's most ambitious dining addresses.

Also recognized by Resy

The Detroit Cowboy

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Award of Excellence

The Detroit Cowboy sits at 500 11th Ave N in Nashville's evolving Gulch-adjacent corridor, where the city's appetite for concept-driven dining continues to push past its honky-tonk reputation.

Trattoria Il Mulino

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Award of Excellence

A trattoria address on Rep. John Lewis Way S places Trattoria Il Mulino inside downtown Nashville's evolving Italian dining corridor, where the city's appetite for European-format dining continues to grow alongside its progressive restaurant scene. The format draws on the trattoria tradition of structured, course-driven meals in a setting that reads as approachably serious rather than occasion-heavy.

Yolan

Nashville, United States

Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence

Yolan brings a rigorous Italian-American tradition to downtown Nashville's hotel dining tier, with a 1,000-bottle cellar weighted toward Italy and France, a glass-enclosed cheese cave, and regional wine series that shift monthly. Ranked #215 on Opinionated About Dining's North America list in 2025, it occupies the serious end of Nashville's fine dining scene and earns reservations well in advance.

Also recognized by Forbes, Opinionated About Dining, Star Wine List, World's Best Wine Lists Awards