Tasty Tuesday: What We Ate in Nashville

First up, I forgot to post a picture of the finished glasses yesterday, so here's a few:

Yes, a simple picture of some glasses spiraled into a pin-up photo shoot. More on that later.


Guys, we did some good eating over the weekend. We were only on vacation for one day, but my tastebuds did a lot of traveling. Here's my two cents on Nashville restaurants.

Originally, we planned to go downtown and find somewhere with 24/7 music - but after some research, it seemed like most of those places were bars with limited food options. Instead, we went to one of Nashville's newer neighborhoods, 12south. Visit Music City describes it as, "the up-and-coming place to live and socialize." Good enough for us!

Urban Grub is smack in the middle of the district. It's a really new place, less than a year old, and the building used to house a car wash. I know, you're like, "Whaaaaaaat??" It's true!

Can you believe this swanky place used to hose-down cars? Neither can I.

Their tagline is "Fish Pit and Southern Cantina," but that just scratches the surface. They have all kinds of stuff - including tacos, enchiladas, and pasta carbonara.

We started off, of course, with raw oysters. Guys, they're my FAVORITE FOOD I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. They came with three dipping options: watermelon vodka sauce, Siracha cocktail sauce, and citrus foam. I'm pretty set in my ways when it comes to oysters, but I tried them all. The watermelon vodka sauce was surprisingly delicious. It was incredibly sweet, but didn't mask the oysters' flavor at all. And I ate the citrus foam by the forkful.

My main course was a lobster BLT flatbread - basically a light pizza covered in crispy bacon, tender lobster, and sweet arugula.

Very Excellent had a short rib enchilada.

And his Mama had that carbonara I mentioned. She and I shared our meals - they were divine together.

One of the listed deserts was a vanilla bean donut, but by the time we finished our entrees I literally thought I might fall over. Sometimes, I really wish the Roman vomitorium practice would come back in fashion - then I remember that's called bulimia and I hide my head in shame.

We said goodbye to Mama Excellent after dinner, and moved down the street about 50 yards to the Frothy Monkey.

It was packed - just about every seat had a butt in it. That's a pretty good sign, right? Excellent ordered a latte, and I had a delicious springtime matte blend. We enjoyed them over our Kindles as the sun sank outside the window.

Next stop: the popsicle shop! Las Paletas is owned and operated by a pair of sisters who make their treats from fresh fruits and veggies. I was dying to try the Avocado Popsicle.

But it was CLOSED! That's fine, I don't need you, Las Paletas! King of Pops, I'll always be true.

We walked back to the Frothy Monkey, grabbed one more drink for the road (each) and headed out of town.

But we weren't quite finished with Nashville cuisine. Our last stop was Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint in Nolensville, TN. It's just off this thoroughfare:

This is Very Excellent's very favorite barbecue place in the world. He drives through Nashville when he goes to visit his family, and each time he stops here and gets a few sandwiches to go. And he likes them SO MUCH that he has never shared with me. After eating here myself I can assure you that I'd never share, either. I had ribs and a pork sandwich (and I managed to steal a bit of his brisket). I'm already planning our next trip to Nolensville; baby needs BBQ.