RFK Rankings · Nashville
Best Restaurants for Brunch in Nashville (2026)
Weekend brunch · Nashville · 6 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published May 20, 2024 · Updated June 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Karl and Sarah Worley have fried a chicken biscuit in the Gulch since 2015, and across the river Julia Sullivan bakes monkey bread for the Germantown weekend crowd. Nashville treats brunch as a sit-down ritual, biscuit-serious, not a buffet line. These six, ranked, are where to spend a Saturday morning when the table matters as much as the coffee.
1.Biscuit Love
Karl Worley’s bonuts and East Nasty fried-chicken biscuit are Nashville’s defining brunch plates; walk in early to the Gulch.
Karl and Sarah Worley turned their food truck into a brick-and-mortar Biscuit Love at 316 11th Avenue South in the Gulch in 2015, and it has become the city’s defining morning room. The bonuts — fried biscuit dough rolled in cinnamon sugar under lemon-mascarpone and blueberry compote — run about $9, and the East Nasty fried-chicken biscuit about $14.
The kitchen bakes its buttermilk biscuits from scratch every day and serves breakfast daily from seven until three. It is walk-in only and the line wraps the block by mid-morning, so arrive before nine on a weekend or put your name down and wait with a coffee.
2.Henrietta Red
A chic Germantown oyster room for baked eggs and monkey bread; book the weekend table for a chef-driven morning.
Julia Sullivan, a James Beard finalist who cooked at Per Se and Franny’s before coming home, opened Henrietta Red at 1200 4th Avenue North in Germantown in 2017. Weekend brunch runs Saturday and Sunday from ten, built on a raw oyster bar, baked eggs and a pull-apart monkey bread, with plates roughly $14 to $26.
The room is bright and tiled, anchored by the oyster counter and a thoughtful cocktail list. Reserve through Resy for the weekend; it is the most polished sit-down brunch in this ranking and a short walk from the Bicentennial Mall.
3.Marsh House
The Thompson hotel’s seafood room for daily brunch and bottomless champagne; reserve the weekend table for a dressed-up morning.
Marsh House sits in the lobby of the Thompson hotel at 401 11th Avenue South in the Gulch, a chef-driven seafood room under executive chef Brack May. Brunch is served daily, with a bottomless champagne option on weekends, anchored by oysters, shrimp and grits, and a biscuit program from pastry chef Natalie Moorer, with plates roughly $15 to $28.
The room is polished and hotel-smart, a step up in formality from the city’s diner-style rooms. Book through OpenTable for the weekend, then linger over the raw bar; it is one of the few Nashville kitchens running a proper brunch every day of the week.
4.Cafe Roze
The pink-walled East Nashville cafe for a smart all-day brunch; book ahead or grab the counter on a quiet weekday.
Julia Jaksic, a longtime New York chef of Jack’s Wife Freda and Employees Only, runs Cafe Roze at 1115 Porter Road in East Nashville, a pink-walled all-day cafe open seven days a week. Weekend brunch is the favourite service, built on grain bowls, a turmeric tonic, eggs and a smashburger, with plates roughly $13 to $22.
The room is light and design-forward, equally good for a solo counter coffee or a long table with friends. Book through Resy for the weekend rush or walk in on a weekday morning; it is the east-side pick for a brunch that leans fresh rather than fried.
5.Pinewood Social
The sprawling SoBro all-day room for a pot-roast hash and bowling lanes; ideal for a group or a restless family.
Pinewood Social occupies a vast former trolley barn at 33 Peabody Street in SoBro, an all-day room with bowling lanes, a coffee bar and a poolside patio. Weekend brunch runs Friday through Sunday from nine until four, built on a pot-roast hash, biscuits and a strong cocktail list, with plates roughly $13 to $20.
The space is the most flexible brunch in this ranking, easy with a big group, a laptop or restless kids who need the lanes between courses. Book through OpenTable for the weekend; the coffee program is its own draw and a flagship Pinewood Coffee Co room is opening nearby in 2026.
6.Pancake Pantry
Hillsboro Village’s 1961 pancake house for twenty-three scratch varieties; join the line early or wait around the block.
Pancake Pantry has stood at 1796 21st Avenue South in Hillsboro Village since 1961, a family-owned breakfast institution beloved by students, locals and the occasional touring musician. The menu runs twenty-three scratch-made pancake varieties — the sweet potato and the Swiss chocolate chip are the orders — plus omelets and waffles, with most plates roughly $10 to $16.
The room is plain and unfussy, all booths and a fast-moving counter, open daily from six until three. It takes no reservations and the line wraps the building most mornings, so arrive before eight on a weekend or settle in for the wait; parking is validated in the lot behind.
Not for everyone
Famous, but not actually brunch
City House. Tandy Wilson’s James Beard-winning Italian-Southern room in Germantown is famous for its Sunday supper, not a weekend morning brunch. It is a superb evening of belly-ham pizza and house pasta, but do not arrive on a Saturday morning expecting eggs.
Saint Stephen. The Germantown room that once ran a well-liked weekend brunch closed in 2023, so the patio mornings are gone. For the same chef-driven energy nearby, walk a few blocks to Henrietta Red instead.
Loveless Cafe. The legendary biscuit-and-fried-chicken roadhouse is worth the pilgrimage, but it sits twenty minutes west of downtown on Highway 100, not an intown brunch. Save it for a drive out the Natchez Trace rather than a city Saturday.
How to brunch well in Nashville
Nashville’s brunch scene clusters by neighborhood: the Gulch for the from-scratch and hotel rooms, Germantown for the chef-driven sit-down tables, East Nashville across the river for the design-forward cafes, Hillsboro Village for the old-line pancake house, and SoBro for the big all-day spaces. None demands a long drive if you stay intown, though a car beats walking once you cross between the east side and the Gulch.
Weekend tables fill fast at the chef-driven rooms, so reserve rather than walk up at Henrietta Red, Marsh House and Cafe Roze. For a no-reservation morning, Biscuit Love in the Gulch and Pancake Pantry in Hillsboro Village take walk-ins only, so arrive before nine or expect a line around the block. Nashville brunch skews Saturday and Sunday, with most kitchens opening between seven and ten; a few, like Marsh House, run the service every day.
Frequently asked
Where is the best brunch in Nashville?
Biscuit Love in the Gulch is the marquee pick, a from-scratch room built around the bonuts and the East Nasty fried-chicken biscuit. For a chef-driven weekend morning, Julia Sullivan’s Henrietta Red in Germantown is the destination; for a daily seafood brunch, Marsh House in the Gulch.
Which Nashville brunch is best with kids?
Pancake Pantry in Hillsboro Village is the easiest with children, a 1961 pancake house with no dress code and twenty-three scratch varieties. Pinewood Social in SoBro is the other low-stress option, a sprawling all-day room with bowling lanes to keep restless kids busy between plates.
Do you need a reservation for brunch in Nashville?
Yes at the chef-driven rooms. Henrietta Red, Marsh House and Cafe Roze all fill their weekend tables early, so book ahead through Resy or OpenTable. For a walk-in morning, Biscuit Love in the Gulch and Pancake Pantry in Hillsboro Village take no reservations, so arrive before nine on a Saturday.
What is a good upscale brunch in Nashville?
Henrietta Red in Germantown runs a chef-driven weekend brunch of raw oysters, baked eggs and monkey bread from James Beard finalist Julia Sullivan, the polished end of the city’s scene. Marsh House at the Thompson hotel is the other dressed-up pick, a seafood room with a bottomless champagne brunch.
Does City House do brunch in Nashville?
No. Tandy Wilson’s City House in Germantown is a beloved Italian-Southern dinner room famous for its Sunday supper, and it does not run a weekend morning brunch. For a chef-driven weekend table instead, Henrietta Red and Cafe Roze in East Nashville are the destinations.
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More from RFK
Browse the full Nashville dining guide, read the Henrietta Red profile and the Cafe Roze profile, compare the city’s casual rooms in the Nashville walk-in ranking and its solo tables in the Nashville solo-dining ranking, or open the full RFK rankings index.
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