The Best Wings in Nashville

Detroit-style pizzas and big, messy burgers are the signatures of Emmy Squared, a popular Brooklyn-based restaurant with two locations in Nashville. The Gulch venue was the first in the city, and an immediate hit with locals upon its 2018 opening. Those signature pizzas and burgers, including the best burger in Nashville according to The Tennessean (“Le Big Matt”), make up most of the lunch and dinner menus. However, the small plates, including some of the best wings in Nashville, are just as tempting. The wings feature a sriracha glaze, garnish of peanuts and cilantro and side of ranch, and are offered on both the dinner and weekday lunch menus.

Adele’s, a Gulch neighborhood restaurant helmed by chef-owner Jonathan Waxman (and named for his mother) is an exceedingly charming space. It offers indoor and outdoor seating, retractable doors left open when it’s sunny, and an open kitchen with a chef’s counter. Here, diners can see the action around the wood-fired oven, from which emerge dishes focusing on seasonal, local ingredients of the highest quality. The dinner (daily), lunch (Fridays and Saturdays) and Sunday buffet brunch menus change frequently. However, a shared plate of excellent chicken wings with a garlic thyme sauce often features on the lunch menu. Main courses might include include a croque madame, N.C. crispy catfish with vinegar chips and remoulade, and gnocchi with a turnip puree, squash, sorghum and sage.

Call it a gimmick or perhaps PR gold, but the Ainsworth certainly boasts some of the best wings in Nashville in the ranks of attention-worthiness. The NYC-based group of upscale sports bars features among its appetizers the pricey “Foodgod 24K Gold Wings” in eight- 16- and 50-piece portions. The latter (which costs a cool $1,000) comes with a golden bottle of Ace of Spades champagne. Along with a drenching of gold dust, the wings are brined for 24 hours in a coconut butter chipotle honey sauce and come with a gourmet bleu cheese dip. The Ainsworth also offers regular gilt-free wings in a choice of mild, voodoo or BBQ, and in a similar vein Buffalo shrimp with carrots, celery and house-made ranch. The rest of the menu is made up of burgers, sandwiches, tacos, salads and a handful of entrees such as pecan-crusted catfish and a whole fried Nashville hot-style Cornish hen.

Del Frisco’s Grille, a national chain of upscale bar and grills with a popular venue in the Gulch, specializes in elevated versions of American comfort food classics. Fitting neatly into this concept is the shared plate of roasted wings, prepared with a Buffalo dry rub and side of avocado ranch. Other highlights of the “made to share” section of the lunch and dinner menus include baked goat cheese with apricot jam, pistachios and pomegranate, and artichoke beignets with fontina, parmesan and a sweet basil dressing. Main course options include burgers, steaks and a roasted prime rib special on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Philadelphia-based City Tap House, which has a large venue in SoBro, offers some 60 beers on tap, an enormous video wall and rooftop deck. It also boasts some of the best wings in Nashville, the 10-spice wings on its all-day menu. The boldly spiced wings come with crisp vegetables and a house blue cheese dressing. Other snacks and shareables to consider include soft pretzel sticks with southern pimento cheese spread, crispy fried Nashville hot cauliflower and corn and crab hushpuppies with citrus remoulade and honey-thyme butter. Wood-fired pizzas, big salads, handhelds, an array of mains and signature mussels in four flavors are also available.

On the first floor of the Renaissance Hotel is Little Fib, a cool and casual southern-inspired eatery that’s open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It occupies a modern space with industrial chic accents and a memorable wall-to-wall mural of Johnny Cash portraits. Modernized southern classics define the menu. Exemplary dishes include deviled eggs with Tennessee grass-fed bacon jam and pickled mustard, pimento cheese drop biscuits with cherry bourbon chutney, and two versions of “Ma, the Meatloaf.” Don’t miss the smoked wings, which feature under “small bites” on both lunch and dinner menus. They’re tea brined and glazed with a bourbon honey sauce.

Steaks and seafood are the specialties of Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, as are hand crafted cocktails. The restaurant, one in a popular national chain, is in Brentwood at the Shops at Seven Springs. Diners looking to share a few snacks and small plates should consider the smoked chicken wings, which are dressed in Buffalo hot sauce and served with bleu cheese and celery. One plate serves two to four diners. Other shareables include a lobster spinach queso dip, coconut shrimp and Philly cheesesteak egg rolls. All are prepared from scratch and available at both lunch and dinner time.

Tupelo Honey, a restaurant and bar brand with venues across the nation, brings its signature from-scratch southern comfort foods to Cool Springs in Franklin. Eclectic works by local artists adorn the indoor/outdoor space, including some striking colorful cows. The lengthy lunch/dinner menu starts with more than a dozen shareable snacks, among them fried pickles, Asheville hot chicken dip, famous fried green tomatoes over goat cheese grits, and some of the best wings in Nashville. The honey chipotle wings, available in small and large sizes, come with a garlic buttermilk ranch dip. For main courses there’s more amazing chicken, brined for over 18 hours then fried or roasted, as well as supper plates, burgers, salads and sandwiches.

Puckett’s Boat House, a lively restaurant and live music venue in Franklin, specializes in Gulf seafood and down home southern cooking. One of its best dishes – Caribbean jerk wings – departs from both of these themes. Share a plate of wings along with fresh Gulf Coast oysters on the half shell or in one of four cooked preparations. Highlights among the main courses include baskets of coconut, butterfly or popcorn shrimp with hand-cut fries, coleslaw and a hushpuppy, and NOLA-inspired po’ boys with shrimp or catfish, blackened or fried. Save some room for Nana’s banana pudding for dessert.

Merchants, a Nashville institution since 1988, presents two distinct dining experiences in its three-story, circa-1892 venue. Downstairs is a southern bistro offering cocktails and comfort food, while the second floor has an upscale dining room with a formal atmosphere and its own separate, steak-centric menu. Those craving some excellent chicken wings should grab a table at the bistro, where BBQ-rubbed smoked wings with Buffalo, blue cheese and BBQ sauces feature among the starters. Also consider the duck fat tater tots, available in half and full orders with spicy ranch, Creole honey mustard and smoked ketchup. Mains include rotisserie chicken, jambalaya, several steaks and various burgers and sandwiches.

The Diner, a 24-hour eatery in SoBro, covers six floors and offers incredible views over downtown Nashville. Each floor presents a distinct dining experience from the coffee shop on the first floor to casual late-night snacks and drinks up on the sixth. Lunch, dinner and late-night menus all feature a chicken wing appetizer. The wings come in a choice of naked, Buffalo or kung POW! with celery and ranch on the side. Consider pairing wings with one of the family-style sides such as smoked gouda grits or mac and cheese to make a meal, or share a plate before a main course such as the classic cheeseburger, chargrilled salmon or homemade pot roast. Note that The Diner offers half-off appetizers during its weekday happy hour.

Puckett’s is a famous name in Tennessee, where the restaurant group got its start as a village grocery store in the 1950s. Today, the group runs six restaurants across the state, including one in historic downtown Franklin. Its nostalgic cuisine includes southern classics, slow-smoked BBQ and meat-and-three specials. Among a range of tempting starters on the dinner menu, including fried green tomatoes, BBQ pimento cheese bites and brisket nachos, are cherry smoked hot wings. They’re smoked, flash-fried and tossed in a choice of three sauces – hot, mild or the signature Puckett’s BBQ sauce. Puckett’s hosts a live music series, so check the schedule and consider combining a great meal with a show.

Ole Red coined the term “swanky tonk” to describe its concept – elevated comfort food in a setting that’s cool, casual and welcoming to all, plus remarkable live music on stage, often by surprise celebrity guests. The venue also has a celebrity name as a business partner, the world-famous country artist Blake Shelton. The music and vibe are a major draw, but Ole Red also offers some seriously good cuisine with a focus on southern comfort food classics. Among the starters are smoked wings with house hot sauce, jalapenos, celery and blue cheese ranch. Others include the southern tater tot poutine, honey-drizzled skillet cornbread, and redneck nachos, which are kettle chips piled high with smoked chicken, Rotel cheese sauce and more.

Southern comfort food and great live music by local performers characterize Puckett’s, a restaurant group with roots Tennessee dating to the 1950s. Its menus are appropriately old-school, created around slow-smoked BBQ meats. Meat-and-three plate lunch specials are a signature. They come with a choice of more than a dozen side dishes including skillet mac n’ cheese, flat iron green beans and smoked baked beans. Another highlight – cherry smoked hot wings in hot, mild or BBQ sauce – are available as a starter on the dinner menu only. Regulars say they’re some of the best wings in Nashville.