Assembly Food Hall In Nashville: Everything you need to know

Nashville is so much fun. Lots of Broadway is filled with bars that are owned by celebrities, like Post Malone and Blake Shelton.

We highly suggest you check out the tourist destinations (they’re that for a reason), but also check out these Nashville bars and restaurants that are not owned by celebrities as well.

And, if you’re traveling on a little bit of a budget, check out our list of the best free things to do in Nashville. That will help you tremendously.

Assembly Food Hall History

Assembly Food Hall opened in two phases in 2021. The North Hall opened in March and the South Hall opened in June at Fifth + Broadway, the former site of the Nashville Convention Center.

The Fifth + Broadway complex has a few different levels. There’s the lower level which is accessible from the street, the second level, with the North and South Halls that are filled with food options, then an outer terrace area around the second floor, and then a third level that houses the Skydeck on Broadway, which has a ton of really good concerts.

Fifth + Broadway is also home to the National Museum of African American Music, which also opened in 2021.

Assembly Food Hall was opened by The Food Hall Co., which opened Legacy Food Hall in Plano, Texas in December 2017.

That’s filled with local restaurants operating in food stalls, a beer garden, and entertainment.

So, while Assembly Food Hall is mostly Tennessee-based restaurants, there are a few Texas-based food kiosks inside. And, now that you know The Food Hall Co. created both, it makes a lot more sense.

Assembly Food Hall Restaurants

Assembly Food Hall is, in layman’s terms, a food court. Well, two food courts: the North Hall and the South Hall. Each hall has different restaurants, tons (but not enough) of seating, and a stage where bands play because, yes, this is Nashville.

Just like a mall food court, you go up to a restaurant, wait in line, order and pay for your food, and then bring it to any available table.

There are bars, like Dolly Wines Bar (yes, that Dolly), in the center of each food court that has its own seating, but the rest of the tables and chairs are fair game.

So, what’s inside?

On Level 2 North, there’s Smokin’ Chicken, PokeNash, Thai Esane, Cheese Lab, NoBaked Cookie Dough, and Cotton & Snow. And then the Texas-based DeSano Pizzeria, Chilangos Tacos, and Whisk Crepes Cafe.

For bars, there’s The Butterfly Bar (this is where Dolly Wines is) and Homegrown.

Level 2 South is where you wanna go, though. That’s where you’ll find The Liege Waffle Company, Radish, The Pharmacy Burger, Prince’s Hot Chicken, Hans Banh Mi & Pho, Hattie Jane’s Creamery, Honeyfire Barbeque Co., Steam Boys, Saffron Kitchen, and Istanbul Shawarma.

Horu Sushi Kitchen, Dock Local, The Philly Special, and Velvet Taco are the Texas offerings in that section. I point these out not so you won’t support them (you should), but if you’re in Nashville and want to eat Tennessee-based food, now it’s easier.

For bars, there’s Single Barrel and Agave Maria.

Above Level 2 South is where you’ll find Sixty Vines (from Texas).

And then, outside the food hall but part of Fifth + Broadway, is Hattie B’s Hot Chicken (my favorite chicken sandwich ever), Jeni’s Ice Creams, Five Daughters Bakery, and more.

Fifth + Broadway has an interactive map (here) where you can see what else is around (because, honestly, I was listing it and this started to just feel like a bunch of words that people were gonna skim over).

Assembly Food Hall Review

Unintentionally, we ate at Assembly Food Hall three times. Well, I guess technically once and Fifth + Broadway twice, but still.

The first time we went to Assembly Food Hall, we intended on having lunch there. But, it was at lunchtime on a Saturday. It was so incredibly packed that we looked at the Hattie B’s line, looked at the Prince’s line, and promptly left.

However, on our way out, we walked pass Five Daughters Bakery, a Music City staple selling Nashville layered donuts. I wanted to try the shop and had it on my list of things to do at L&L Market, but since I was getting hungry, I decided to buy two of the mini doughnuts. They were delicious.

That actually really worked out because we never made it to L&L Market. I wanted to go there so bad while I was planning our Nashville trip, but when we got to town and I saw just how far away it was from everything else that we were going to do, we scratched it off our list.

So good thing Five Daughters Bakery has multiple locations.

And that’s kind of thing about Assembly Food Hall (and Fifth + Broadway). It’s filled with the Nashville restaurants people tell you to go to like the aforementioned hot chicken restaurants, The Pharmacy Burger, Jeni’s ice cream (which is not a Nashville headquartered chain however there are so many locations in Nashville, you’d be surprised to find out it’s from Ohio), Dolly Parton’s pop up bar, and more.

Let’s talk about Dolly Parton for a second. Two of her wines are served at The Butterfly Bar. It’s the actual first Dolly Parton-cosigned bar in Nashville.

There are so many celebrity bars in Nashville, it’s kind of a shock that Dolly never stuck her name on one.

You may think she did because White Limozeen, a pink-centric rooftop bar at The Graduate Hotel, is named after Dolly Parton’s 1989 album, but it has no association with America’s Grandma.

Dolly Parton is opening the SongTeller Hotel in the Spring of 2026, so you may see a bar with her name there, but for now, that’s just speculation — and we’re getting way off topic.

Back to Assembly Food Hall.

There are a lot of seats, but not enough in our opinion. Especially around lunchtime. It gets so crowded.

I don’t say this to deter you because I think you definitely should check out Assembly Food Hall, but I just want you to head there with the appropriate expectations.

Assembly Food Hall: Frequently Asked Questions