Restaurants in Brentwood

Boasting delicious eats, great acoustics, and live shows, The Listening Room is the perfect place to take in an undiscovered musical gem amid sips and sups. The eclectic menu features standard bar fare, Southwestern-style sustenance, and down-home comfort food in a lively array of apps, sandwiches, burgers, quesadillas, desserts, and more. The Cajun Turkey Sub packs heat with bayou-inspired seasoning, pepper jack, and chipotle mayo ($6.95), whereas the massive baked-potato list allows tuber-junkies to dress 2-pound spuds in elegant or silly food clothes, such as a dapper hot-dog-and-sauerkraut ensemble ($6.95), a chicken-parmesan pantsuit ($7.95), or a beautifully nude just potato ($3.95). Through The Listening Room's partnership with Nashville Muse, $0.25 of taco-chili purchases help support local songwriting or music-related charities, so chomp charitably on the Nashville Muse Taco Chili on its own ($4.95), or on a 6-ounce burger ($8.45).

The gleeful sounds of tickled ivories permeates Whitfield's Restaurant on Wednesday–Saturday nights when a piano player regales diners with masterful tunes. Stepping around the curved, tile-fronted bar, the wait staff deliver dishes of seafood and steaks to diners perched in crimson booths beneath the glow of amber pendant lights. Led by owner William Dewayne Johnson and head chef Matthew Smith, the kitchen sears scallops and salmon with aplomb. Diners can choose to eat alfresco under the guard of bright-red awnings and stars blinking their choices from the menu in Morse code.

When they aren't mashing fresh avocados to mix up guacamole, the staff at Mi Tierra prepare a long menu of Mexican specialties with American touches. Diners can fill up on fajitas, arroz con pollo, or carne asada, which all come with traditional Mexican sides, or they can choose more American-flavored tilapia fillets, chicken wings, french fries, or grilled salmon. Fish tacos and buffalo nachos seamlessly combine the two culinary traditions. Some kid-friendly dishes, alongside fresh salads and desserts, round out the menu, turning it into a satisfying read for those who want to whet their appetite or add another entry to their summer reading list.

Since its first restaurant—literally a small, converted shack—opened in 1980, Uncle Bud's has filled its menu of Southern-style eats with golden-brown morsels of fried catfish, chicken, and shrimp. Succulent strips of chicken are breaded by hand before plunging into the deep fryer, and everything from catfish fillets and frog legs to wild-gator tails pile onto dishes such as the Bayou platter. The scent of fried po’ boys fills the dining area, which is decorated with license plates and vintage camping supplies, where patrons can happily slake their hunger or pack up carryout containers with family-size helpings large enough to feed an entire terracotta army.

A sandwich board etched with colorful chalk sits outside Sky Blue Cafe, beckoning patrons into the historic brick building with handwritten descriptions of blue cheese stuffed burgers and homemade peach cobbler. Patrons drawn in by the daily homemade specials are soon greeted by friendly baristas with steaming cups of Drew’s Brews coffee and fresh-baked bagels from Bagel Face Bakery, located just down the street. The staff encourages patrons to relax for a while inside the cafe’s sunny yellow walls or outside on the patio with a plateful of stuffed french toast or sandwiches. Breakfast and lunch don’t end until 5 p.m., when the kitchen starts crafting dinner fare, such as roasted chicken, fish 'n' grits, or boiled chef’s hats.

Ru San’s chefs blend the subtle flavors of timeless Japanese cooking with the artistry of contemporary cuisine, creating edible masterpieces of fresh sushi, umami noodle dishes, and tender-seafood steaks. Diners sample delicate morsels of roe or smoked-shrimp nigiri, or dive into plates of specialty sushi maki, artfully plated to create likenesses of cucumber flower stalks and red-tuna valentine hearts. Far from a mere sushi bar, Ru San employs chefs that can bring to life a wealth of savory ramen and soba soups, crispy, dippable tempuras, and elegant seafood dishes—such as the sweet mocha cake scallops, or soy-butter grilled sea bass.