Restaurants in Franklin

After honing his culinary chops at restaurants owned by Disney, Marriott, and the Wyndham Union Station hotel, chef Angelo launched a local bistro and steakhouse that makes dining feel like a vacation. Here, he stuffs whole racks of lamb with fresh basil, garlic, and feta cheese and sautés veal picatta in white wine and capers. To accommodate diners with dietary restrictions, they also prepare vegetarian and gluten-free items, such as a baked eggplant with zucchini, squash, organic spinach, and a tomato-based broth as light as cotton candy spun from summer sunbeams.

In addition to delivering grilled beef tenderloins and cowboy rib eyes, attentive servers uncork bottles of wine from around the world during dinner and special events such as tastings and private parties. Live music wafts through the restaurant Thursday–Saturday as the house pianist tickles the ivories from 6 p.m.–9 p.m.

Today's deal gives eco-friendly epicureans all the gourmet delights of eating organic, classic cuisine without having to spend an entire afternoon in the kitchen reading cookbooks and The Wind in the Willows. For $25, you get $50 worth of organic fare and drinks at Miel Restaurant, the Sylvan Park eatery that relies on a bevy of local ingredients, cares about its carbon footprint, and won Best Brunch for 2009 in Nashville Scene. Miel is open for dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday through Thursday, and for Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.Follow @Groupon_Says on Twitter.

After relocating from New York to Nashville, the owner and founder of Coco's Italian Market & Restaurant had a hankering for something from his childhood: homemade Italian food. Following the tradition of his family, he opened his very own place, Coco’s. Both a restaurant and market, the space is stocked with Italian imports, such as meats, cheeses, pastas, and oils, which also are used to create the eatery's housemade feasts. Chefs, for instance, use imported flour to create their hand-stretched pizza dough, topped with simple mozzarella and basil. Other menu offerings include pasta such as baked ziti, eggplant-parmesan panini, and italian-beef subs. Served every Sunday, brunch gives breakfast an Italian flare with Tuscan-style egg dishes and chocolate-caramel espresso drinks, a well-earned treat after a bout outside on the bocce court.

The founder of Bria Bistro Italiano teamed up with an executive chef to create a menu of Italian fare with seasonal ingredients. In the kitchen, chefs bake Italian favorites, such as lasagna stuffed with ricotta cheese, and prepare eggplant parmesan with housemade mozzarella and fire-roasted red peppers. Personal culinary flair is added by providing apricot-chutney accents, drizzles of white-truffle oil, and sides of herbed polenta fries. Servers pour glasses of wine from the extensive wine list to pair with entrees, including everything from bold reds to floral whites as crisp as a freshly dry-cleaned apple.

Muster an appetite for Caesar's menu with the opening invasion of antipasto caldo of scallop Florentine (scallops, spinach, bacon, ham, and cream sauce, $9) or an antipasto freddo of mozzarella caprese (green salad topped with tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, pesto, and Italian dressing, $8) before quickly expanding your dinner territory with a secondi. Hope that your date doesn't speak Italian and order the pasta alla puttanesca ("whore's pasta," $9)—a mélange of diced tomatoes, black olives, hot peppers, capers, and artichoke hearts over spaghetti, angel hair, fettuccine, or ziti and topped with a spicy garlic and green-onion sauce. Seafarers, meanwhile, can sing with the fishes over a filet di pesce alla Frank Sinatra ($15), the catch of the day sautéed in lemon, capers, white wine, olive oil, witchcraft, and blue eyes that have been aged several decades. A more classical catch would be the lobster Pavarotti ($24), which serves a grossly overweight rock-lobster tail with baby shrimp and mushrooms in a heartbreaking aria of brandy cream sauce. More-casual culinary conquerors can share a 16-inch Piccadilly pizza with friends (beef, pepperoni, sausage, bacon, and ham, $14). Wrap up your dinner with a traditional cappuccino ($4) or a deliciously decadent tiramisu ($4).

The casual Murphy Road eatery serves up a south-of-the-border menu with a local kick. Spark things off by dipping locally made white corn chips into a duo of red and green housemade salsas ($2.50) or a vat of fresh, whole-avocado-based guacamole ($4). But the true estrellas of the menu are The Local Taco's namesake local tacos (all are $2.50)—particularly rarely seen varietals such as Texas brisket, Korean barbecue with Asian slaw and toasted sesame seeds, tequila lime chicken, and Southern fried (buttermilk-fried chicken-breast strips with honey lime sauce, lettuce, and tomato). The Local Taco's menu even offers a taco that somehow contains all tacos, but you'll need to be able to see in 12 dimensions in order to perceive it. The Local Taco also offers enchiladas, sides, and soups.