City House

When City House chef-owner Tandy Wilson finally captured the James Beard Award as Best Chef: Southeast in 2016, you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief and pride. Nashville finally had a Beard Award-winning chef of its very own, and Nashville native Wilson added to his cache as one of the region’s most revered chefs and nicest of fellows. Opened in late 2007 in a multilevel former sculptor’s studio in Germantown, City House features an open kitchen — request a spot at one of the stools up front — and a wood-burning oven that turns out some of the area’s best thin-crust pizzas. The nicely sourced, short menu of rustic Italian and Southern regional fare features small and medium plates of interesting pastas and local vegetables paired with the likes of trout, catfish, pork sausage and hanger steak. The short but imaginative cocktail and dessert menus deserve your attention, as well.

Full bar. Serving dinner 5-10 pm Wed-Sat and Mon, 5-9 pm Sun. Closed Tue.

MUST EATS: Octopus, belly ham pizza with an egg on top, pasta, vegetable sides