55 South is marginal food that Nashville has collectively decided to accept. Nobody should.

Bad Idea is a cocktail bar with a kitchen. The drinks have a genuine point of view. The food is a reason to stay seated, not a reason to show up.

Biscuit Love is Nashville brunch tourism in restaurant form. The bonuts are genuinely good. The wait, the crowd, and everything else are not.

Blue Aster is a hotel restaurant doing hotel restaurant things — technically proficient, genuinely unexciting, priced above its actual performance.

Central BBQ is a Memphis chain in Nashville doing the Memphis dry-rub tradition competently. Good ribs, forgettable everything else.

Edley's is Nashville BBQ done at chain scale. The food is solid. The ambition stops there.

Fonda on 12th is a decent Mexican spot on a neighborhood that oversells everything. The chips and queso are genuinely good. The rest is fine.

Greko is fast-casual Greek food that does the basics correctly. In a city with more interesting options, correct basics aren't a sufficient reason to send someone.

Hattie B's made Nashville hot chicken famous. It also made it a tourist attraction. Those two things are not the same.

Limo Peruvian Eatery is bringing one of the world's most interesting cuisines to Nashville with uneven results. The ceviche earns it. The rest is a work in progress.