While Music City is a home for Southern staples like biscuits, fried chicken and barbecue, there are plenty of healthy lunch choices tucked away on some unsuspecting menus. If you know where to look, Nashville’s wide range of restaurants deliver a variety of healthier options from fresh, crunchy salads to hearty grain bowls.. Check out our top choices for healthy lunches in Nashville, even if your pals are heading out for tacos, pizza or barbecue.
Bakersfield
Loretta Salad
Bakersfield is best known for its tacos and queso, but the Loretta Salad is a bowl we keep coming back to when we’re looking for a light lunch. A mix of arugula rounds out the base, with spiced pepitas (a fancy word for pumpkin seeds), grape tomatoes, radish slices and crumbled queso fresco, all finished with a chipotle honey vinaigrette. The textures and flavors in this salad create a beautiful yin-yang effect that balances perfectly. The crunch of the pepitas and radish slices is a perfect counterpoint with the creamy softness of the cotija cheese, while the peppery arugula perfectly complements the slightly sweet, slightly spicy tang in the vinaigrette. Pair it with freshly made and refreshingly chunky guacamole for a filling lunch even if you skip all the chips. .
Riddim N Spice
Island Bowls
Riddim N Spice opened a highly anticipated brick and mortar location in late September 2019, after years as a staple on the food truck circuit. You’ll find the same jerk chicken on the menu at the permanent outpost, but today they'’re focusing on the island bowls. The concept is simple: start with a base, add your choice of protein, finish it off with toppings. But with six possible bases, plus nine proteins and nine mix-and-match toppings, the possibilities are endless. A great option for our vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free friends, island bowls can be designed around dietary needs and with choices like island spiced seitan and the fan-favorite BBQ jerk jackfruit, some carnivores may even cross the picket lines.
Vui’s Kitchen
Noodle, Rice or Lettuce Bowl
Whether the base of the bowl is rice, noodles or lettuce, Vui’s always delivers impeccably fresh and consistent fare at all three Nashville locations. Each bowl contains arugula, julienned carrots and cucumbers, and loads of fresh herbs, plus protein choices like lemongrass chicken, beef or tofu and five spice shrimp. Swirl your selection with the salty, sweet and spicy sauces to create a bowl perfect for your palate.
Edley’s BBQ
Southern Salad
A BBQ restaurant may not be top of mind for healthy eating, but Edley’s Southern Salad is an excellent way to sneak in your favorite smoked protein on a healthier base. This veggie-packed salad features sliced cucumbers, shredded carrots, whole cherry tomatoes and sliced red onions on a bed of mixed greens - accompanied by a few crumbles of bacon and some smoked gouda for good measure. For a small up-charge, top the salad with brisket, pulled pork, chicken, or the sleeper on the menu: smoked turkey. Opt for a traditional dressing like balsamic vinaigrette or jalapeño ranch, or kick your diet to the curb and top your salad with one of Edley’s house-made BBQ sauces.
Five Points Pizza
Arugula Salad
Five Points Pizza is arguably not the first spot that comes to mind when conjuring healthy meal ideas, but the Arugula Salad is a bright and bold bowl that you’ll come to crave. The salad combines peppery arugula with candied orange peel slices, walnuts for texture, grape tomatoes and tangy feta cheese. The combination of both flavors and textures are balanced, with the crumbly, salty feta perfectly complementing the sweet and chewy house-cured orange peels. Want to wash down the salad with a slice? We’ll never tell.
Mason’s
Greens & Grains
Tucked inside the Loews Hotel across from Vanderbilt University, hides one of the best build-your-own lunches in town. Mason’s offers a variety of salads and greens on the menu, but the Greens & Grains bowl is a design-it-yourself option that includes a number of whole grains, like quinoa and farro, or a bed of your choice of greens. Then, select a variety of seasonal vegetables and finish your creation with a choice of housemade dressings or olive oil. Pro Tip: Consider topping the bowl with hot chicken - Mason’s delivers a subtly sweet and smoky take on the Nashville classic.
Cafe Roze
Roze Bowl
Instagram-driven diners can’t help but notice the pink-tinted tables at Cafe Roze dotted with drool-inducing dishes, like the coconut yogurt or hard-boiled B.L.T. But the signature dish, the Roze Bowl, looks as if it were created for Instagram. The beet-tahini swirled 180-degrees inside the white bowl perfectly matches the tables' pink hues, while the flavors, colors and textures remind that this is a dish to savor once the photo-snapping ceases. This rainbow-in-a-bowl is so delicious it’s hard to believe it’s vegan, gluten-free and dairy free. But fear not carnivores, adding animal protein is always an option.
Copper Kettle
Goat Cheese Salad
Copper Kettle, the Green Hills meat-and-three, and its coconut chicken have earned a cult-like following in Nashville; to the extent that many guests never even pick up a menu, instead simply jumping in line and ordering, cafeteria-style. However, hiding away on that menu nobody bothers to open is the Goat Cheese Salad. On top of a bed of mixed greens sit sliced mangoes and strawberries, spiced pecans and a raspberry vinaigrette, but the real star of the bowl is the golden-brown, coconut encrusted ball of goat cheese. One single swipe of a fork perfectly caps off and contains each bite of fruits, nuts and greens. This beaming bowl of sunshine is the perfect respite for dreary gray days, when summer seems intangibly far away.