Audrey

Audrey Is Not a Comfort Food Restaurant With Ambitions — It's the Opposite

The most common misconception about Audrey is that Sean Brock built a place to serve refined Southern food to Nashville tourists. What he actually built is a progressive kitchen that uses Southern ingredients and traditions as its technical framework — and that distinction matters when you're deciding whether to book. If you want plates that feel like a celebration of the region without requiring you to decode them, Audrey is the right call. If you want classic meat-and-three, Arnold's Country Kitchen is three miles away and costs a fraction of the price.

Audrey opened in 2022 on Meridian Street in East Nashville and landed at #9 on Esquire's Leading New Restaurants list that year, a strong debut for a restaurant that was always going to draw scrutiny given Brock's profile. By 2024 it had climbed to #214 on Opinionated About Dining's North America ranking, in 2025 it holds a Michelin Plate alongside a Resy Hit List placement and an OAD ranking of #284. That's a competitive awards footprint for a restaurant that sits outside Nashville's traditional dining corridor and operates with weeknight closing times of 9 pm. It is not trying to be a destination tasting-menu institution in the mold of Alinea or The French Laundry, and that's precisely what makes it worth booking for a wider range of occasions.

The progressive cuisine framing here means the menu changes with produce and supply, not with trends. That's a good sign for repeat visits and a useful signal if you're planning a special occasion: you're not going to get a stale experience. Saturday and Sunday brunch service (10 am–2 pm) gives Audrey a format that most comparable Nashville restaurants don't offer, it's a legitimate option for a celebration meal that doesn't require an evening commitment. For dinner, the kitchen runs Monday through Friday until 9 pm, with an extra half-hour on weekends. Those hours are tight, plan accordingly if you're arriving from outside Nashville.

That score, combined with the OAD trajectory and Michelin recognition, puts Audrey in a reliable tier: this is a restaurant where quality is repeatable, not dependent on catching the right night. For a special occasion dinner in Nashville, it competes directly with The Catbird Seat and Bastion at the leading end, with Locust for progressive cooking that doesn't require a full tasting-menu commitment. Audrey sits between those poles: more structured than Locust, more accessible than the full Catbird Seat experience.

If you're comparing Audrey against progressive restaurants in other cities, the reference points are places like Lazy Bear in San Francisco or Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg, venues where craft and locality drive the menu. Audrey is less theatrical than either but more approachable for a first visit. Internationally, it occupies a comparable tier to Katla in Oslo or 81 in Tokyo in terms of serious progressive cooking without maximalist ceremony.

For a broader picture of where Audrey fits in the city, see our full Nashville restaurants guide. If you're building a full trip itinerary, our guides to Nashville hotels, Nashville bars, Nashville wineries, and Nashville experiences cover the rest.

Practical Details

Reservations: Book through Resy; availability is generally manageable 1–2 weeks out for weeknights, though weekend dinner slots move faster, aim for 2 weeks minimum if you have a fixed date. Hours: Mon–Fri 5–9 pm; Sat–Sun 10 am–2 pm and 5–9:30 pm. Address: 809 Meridian St, Nashville, TN 37207 (East Nashville). Dress: No published dress code; smart casual is appropriate given the awards pedigree and occasion-dinner crowd. Awards: Michelin Plate (2025), Resy Hit List (2025), OAD Leading Restaurants in North America #284 (2025), Esquire Leading New Restaurants #9 (2022).

Is Audrey Worth It?

Yes, with context. Audrey delivers progressive cooking with a consistent awards track record in a city where that tier of restaurant is genuinely limited. It works for special occasions, date nights, serious food-focused visits to Nashville. It is not the right choice if you want a definitive Nashville comfort food experience, for that, Arnold's Country Kitchen or Biscuit Love Gulch will serve you better. But if you want a room where the cooking is genuinely ambitious and the format is relaxed enough to feel like a dinner rather than a performance, Audrey earns its booking.