Merchants @ Nashville

Merchants is a lively three-floor restaurant situated in the heart of downtown Nashville on the corner of Broadway and 4th Avenue. The architecturally significant building dates back to 1892 and has a torrid history that mirrors the electric events that have shaped the personality and character of this downtown area.

The street-level entrance of Merchants leads to a vibrant black and white bistro, often filled with a cross-section of local business men and women, tourists and those attending events in the downtown area. The bistro boasts quality cocktails, comfortable food, and friendly service.

Deviled eggs are hard-boiled eggs that have been shelled, cut in half, and filled with a paste made from the egg yolks mixed with other ingredients such as mayonnaise and mustard. This dish has been served as an appetiser as far back as ancient Roman period.

I am no fan of hard-boiled eggs, so this was not appetising to me.

Buffalo wing, in the cuisine of the United States, is an unbreaded chicken wing section that is generally deep-fried then coated or dipped in a sauce consisting of a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and melted butter prior to serving. It was invented in Buffalo, NY in 1964 by Teressa Bellissimo who owned the Anchor Bar and came up with this dish late one Friday for the primary Catholic community to eat meat after midnight.

The smoked wings here were quite good, came with three dips for you to choose from.

Duck fat tater tots are Merchants’ signature appetiser. Came with trio of dips, the crispy hot potato nuggets were so delicious that they disappeared as quickly as it took to come after ordering.

While we know him for his fascinating story and legendary music, Johnny was also known to make a pretty mean pot of chili. There’s a story about the recipe. People asked for the recipe and Cash used to give them faux ones with one or more ingredients swapped out, like snake meat instead of venison, etc. There are currently two official versions – one that Cash gave to USO for their fundraising cookbook, and the other from his son’s cookbook.

Anyway, this version of Johnny Cash’s chili was supposed to be based on the latter and served on a  bed of cornbread.

Jambalaya is a popular Louisiana-origin dish of Spanish, West African and French influence, consisting mainly of meat and vegetables mixed with rice, almost like a spicy “mui-fan 烩饭”.

I really like the spice and the rice that has fully soaked through with the spices and stock. The seafood was cooked separately and incorporated but luckily they have used the poaching stock for the rice.

There’s nothing as American as cheeseburger, and everyone has a different mix of fats and lean meat for their beef patty and secret sauce. Merchants’ was properly executed.

As you can see Merchants offer a quintessentially American diner menu. Good choice if you are a fan of American diner grubs. Service was really friendly, true Southern hospitality. The place can really get packed on the weekend.

Merchants
401 Broadway, Nashville, TN
Tel : (615) 254-1892

https://www.merchantsrestaurant.com

Date Visited : May 2019