"When people ask what’s the best Italian restaurant in the city, invariably, someone will pipe up with the requisite, “my grandma’s house.” And in Nashville, Chef Nonna’s is as close to that as you'll get. The chef at this warm and modern Sylvan Park spot incorporates his grandmother’s recipes into the menu to make things like arancini, mussels in a saffron cream sauce with little pieces of pancetta poking about, and a towering slab of lasagna bolognese. You can even build your own pasta plate here, mixing and matching different rigatoni, risotto, and penne with a bunch of sauces, meats, vegetables, and cheeses." - jackie gutierrez jones 2