An afternoon in Hillsboro Village has a natural shape to it. The strip is compact enough that trying to plan it precisely defeats the point, you walk it, let one thing lead to another, and leave when you’re done. Here is what’s worth your time.
See a film at the Belcourt Theatre
This is the best reason to come. The Belcourt is Nashville’s independent cinema, operating as a nonprofit since the 1920s. Its calendar runs well beyond new releases: foreign language films, director retrospectives, documentary series, and cult midnight screenings show up regularly. Check the calendar at belcourt.org before you plan a visit. If something good is playing, anchor your afternoon around it. The auditorium seats are comfortable, the projection is sharp, and a $12 ticket gets you something you probably will not find anywhere else in the city.
Eat breakfast or brunch at Pancake Pantry or Fido
Both have been in the neighborhood for decades and both are worth your time, for different reasons. The Pancake Pantry is the institution, open since 1961, limited menu, very good pancakes, reliable long weekend line. Go on a weekday if you want to experience it without the wait. Fido handles coffee shop, breakfast spot, and bar in one large space. The food is consistently good, the atmosphere is relaxed, and it works as a place to settle in rather than rush through.
Browse Book Man/Book Woman
One of Nashville’s actual used bookstores, with real inventory organized well enough that you can find things. The staff knows the collection. It is the kind of place you go in planning to spend 10 minutes and leave 40 minutes later with three books you did not know you needed. Located on 21st Avenue, easy to miss if you are not watching for it.
Walk the residential streets
The streets surrounding the commercial strip contain Nashville’s most intact collection of early 20th-century homes: bungalows, Tudor cottages, foursquares, craftsman houses. The historic overlay that protects these blocks means they actually look the way they looked 80 years ago, which is unusual for Nashville. Take 20 minutes and walk a few blocks in any direction off 21st Avenue. Edgehill Avenue and Belcourt Avenue are both good for this.
Drink at the Villager Tavern
Open for decades, the Villager Tavern is the neighborhood’s dive bar. Darts, affordable beer, gumbo, po’boys, jazz on Sunday nights at 11 p.m. It is not trying to be hip. It is just a bar, which is increasingly rare and valuable in Nashville.
Explore Belcourt Avenue
The hospitality group Make a Play runs four connected concepts on Belcourt Avenue: Supper Club on Belcourt, Bungalow10, Jar Tapas, and Sunset on Belcourt (a cigar lounge with outdoor live music that opened in 2024). This block has become the neighborhood’s most concentrated dinner and evening option, giving Hillsboro Village more nighttime programming than it once had.
Fannie Mae Dees Park (Dragon Park)
Two blocks south of the main commercial strip, Fannie Mae Dees Park contains a mosaic dragon sculpture built from donated art materials by local artist Pedro Silva in the 1970s. It is a genuine piece of neighborhood folk art, beloved by longtime residents, and a good place to sit if the day is nice.
Sources
- Belcourt Theatre, belcourt.org
- Notes on Nashville, Hillsboro Village neighborhood spotlight, February 2025
- NashvilleGo.com, Hillsboro Village neighborhood guide
- Visit Nashville TN, Belmont Hillsboro Village neighborhood page
- Nashville Lifestyles, Sunset on Belcourt opening announcement, June 2024