The tells are specific. Nashville locals and Nashville tourists move through the same city in very different ways, and the differences are not about what you wear or whether you can name-drop a songwriter. They are operational.
Avoid Broadway on Weekend Nights Unless You Have To
Locals do not brunch on Broadway. They do not bar-hop on lower Broadway on a Saturday unless they are showing out-of-town guests around. The tourist corridor is acknowledged by most residents as essentially a separate economy, one they are happy the city has but one they personally avoid.
If you want to feel like a local on Broadway, go on a Tuesday. Arrive early. Watch the afternoon crowd, which is a completely different thing from the weekend night crowd, more musician-focused, less bachelorette-dense. Tip the band.
Know the Actual Neighborhoods
Tourists think Nashville is Broadway and the Grand Ole Opry. Locals think Nashville is wherever they live, which is usually East Nashville, Germantown, 12 South, the Gulch, Sylvan Park, or one of a dozen other distinct neighborhoods. The ability to distinguish between East Nashville’s Five Points and Inglewood, or between Germantown and the Salemtown block to the south, marks local knowledge from tourist knowledge.
Ask a local where they actually go to eat and they will name something in their neighborhood or a specific restaurant somewhere off the tourist map.
Do Not Call It “Nash Vegas”
This nickname is primarily used by visitors and by tourism marketing that is pandering to visitors. Locals call it Nashville. If pressed, some use “Nash.” “Nash Vegas” in local conversation reads as tourist.
Get Off the Honky Tonk Crawl Circuit
Locals who like live music go to the Bluebird Cafe, The Station Inn, Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, the Listening Room, or neighborhood bars in East Nashville that book interesting touring acts. These are not secret, but they require knowing they exist. A concert at Ascend Amphitheater or the Ryman is a normal local activity. Standing outside a celebrity bar on Broadway waiting to get in is not.
Move by Car
Nashville is a car city. Locals do not walk from 12 South to downtown (unless they are making a point about it) and they do not walk from East Nashville to Germantown. They drive or they rideshare. Treating Nashville like a walkable city and then complaining about the heat in summer or the distances is a tourist move. Plan around cars.
Know the Food Beyond Hot Chicken
Hot chicken is beloved by locals, not just a tourist product. But ordering it and acting like you have discovered something is different from being part of a city that eats it regularly. Locals know which spots have consistent quality (Prince’s for tradition, Hattie B’s for accessibility, Bolton’s for those who know about Bolton’s). They also eat meat and three on weekdays, drive to Germantown for dinner at Rolf and Daughters, and argue about who makes the best biscuit. The food conversation goes well beyond the flagship item.
Tip the Bands
This is repeated because it is fundamental. The free-entry honky-tonk model exists because people tip. Locals who go to Broadway, even occasionally, tip. Someone who watches a Nashville band for an hour and walks out without leaving anything is signaling that they do not understand what they are participating in.
Stop Asking About Taylor Swift
She has not been based in Nashville in years. The number of tourists who treat Nashville as primarily a Taylor Swift pilgrimage has increased sharply since the Eras Tour. Locals have complicated feelings about this. Asking a Nashville local where Taylor Swift eats is like asking a Memphian where Elvis lives.
Appreciate the Craft
Nashville’s defining local culture is professional musicianship. The session musicians, the songwriters, the producers, the engineers. Most people at the Bluebird on a Sunday night know more about how music is actually made than most visitors ever will. The city’s professional reverence for craft is the thing that separates it from every other entertainment economy. Approaching Nashville’s music scene with that understanding rather than as a content backdrop for your trip changes the experience entirely.
Sources:
- Oxford Academic, Social Problems: Tipping Regimes on Nashville’s Honky-Tonk Row (May 2025)
- Nashville Banner: various coverage of Nashville neighborhood culture
- Vanderbilt Hustler: Nashville’s identity crisis (February 2023)
- TripAdvisor Nashville Forum: various local recommendations threads
- Visit Nashville official neighborhood guides