What Is the Best Dessert in Nashville?

2 min read

  • 2 sections
  • 1 table
  • 1 source cited

The Infatuation’s dessert guide, dated October 20, 2025, opens with the kakigori at Locust in 12 South. It calls the shaved-ice dessert “the restaurant’s most recognizable dish”, built from “wispy ice” over fillings like custardy black tea (The Infatuation). For a Southern classic, the same guide sends you to Arnold’s Country Kitchen in The Gulch. There, the hot pepper chocolate pie hides cayenne in its filling, and the guide says your first choice in the meat-and-three line “will actually be dessert”. For banana pudding, it picks the little cup at Hattie B’s Hot Chicken in Melrose. It also names the bushwacker, a boozy milkshake of rum, coffee and chocolate liqueur, and milk, and says the drink got its start in town at Broadway Brewhouse in Midtown. The guide’s list runs from Bobbie’s Dairy Dip soft serve, a West Nashville tradition since 1951, to a durian and caramelized milk mille-feuille at Bad Idea.

Desserts in the Guide

Dessert Place Address
kakigori Locust 2305 12th Ave S, 12 South
hot pepper chocolate pie Arnold's Country Kitchen 605 8th Ave S, The Gulch
banana pudding Hattie B's Hot Chicken 2222 8th Ave S, Melrose
bushwacker Broadway Brewhouse 1900 Broadway, Midtown
soft serve, warm months Bobbie's Dairy Dip 5301 Charlotte Ave, West Nashville
brookie from Hifi Cookies Noko 701 Porter Rd, East Nashville
tiramisu sundae Iggy's 609 Merritt Ave, Wedgewood-Houston
patisserie case D'Andrews Bakery & Cafe 555 Church St, Downtown
roz be haleeb, Lebanese rice pudding Epice 2902 12th Ave S
chocolate gateau Butterlamp Bread & Beverage 1101 Chapel Ave
Basque cheesecake Koré 97 Chapel Ave, Lockeland Springs
baklava from Sweet Armenian Bakery Cafe Babu 1044 Third Ave S, Chestnut Hill
durian and caramelized milk mille-feuille Bad Idea 1021 Russell St

Source: The Infatuation, October 20, 2025 (13 open entries). The guide also lists Margot Cafe & Bar, which it marks as permanently closed. Menus rotate; ask whether the dessert is on that night.

Choosing a Dessert

  1. For something with Nashville roots: the bushwacker at Broadway Brewhouse, which is high in alcohol, or a hot pepper chocolate pie at Arnold’s.
  2. For a dinner finale: Locust’s kakigori or Bad Idea’s mille-feuille.
  3. For a quick stop: Hattie B’s banana pudding, or a Bobbie’s cone in warm weather.

Nashville’s candy, the Goo Goo Cluster, is in the foods Nashville is known for besides hot chicken, and the full Goo Goo story is in what a Goo Goo Cluster is.

Related posts:

  1. What Is the Difference Between Lower Broadway and Upper Broadway? Lower Broadway is the stretch of Broadway from 1st Avenue to 5th Avenue, by the Cumberland River: the honky-tonk district, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the......
  2. Why Are So Many People Moving to Nashville? People move to the Nashville area for work, for Tennessee's lack of a personal income tax, and for housing that is still cheaper than in the largest coastal metros, with......
  3. Are There International Flights From Nashville? Yes. As of October 2026, Nashville International Airport (BNA) has nonstop flights to London Heathrow on British Airways, Dublin on Aer Lingus, seasonal Reykjavík on Icelandair, several Canadian cities, and......
  4. Can You Bike Around Nashville? Yes, and the greenways let you ride away from car traffic: Nashville has more than 110 miles of paved, multi-use greenway paths, according to the nonprofit Greenways for Nashville. Riding......
  5. Can You Get Hot Chicken Delivered in Nashville? Yes. Hattie B's Hot Chicken takes delivery orders directly: its FAQ says to use the "Order" button on its website or its app to order for delivery or pickup (Hattie......
  6. Can You Make Nashville Hot Chicken at Home? Yes. The step that makes it Nashville hot chicken, and not just spicy fried chicken, comes after frying: the fried chicken is coated in a cayenne paste. Wikipedia describes the......
  7. Can You Park for Free in Nashville Neighborhoods? Sometimes. Outside downtown, parking on a residential street without a meter or a restriction sign costs nothing, but neighborhood commercial strips can be metered, and some blocks near busy areas......
  8. Can You Walk Between Nashville Neighborhoods? You can walk between some Nashville neighborhoods, mainly the ones next to downtown: the Gulch and SoBro are short walks from Lower Broadway, and Germantown and the east bank across......
  9. Do You Need a Car in Nashville? You do not need a car in Nashville if you stay downtown and spend most of your trip around Lower Broadway, the Ryman, and the Country Music Hall of Fame,......
  10. Does It Snow in Nashville? Yes, but not much. Nashville averages about 4.7 inches of snow a year under the official 1991 to 2020 climate normals for Nashville International Airport, and a typical year has......
  11. Does Nashville Airport Have Good Food? If good airport food means Nashville food, yes: BNA's terminal has outposts of local brands, including Hattie B's Hot Chicken, Party Fowl, Slim & Husky's Pizza Beeria, and Tootsie's Orchid......
  12. Does Tennessee Have a State Income Tax? No. Tennessee does not tax personal income of any kind, so wages, salaries, interest, and dividends are all free of state income tax. Its last personal income tax, the Hall......
  13. How Bad Is Nashville Traffic? Nashville traffic ranks among the worst in the country: the INRIX 2025 Traffic Scorecard placed Nashville 12th in the U.S. and 30th in the world for congestion, with drivers losing......
  14. How Did Nashville Become the Capital of Tennessee? The legislature chose Nashville as the permanent capital on October 7, 1843, after years of moving the seat of government around, and Nashville won by one vote. Wikipedia's history of......