Breakfast: Café Coco
Café Coco is a local favorite for getting grub around the clock. Get a Lovin’ Bagel or a Big Brutus omelet to start your day off, or continue last night’s 14-hour discussion about The Civil Wars. As a side bonus, the restaurant’s extensive menu is very vegetarian-friendly. The service staff and the clientele are eccentric, creative types sure to set you in the mood for your day of indie love.
Café Coco 210 Louise Ave 321-2626
Activity: Grimey’s Record store
New CD’s, Used CD’s, in-store performances, and sometimes FREE BEER. What more could you ask for in a record store? Here you can find “New and Preloved” CD’s and vinyl records you haven’t been able to find anywhere else. Catch a performance in the store, or go downstairs to check out who is playing at The Basement, a separate music venue loved by Nashville’s indie crowd.
Lunch: Calypso Cafe
Calypso Café offers a healthy, delicious option for feeding Nashville’s taste buds. “Our mission is simple… high quality, hearty dishes at a reasonable price in a fun, relaxed and efficient setting.” The Caribbean fare is a favorite among students looking to escape the cafeteria woes, as well as vegetarians looking for a hearty meal out.
Calypso Cafe 2424 Elliston Place 321-3878
Activity: Shopping: Imogene+Willie and Nashville Clothing Co
What’s more fun than shopping in a gas station? Imogene+Willie have retrofitted an old service station to become home to their cool vintage shop where they make jeans to fit your body exactly. Next leave the old gas station for the modern, industrial, loft feeling of Nashville Clothing Company in the Gulch. The sales team will be more than happy to help you sift through the philanthropic lines such as TOMS and This Shirt Changes Lives as well as local Nashville designers. Other indie shopping hotspots include Hillsboro Village, 5 points in East Nashville, and the shops on Elliston Place.
Dinner: Rosepepper Cantina
Rosepepper provides a lesson geographical Mexican cuisine: their food is considered Sonora Style, which means a little less heat but certainly no less flavor, with some French influences as well. Choose from over thirty different kinds of tequila to make the perfect margarita to enjoy on the outdoor deck or inside the funky restaurant itself.
Activity: Exit/In
A humble black and white building on Elliston with a rickety marquee sign marks the Exit/In. The small venue only seats about 500 people, making every show feel like a personal experience with the band, but the acts that perform here are anything but small. Names that have graced the venue include Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many, many others. It has become one of THE places for indie acts to perform in Nashville.