8th & Roast — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

This is going to be a long review, but in summary: There are a ton of food options, from quick-grab items to fresh cooked food. Plenty of both savory and sweet items, and a plethora of gluten-free options. They make exceptional "classics" (we tried a cappuccino and cortado) but also provide flavored lattes. They value consistency and take exceptional care with each drink!

My Dad and I have gone on coffee dates every Friday for 7+ years. We started as frappe and white chocolate mocha lovers, but over time have grown to love coffee in its simpler forms. That said, we have become coffee snobs which was only made worse when I became a barista back home. We were looking for a place to stop by for our final coffee date before I head off to college, and this was where we landed in the middle of a road trip.

I'm almost thankful that I don't live closer to this cafe because I would spend an absurd amount of money here. The environment is perfect for studying or chatting. For days you don't feel like drinking coffee, they have plenty of fun options in their cold display as well as chai, matcha, and other teas. They also have quick-grab foods that looked incredible! (Pb+J overnight oats

Good coffee at a bad price, with poor attention to details. I like their beans, but I bought a bag last week and with tax it was close to $20 for a 12 oz. bag. That's as much as if not more than if I ordered from Blue Bottle Coffee. "Well yeah but you're getting fresh roasted beans at Eighth," you say. Am I? My bag doesn't have a date written on it--the person who packed it apparently didn't bother to note the day it was roasted. To top it off, the bag was so glued shut that it was impossible to open--I thought I finally had one corner unstuck after minutes of carefully tugging and pulling, and then the material ripped vertically and the wire sealing band fell off. I've been using the bag anyway by rolling it down as far as possible, but because the glue is so strong, it's a struggle every day to re-open it without damaging the bag even more. Oh you're right I could just transport the beans to another container, but I don't have a container that will let the gas out while the beans are stored--that's what the bag should be for.

The cashier stared at me without smiling as I carried the bag to the counter to pay for it. Maybe she was worried I was going to steal it? I mean I bathed that morning and had on clean clothes! I'd just come from a meeting with clients so I was in a pretty sociable mood! Then after ringing it up, she said thank you and walked away to resume a conversation with coworkers, leaving me to finish the transaction on my own. Maybe this was to encourage me to tip in privacy? Or maybe it was a really good conversation she was missing out on.

The place was packed while I was there. It's always packed. They seem very popular (I mean look at the rating) but I felt a little ripped off this last visit. I paid the same amount that I'd pay in Manhattan or Williamsburg and I'm not sure why their prices are so high when they can't even get the details (no date on bag), or the packaging (bag badly glued shut), or the employee training (walked away mid-transaction), right.

To be clear to the owners that this isn't just a rant, I will start ordering from Blue Bottle or some other non-local coffee roaster from now on. There's no motivation here for me to give my business to 8th and Roast if y'all aren't going to...

Headed south through Nashville on my way home from Louisville last weekend, this place was the perfect stop for a quick pick-me-up for the last leg of the drive.

I was pleased to find them open fairly late in the afternoon and on a Sunday no less. Even better was the mostly-maneuverable nearby free parking lot! Not a ton of space, but a spot for me - hurray! :)

After a short walk over, I found the inside of the shop to be bright, slightly industrial, airy, and comfortable, with several people clearly hanging out, working on laptops, or just catching up. Seems like a good place for all of those needs! On the quieter side than some community coffee shops the day I visited, so perhaps extra good for getting work done. One drawback was I looked for a restroom and didn't find one easily. There might be one available to the public but I wasn't quite desperate enough to ask.

I knew pretty quickly I wanted one of their seasonal specialities. I asked the barista taking my order which of a couple yummy-sounding drinks was the sweetest as I like my lattes on the dessert side. He said he hadn't tried any of them! I thought that was pretty funny. No big deal. I wound up choosing an iced "We Were in Paris," which had hazelnut, cinnamon, and brown sugar. It was nicely balanced, pleasantly sweet, with lots of cinnamon flavor. I enjoyed it.

Pictures showed yummy looking pastries, but they were understandably somewhat picked over by late afternoon. I wound up with a chocolate chip muffin for a snack. It was decent but a little dry. I would've liked it if someone had offered to heat it up for me but there were folks waiting behind me and I didn't want to be an inconvenience so I just took it as it was. The crumble and drizzle of glaze on top was nice.

All in all, could definitely see a return stop in the future. Enjoyed my brief time here and certainly...