Assembly Food Hall — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

The Wyck Recommendation: Assembly Food Hall Rating: 4.2/5 Hot Chicken and Hidden Taxes

Intro Scene I arrived hungry, a little hungover, and just caffeinated enough to make dangerous decisions. Assembly Food Hall beckoned like a neon mirage—music thumping, tourists spinning, the faint scent of grease and ambition in the air. It felt like a food court had a Red Bull and grew up in Nashville.

What Was Ordered One sacred mission: hot chicken. I locked eyes with Prince’s Hot Chicken, the kind of stall that hums with legend. Crispy, nuclear, and completely unapologetic—this bird did not come to play. I paired it with a drink that tasted like summer and regret. Then came the receipt, which revealed its final twist.

Service Commentary Despite the chaos and the crowd density of a BTS concert, the staff were genuinely lovely. Smiling, helpful, and fast on their feet. Even when ten people deep, they somehow made you feel like your decision to order hot chicken at 2 p.m. was a noble one. Huge shout-out to the people who keep this engine running.

Vibe Check If you cross a Vegas casino with a TikTok influencer’s brunch fantasy, you get this place. Loud. Crowded. Alive. Not where you take a first date unless you want to yell over their shoulder about your ex and end up on someone’s vlog.

The Space Itself Multi-level, open-concept food frenzy. You can sit anywhere—grab food from one stall, eat at another, perch at a bar, no judgment. Washrooms? Immaculate. Like, suspiciously clean for a place serving spicy meat to tipsy tourists. Respect to the unsung heroes with mops and dignity.

About the Neighborhood Smack in the belly of Broadway. That means music, madness, and a 93% chance someone will spill a White Claw near your feet. Parking is either expensive or impossible—choose your suffering.

Hits & Misses ✓ Prince’s Hot Chicken: The real deal. Legendary heat, perfect crunch. ✓ Atmosphere: Controlled chaos with a skyline view. ✓ Flexible Seating: Sit wherever, eat whatever, drink wherever. ✓ Clean Washrooms: Someone deserves a raise. ✗ Surprise Liquor Tax: Hidden like a jump-scare. Tourists beware. ✗ Crowds: Peak times = no seats, long lines, spiritual tests.

Final Verdict Assembly Food Hall is a choose-your-own-adventure with bonus calories and unexpected liquor math. Go for Prince’s, stay for the people-watching, and bow in reverence to the staff holding it all together. Worth it? Yes. Just don’t expect peace, personal space, or financial clarity.

Rating: 4.2/5

Perfect For Loud reunions with questionable friends, chasing hot chicken with spiked lemonade.

Tips for Tourists

You can sit anywhere. Get tacos from one place, fries from another, and eat them at a sushi stall. No food court police here.

Avoid peak hours unless you're into waiting or high-stakes table-hunting.

Watch your receipt. The liquor tax sneaks up like a country ballad about heartbreak and overdraft fees.

Don’t get basic. Skip the mall-tier vendors. Hunt for Nashville icons.

Upstairs = quieter. For now. Until a bachelorette party finds it.

Use the washroom. You’ll be weirdly impressed.

Let me know when we’re ready to drop...

Assembly Food Hall is basically a big food court that encompasses a lot of what Nashville has to offer. Whether you want burgers, tacos, waffles, hot chicken, Chinese food, sushi, Italian, or even schwarma, there's a place in here for you.

We came around 1:30 on a Saturday, and while it was quite busy, none of the lines seemed overwhelmingly long (except outside at Hattie B's Hot Chicken outside). I got a burger from the Pharmacy, two people in my party got hot chicken from Prince's, and everyone else in our party got food from Coco's Fresh Italian.

The ordering process is pretty easy. You order at whichever place you want, pay, and give them your phone number. They text message you when your food is ready. As far as I can tell, they all serve the same drinks that are filled at a series of community fountains.

When we were there, a duo was playing ambient pop music. It wasn't too loud or overwhelming, which I appreciated since we had my friend's autistic son with us.

After we were finished eating, we walked downstairs and went to Jeni's Ice Cream outside. The ice cream there is fantastic (especially the dairy-free options, which I was happy to see!).

Overall, I was very satisfied with the offerings and the process of ordering. Since we had 4 children with us, we did not get to experience any of the adult beverage areas, so I can't really comment on those.

But for anyone who wants to sample the best of what Nashville has to offer without having to drive to a ton of different places, the Assembly...

This place is great! We were on the end that was open. It had rotisserie chicken, poke, thai, Italian, and crepes and donuts. The Oke Poke place was delish!! And you have to eat at the Donut Distillery. Their mini donuts are great and they match some of them up with mimosas. I don't drink so I got the drinks virgin style. The original Donut Distillery is a lot cheaper by about $2 dollars less. You can Google it. It's not too far from Broadway.

There's also a shaved ice and cotton candy place. They have really fine ice. It was great!

The other side of the food court wasn't open yet. But they are open now! They opened on Thursday the 20th I believe.

Anyway, there's a bar and live band every day. They are so good! The 2 times we went. There's open outside eating. Everything is so beautiful! There's a big outside Television where people go to watch games. They just bring their lawn chairs. One day the Predators were playing and a small crowd were there seated in blankets and chairs. It was cute!

You should definitely walk down and check out all the bars as they also have live bands. Almost every bar. Catch a honky tonk! Definitely a lot busier toward the end of the week and weekends. It's an experience!

My cousin also bought boots from Tecova! Theres also the Ariat if you want to buy. Anyway, the food hall is beautiful and I hope people don't destroy the beauty of it....