Fancypants — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

Easily one of the best and most innovative restaurants in nashville. Sometimes when I go out to eat I’m going to a different version of the same restaurant everywhere I go—this is not that at all. No two menu items felt redundant to one another, and each one was totally unique from what I’ve had elsewhere. The technique and care applied to a mostly vegetable-based menu is incredible. I think among the party we all at least tried every single menu item (except the steak) and I can confidently say that there are zero misses on the entire menu. My personal favorite was the squash with ricotta foam. Usually I think foam is stupid and showy, but there was a lot of flavor and tang that offset the kind of earthier thick squash flavor. I think they’d have to kill me if they told me what exactly was in it but it was phenomenal. The onion cacio e Pepe was another standout. By using onions farther than pasta, it made the whole dish lighter and more balanced with the rich creamy sauce. Again just completely packed with flavor. A lot of unusual ingredients or combinations on the main menu that have been fine tuned to a perfect balance. Everything on the bonus menu is great too, probably my favorite was the hamachi crudo. Just really fresh and light, not too fishy or too muted. Everyone seems to post the funfetti cheesecake, which is fantastic, but don’t sleep on the apple tart. This is definitely not a restaurant that neglects pastry by any means.

The drinks were also fantastic, it’s clear that they’re curating the wine list really carefully, I think I only recognized one of the wines. Pricing is great too—$15 for a premium glass of wine is really unusual for a restaurant this nice. Same for the cocktails, which I think would’ve been priced at twice what they were at a comparable restaurant. I got the grass skirt and tried sips of others, but it was easily one of the best tiki cocktails I’ve ever had. Whatever their corpse reviver 2 variant was, phenomenal. I’ve seen the Somm at other restaurants and had similarly positive experiences, definitely a cut above most of nashville.

I have to say that the hospitality was probably the highlight of the evening. We were greeted immediately by a host who also gave us a delicious welcome cocktail. Our server Emily was probably the best server we’ve had in the city. Totally attentive without being fake or overbearing, really helpful with recommendations. No table droughts, no long term host stand vacancy, and we got a number of little snacks and palate cleansers between courses.

Tl;dr this place goes band for band with a lot of Michelin star restaurants at a fraction of the price, totally unique and creative and...

My wife and I truly wanted to enjoy this place as first-time visitors tonight, but the entire experience left us confused and underwhelmed. On the positive side, the restaurant is fresh and vibrant, with exceptional staff who were attentive and friendly — also the physical menu showed promise with creative dishes and a stellar design layout. On the negative side, however, I’ll start with us being sat outside on the patio in 45-degree (way too cold) temperatures and outrageously loud road noise from Dickerson Pike — no embellishment here, there were semi-trucks, motorcycles, and modified cars/trucks roaring past us every other minute as we sat next to a portable propane tank heater. Completely inappropriate ambience for a fancy night out to dinner for two. The outdoor patio point alone was a loss of a full star, had we have been seated inside, we’re certain it would’ve been far more enjoyable. Next, the menu was wildly expensive and unclear — we thought “Pick 3” actually meant we could choose three items per person, but it turned out we could only choose two items to share between the two of us — and this was after we added the very very expensive ribeye steak. Super confusing and disappointing as the high price commanded such a variety of dishes but didn’t deliver at all. Avoid the candied squash at all costs, it was undercooked (too hard, tough to cut) and had an artificial smoke flavor that was nearly impossible to rid the aftertaste. Thankfully our server replaced the squash with a tomato-based pasta dish which was miles better. Also, we discovered this is a ultra-vegetarian restaurant after receiving the Cacio e Pepe when it arrived as a pile of onions (not pasta) — it was actually pretty decent, but would’ve been far better served as a side dish with the steak instead of as a dedicated second course entree. Lastly, for two people our bill was $312 after tip which is criminal considering we only ordered two beers and one cocktail on top of the steak, cacio e pepe, and squash dish. On a positive note, we were treated to several “complementary” treats and tastings of various food and drink throughout, but we began to suspect that the cost of this was baked into our bill considering how incredibly expensive it was. Need to mention that it took way too long between courses — we easily waited for 25 minutes between each phase of the dinner which wound up taking two full hours from start to finish. Sadly, we were rooting for this place big-time but just can’t justify a return or recommendation to others based on our...

Fancypants is nothing short of fancy. When you arrive you receive a free cocktail from the nicest host EVER. I think it’s usually champagne but for the holidays they’re serving up mulled wine.

My friend and I arrived early for our reservation and they found a way to seat us before it at the bar. We were content with waiting but the fact that they even thought about moving us show their level of efficiency and customer service. They sat us at the bar near the kitchen and had the best meal from that moment on.(side note: I love a bar stool with a back and foot rest - the comfiest seating!!)

Since we were so flexible with our reservation, the hostess brought over free champagne much to our surprise! Ok ok, let me get to the food…

Fancypants is a prix fixe menu where you can either pick 3 dishes for $70 a person or their steak dinner where you split a big boi piece of steak and 2 dishes each for $105. On Sundays they have the menu open for a la Carte so keep that in mind! My friend and I went with the original dinner (which includes no meat FYI!) and each got 3 different dishes so we could split 6! I don’t remember everything we got but my standouts are the spicy carrot rigatoni with chili oil on the side, Japanese sweet potatoes, and Napa cabbage.

We were served by bartender Samir and what a gem he was! For such a busy night he was engaging and even made my friend a custom cocktail. If you sit at the bar, ask for Samir! He’s wonderful.

For drink, I went with their old fashioned. I don’t think I’d order this again due to how far it starts from the original cocktail, but if you’re thinking of dipping your toes in the old fashioned world, this would be a great one to start with! I then had the “plaid pajamas”, an apple focused seasonal cocktail.

We wrapped up the evening with a slice of the birthday cake cheesecake and dare I say it’s the best cheesecake I’ve had in a looooooong while. If you’re thinking it’ll be too sweet, they somehow balance the funfetti and classic richness of a cheesecake. I’d go back for another slice alone… as a matter of fact, I might do that on a Sunday 🤔

While the price is steep, the service and food you receive make it worth every single penny. While other restaurants in Nashville focus on vibes and service is left by the wayside, Fancypants checks all the boxes for a unique dining experience with a friendly staff and...