The Ridge — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

We actually came back to The Ridge a second time while in Nashville. Many good restaurants are known for something specific, and they do really well at it. The Ridge was one of those rare places that is good at everything. We tried their catfish platter and their 3 meat bbq platter.

The catfish was OUTSTANDING. Let me say that again ... OUTSTANDING. Catfish is plentiful in Tennessee, but cooking awesome catfish takes skill. It begins with fresh catfish that has been filleted properly.

On top of the filleted catfish, you need two things: 1) a great batter, and 2) oil at the proper temperature. The Ridge's batter was awesome. It had a cornmeal base; not sure if it was white or yellow corn, and then it had pepper and salt mixed in. I believe it possibly had lemon pepper; it was subtle so I wasn't sure, but it had enough pepper to give it a light kick. The light cornmeal batter seals in the flavor and keeps the fish from drying out, and the spicing brings out the catfish flavor.

The oil was definitely the right temperature based on the hush puppies. Hush puppies are little balls of cornbread flash cooked in oil. If the oil is not hot enough, then it seeps into the hush puppies (and anything else) and makes them soggy. Far too many restaurants serve soggy hushpuppies. Oil at the proper temperature sears the outside crispy quickly enough to prevent oil intrusion. Some places start out with hot oil, but then use during busy times drops the temperature too much for later batches. The Ridge nailed it with crispy outside, yummy inside catfish, hushpuppies, and french fries.

Not to be outdone, The Ridge's BBQ was also excellent. We tried pulled pork, ribs, and 1/2 dark smoked chicken. The chicken fell off the bone, and had a good smoked flavor. The pulled pork and ribs were similar; very tender meat and full flavor, even without the sauce. And THAT is the best sign of a good BBQ place. Its easy to make a yummy sauce that tastes good, but properly smoked meat should be full flavored without the sauce. Far too many BBQ places have bland meat that needs the sauce to add flavor. Great BBQ like The Ridge comes out smoked full of flavor, and then you can choose to add sauce depending on your mood.

The Ridge did not forget about the side dishes either. Their turnip greens were chopped, cooked fresh (so not too bitter) and obviously cooked with pork fat and spiced lightly. I could have made a meal out of the turnip greens. They had two types of cole slaw: sweet and spicy, which I loved. I prefer vinegar/spicy slaw, and most places have one or the other. This had both to serve both palettes. Their french fries and tater tots were yummy without needed ketchup, green beans were as good as the turnip greens, and even the roll (which many places buy from Sam's Club and throw on the meal as an after thought) was excellent.

Finally, since The Ridge was on a roll, we decided to try dessert: coca cola cake and chess pie. The Coca Cola cake struck that perfect balance between rich and sweet, and was very moist like a proper cake should be. The chess pie, by design, is super rich, but small in size so you don't get overwhelmed. Service was great. They do have a bar upstairs; I was with my 17 year old so we didn't try the bar.

As I said, we liked the place so much we came back again during our week visit in Nashville. If you find yourselves in Nashville, please eat here and support a phenomenal...

If I could give 10 stars to this restaurant I would!!!!! 12 of us were attending a convention in town. We are from out of state in California. Our tradition has always been to have a team dinner one of the days we are at the yearly convention we attend for our business. It’s a big deal and we make it a special night to thank our team. We have always gone out to a very nice, and usually expensive, restaurant to have dinner. But this time, instead of a hotel, we got a ARBNB for our team. We thought having barbecue delivered to the house would be fun. It was my job as the team leader to arrange this and, believe me, I was super nervous as this was our first time in Nashville and would be my first experience getting food delivered. I started looking at nearby barbecue places and reading reviews. As you know, taking a chance based solely on reviews can sometimes be a challenge. The Ridge was getting some of the best reviews I could find. 5 stars. So I called to see if I could order barbecue for 12 people and have it delivered to the ARBNB. The nicest man answered the phone. His name is Jesus Garcia. I’m sure he could tell how nervous I was on the phone. I started asking questions about ordering the food and he quickly made me feel at ease. He was super knowledgeable and extremely helpful in helping me put a dinner together! His communication was outstanding from beginning to end!! He delivered everything on the day I requested and on time. The absolute best part of this story is of course the food!!!!!!!! I have never had such amazing food!!! The brisket was just outstanding!!! Cooked perfectly!!! Smokey and literally melted in your mouth!!! The street corn, baked beans and coleslaw were the best we have ever had!!!!! He even gave us 2 jugs of sweet tea and an extra tray of barbecued chicken, salads for the two vegetarians!!! Lol And, provided all of the serving ware, cups and plates!!! And to top that all off the banana pudding we ordered was absolute heaven!!!!!!! The team was very, very happy !!!!!! And for this, our sincere thanks!!!!! The Ridge and Jesus made our team dinner a very, very special and...

Review updated 06/27/2025 due to the response from owner...to think Ive recommended this business to friends, familyn and business owners, that actually purchased and ate here and LOVED my recommendation and the food.. I myself patronized this business for the last 3 years as stated in my 3 star rating. I stated "I paid $9.25 for a piece of cake that I cant even eat and is in the trash" I never said your food was trash any where in my review. However, your response is. end of update.

I have NEVER seen no black pecans in my entire life. Yes, I called and asked the restaurant what are these black nuts in the carrot cake that I ordered, because it says the carrot cake is with pecans. the person answering the phone says black walnuts and when I say well in the ubereats app it say pecans which is why ordered it, He then corrects her in the background that it is pecans. I made the statement I ordered it because it said with pecans and I'm calling because I've never seen no BLACK pecans in a carrot cake EVER nor ANY cake. she says, yes, it is pecans and ended the call. I paid $9.25 for a piece of cake that I cant even eat and is in the trash, because NO, Im not eating no BLACK pecans, wasted my money against my better judgement. I even google searched black pecans before calling (WHICH is why Im not eating it). Never again will I order online from here after this. The fish was O.K., wasn't cooked well as it usually is(didn't eat all of it either). I have many past purchases for the same fried fish plate for over 3 years now and was satisfied which is why I returned for the same that always as order. Only difference this time is that I decided to order the carrot cake with pecans, this meal was a...