In Nashville, a city quickly becoming a growing hub for tech and new residents, many of its older restaurants—the dives, the meat-and-threes—are trying to hold on to the small-town community spirit:
episode, too), but the decision to add a hot chicken sandwich was driven, in part, by the changing neighborhood, Alex concedes.Photography by Emily Dorio
“No one’s trying to step on anyone’s toes,” she adds. “We all do our own thing. You can’t go wrong with Nashville hot chicken.” Over at Party Fowl, yet another newer hot chicken chain following in the footsteps of Prince’s, albeit with a full-service concept, the story is similar. “Our people are just wonderful,” says Party Fowl co-owner Austin Smith of his home city. “We all look out for each other.”
At its core, the Nashville Way, as Arnold and many others put it, is about kindness. It’s a small-town attitude that everyone is in it together, that a rising tide lifts all boats. And according to some, it’s an attitude in danger of fading away as Nashville’s population grows and changes. “[The city] felt very tight and everyone knew everyone, and you would drop anything to go and help,” Wendkos says. “And now it’s like you’re losing touch with one another because it’s growing so rapidly.
“We’re counting on the fact that as Nashville is changing so much, that people still want something that has credibility,” adds Myers, noting the importance of keeping the old classics alive.