The Arcade

We visited the Arcade as part of the First Saturday Art Crawl and I can’t believe it took us this long to visit. This place has two of my favorite things: art and food! There are numerous galleries and several eateries and many stay open late as a part of the Art Crawl. We didn’t get to try any of the food (yet) because we ate prior to the event, but we will be sure to try some of the offerings in the future. We did get to try our first ever ‘bubble tea’ here though.
As an added bonus, you can meet most of the artists who are present at their galleries during the Art Crawl.
I’m not sure what the Arcade is like in daylight but it really comes alive during the First Saturday Art Crawl.

Great place, I always go to Phillyman Cheesesteak over there for lunch

Great place for folks who work downtown to grab lunch and run errands.

Not sure what this used to be, but as far as I can tell it’s a sauna hallway with some random stores and lots of space for lease. Great place to walk through if you want to get all sweaty and detox, otherwise, not sure it’s worth a visit, especially in the name of tourism.

It has been decades since I’ve walked through The Arcade! I did not plan to visit while I was downtown, but I passed it on the way to where I parked. It was great walking through it again; it was nostalgic for me.
I may try Katie’s Meat and Three next time.

Interesting spot for an afternoon in Nashville. Tons of places to eat and sit on lunch. We found our new lunch spot called back ally dinner while exploring the different places here. Be sure that you are aware this is not a tourist spot, it is very locals oriented.

hey! go here! yay! there’s lots of local food eateries to choose from.
meat and threes.
greek.
mexican.
delicatessen.
sort of thai, chinese, etc…
oh, and also this place called back alley diner, but, that’s a separate review…

The arcade is a small block that have café/​small restaurants that gets really crowded for lunch from Monday to Friday.
Each of the store have limited seatings inside and outside their space.
Most of the locals eat here or take their lunch orders to go.
It have a Walgreen and a post office.

As a small strip mall this place is really fun! Went on the art crawl where they open the art galleries on the top. Looking down at all the restaurants feels like I’m in a little town. Never even knew this place existed!

Well, it’s pretty good. On the up side, there are several walk-​up food choices, a good variety. On the down side, it’s hot like the inside of a parked car on a summer day in here.
There are lots of little café tables to have a seat and eat my lunch and do some people watching or to watch facebook be overrun by stupid, political commentary… That aside, if you’re a few blocks away, walk over and let us know what YOU think of this place.

The Arcade is a cozy little spot. My husband and I went to Phillyman’s Cheesesteak hoping for a taste of Philly just like home but what we experienced was not a philly cheesesteak… honestly guys stop calling yourselves Phillyman’s if your not going to do it right. Although what we had was good. Just another failed attempt.

I have always loved the Arcade for it’s ambiance and great food. There is nothing like it in Nashville, or any city for that matter. Love it so much I am going to open a new shop in there this Spring! Cute & Comfy Shoes will have it’s 2^nd location there soon!

A real diamond in the rogue… You have to experience this Hidden Gem in the Heart of Nashville Metro Center!
Great place to eat! This is centrally located in the Metro City area and only a few blocks from Anywhere or Anything in downtown Nashville. After my husband and I left 417 Union, we arrived at «Manny’s House of Pizza» in the Arcade.
I love this restaurant. It is my favorite pizza place downtown, and I love to go here during my lunch break at work. I work at 333 Commerce Street at the Bat Building for AT&T. My friend Craig Alea and I would walk over here and have lunch in the warmer months.
My favorite is a slice of Pepperoni Pizza with Jalapeño Peppers. You can order pizza by the slice or whole. They also have spaghetti with or without meatballs and lasagna and then you can order Pepperoni Rolls, Calzones or Strombolli
if you get a chance to go here you must!
The Arcade also has other restaurants and a Post Office. There are tables located in the walkway and in the summertime they have these really large Industrial fans blowing a breeze down the hallway! Upstairs there are some shops and offices. This was the first (MALL) style building in Nashville in the early 1900’s.the history of this building is wonderful. You should research and read about it.
There is also a PEANUT Shoppe located here on the middle corner, where the alley cuts through the middle. It is an old store and I am sure there is a lot of history in there too!!!
Let me know what you think? What is your favorite Arcade restaurant?
A real hidden gem you need to experience when you arrive in Nashville.

This is a hidden gem and so much cooler than the suburban malls and touristy places around here. A friend and I were on lunch break from a nearby conference. He suggested «the arcade» and I thought we were going to a game venue. But this is a cool 100 year old shopping center that features lots of small retail stores and food choices.
We enjoyed pizza and later some candy while taking in the sights (and smells!) of the city. Definitely not green hills mall but you can’t get street cred there! We will be back soon when we have more time to explore some more shops.

This is an interesting part of Nashville I had never seen until recently. I love all the small shops and owners. The food places are amazing for great prices. It gets shady after dark though.

How cool is this place? You’re just walking through the shiny new buildings of downtown and you turn and… time warp. Glass-​covered alleyway. Everything looks straight out of the 70’s. Grungy hand-​painted and neon signs… bums everywhere. Lots of local eateries and shops… mostly places that definitely should be shut down by some health department somewhere, and yet it still stands.
Definitely not a place to bring your kids, but an awesome place to browse through for an hour or so.

Interesting place to pass through if you are in the neighborhood, but I’m not sure if it’s worth driving to downtown for. With what looked like most of Nashville’s art galleries on the second floor (I didn’t explore these), this spot is dominated by lunch and breakfast spots, but also has a post office, coffee shop and and candy/​nut shop. Nice outdoor seating covered by a glass ceiling.

I never am sure when I go here when something is going to fall apart, or someone will die of heatstroke, or a car will go through dead center and smack into someone, however I’ve got to say this is a place that must be experienced
I’m generally down here for the First Saturday Wine Crawl (aka the Art Crawl) and visit most of the galleries when it’s packed with both n’ere-do-wells and the occasional do-​well slightly drunkenly speaking art speak, or attempting to locate the gallery with the massive collection of nude photos, or just gazing around at galleries that you could fit in a closet.
The place is in a delicate balance at the moment between decrepit and hipster, between condemned and trend, where you can get pizza, hair ties, art and a cake or hit up by transients who wander through.
There’s a charm to this place I’m not conveying, and a warning to stay out when it’s been over 100 degrees out, but I’d advise if you have not been to this little place, go and visit it. If nothing else, it’s a place you can say you know where it is, and definitively state that it does not have one single Pac-​Man machine on premise.

Kind of like a secret mall located in a covered alley in downtown Nashville. Worth a pop-​in. There’s food too.
We stopped in on a Friday afternoon and again on a Saturday morning to find 80% of the studios closed. A shame, because I liked some of the stuff. Please get longer hours! I wish the hours or contact info was posted a little clearer on each studio so I could hit them up.

Wow. I love it. It was pretty much abandoned today, so I had a good walk around The Arcade, peering in windows and squeaking across original hardwood along the balcony. It’s a step back in time. Shoe repairs, a fruit stand/​convience store, a hair salon that made me want to call it a «beauty parlor», cupcake shop, old post office, tiny restaurants with out door seating, and newer gallery spaces that thankfully sink back into their store fronts and do nothing to draw attention away from the feel of the walkway. This time capsule is a perfect break for us people who are sick to death of big box stores and massive parking lots. I love walking around small shops. I’ve heard of occasional artwalks there, and I want to see what that experience is like when my husband and I get a chance.
Thanks Unilocal