Assembly Food Hall

Going To "Court"

In June of 2023, I went to Nashville to see one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Tori Amos. Seeing her perform was one of my life goals, a part of my "Operation Bucket List" that unfortunately was inspired by the death of Nanci Griffith. Unfortunately, I procrastinated too long and never got around to seeing her perform live. After her death, I was determined to see Tori and my other favorite singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega (lucky for me, she did a show in Nashville four months later). I was able to accomplish my goal while enjoying good food in the process. Fortunately, one of the most diverse collection of restaurants in Nashville is across the street from the Ryman Auditorium where Tori Amos preformed.

Assembly Food Hall is an impressive collection of restaurants offering everything from Nashville-style Hot Chicken to just about anything you can think of, be it Chinese, Vegan, Desserts, Pizza, Indian, Barbecue, Tacos, Burgers, etc. The choices are overwhelming, and there is no way that you can go there and not find something that's palatable.

For me, given that I was in Nashville, I knew there was one thing that I had to try. It boiled down to royalty, as in the "Prince." Of course, going to Prince's Hot Chicken meant going to, well, Prince's Hot Chicken. I didn't expect to be going to a food court, or "hall." I didn't realize that Prince's didn't have a standalone location in Downtown Nashville until after going around the block several times to discover Assembly Food Hall.

As I said, the place is impressive. It is a multi-story facility that has seating throughout building (most on the second floor). In addition to restaurants, it has several bars for those who want to indulge in a libation or two.

Although I was tempted to get my drink on, I knew I had to stay sober if I wanted to get the most (as in not falling asleep) out of Tori's concert. Because I had spent hours on Broadway Street, I took relief from the heat at AJ's Good Time Bar, where I had a beer and a Red Bull in a honky tonk oasis of "chill". Eventually, I made my way's to "Prince's."

This was not what I had in mind when I thought about Prince's Hot Chicken. I envisioned an Old School restaurant that was part diner, part Soul Food heaven. I did not expect to eat "hot chicken" in a food hall that lacked any sense of "soul" or ambiance that a Soul Food restaurant typically has. I'm sure those who are interested in other cuisines could say the same thing about whatever restaurant that they're dining at, but that's the tradeoff when you dine at a food hall. Nevertheless, I wasn't wasting an opportunity to try some original Nashville Hot Chicken from the restaurant that started it all.

Initially, I wanted to get dark meat in the form of legs and thighs, but the Prince's at Assembly Food Hall only sold chicken tenders. That was a disappointment for me, because I wanted the complete experience that I've heard about from friends. It seems that the food hall location lacks the capacity to offer Prince's complete menu. If I was going to get that, I would have to travel across town to Prince's brick and mortar restaurant. With me not having a vehicle, that wasn't gonna happen unless I crush my budget in getting an expensive Uber ride to the place. So I had to settle for chicken tenders with the "hot" flavor. Compared to other places where I had Nashville Hot Chicken like Hattie B's (which has a restaurant on Assembly Food Hall's ground level that features a full menu), Prince's tenders met all the taste requisites that one would expect (although not nearly as hot as Hattie B's). The chicken tenders were fresh and, well, tender that made for a tasty lunch. Still, I wanted that greasy experience that one gets from gnawing on a chicken bone, but that will have to come another day.

UPDATE: Since that time, I finally made the trip to Prince's brick-n-mortar restaurant on the outskirts of Nashville. The bone-in chicken ("quarter-dark") was much better. I will talk more about it in a future review.

Website: PrincesHotChicken.com

In addition to food and drinks, Assembly Food Hall is also a music venue that features local artists playing a variety of music (despite its reputation, Nashville isn't solely "Country"). With it being across the street from The Ryman and near Broadway Street, one has to assume that the music acts are of high quality in order to compete. From what I saw and heard, I don't believe the artists playing at Assembly Food Hall have anything to worry about. Speaking of music artists, one of the bars at the food hall is Dolly Wines, a wine bar that's obviously associated with Country music legend Dolly Parton. If all the wines are as good as the Pinot Noir, this should be another success for the Queen of Country Music. I advise you grab a glass and enjoy!

Website: DollyWines.com

NOTE: I almost forgot to mention that Assembly Food Hall is a CASHLESS facility, meaning that only credit/debit card transactions are conducted.

In the end, my conclusion about Assembly Food Hall is that it is an impressive place where you can literally get a global experience in one place. Depending on what you're looking for or expecting, be a blackened shrimp roll, a chicken shawarma bowl or anything else within the eclectic mix of restaurants of the "Assembly," the food hall might have the exact thing that you're looking for. For anyone looking for a place where you can get great dining in an entertaining environment that's not overwhelmingly "Country," Assembly Food Hall is the place to go in Downtown Nashville.

Website: AssemblyFoodHall.com

And Now For The Show...

The main reason for travelling to Nashville was to see Tori Amos. As I said earlier, Tori is one of my favorite singers ever, third only to Suzanne Vega and Nanci Griffith. After years of waiting for her to come to my hometown of Memphis, Nanci's death made me realize that life is short and it will pass you by before you know it. So I knew that when an opportunity to see either Tori or Suzanne came up, I had to take advantage of it. Ideally, I would have liked the ladies to come to Beale Street, but if I have to travel to Broadway, so be it. Therefore, my trip to Nashville became an eventuality with the added bonus or Tori playing in the famous Ryman Auditorium.

Known as the birthplace of Bluegrass music, the Ryman Auditorium was originally a church before becoming the famed music venue that artists from many music genres have performed. From Emmylou Harris to Lizzo, from Hank Williams to the Wu-Tang Clan, the Ryman has hosted many musicians for decades as well as served as a venue for luminaries like Helen Keller and Michelle Obama. There's a lot of history at the Ryman, but I was there for one reason.

Tori put on an amazing show, singing all her hits like "Cornflake Girl" and "Crucify" (my favorite) along with a few new songs. An interesting moment for me was when she sang "Upside Down" and got to the lyric "I dreamed I loved a black boy." Instead of singing the original lyric, she changed the gender of the person she dreamed of loving. That got a rousing approval from the audience that apparently loved the change. Although I'm more of a traditionalist, I'm flexible enough to get with the times (this must be a trend, for Alanis Morrisette did a similar thing with her song "Ironic" when I saw her perform). In addition to being a great singer, Tori is an excellent pianist whose skills are mesmerizing.

In all, I had a great time at Tori Amos' concert. The show was one of the best I've seen and at the time was the best concert that I've seen in 2023, only surpassed by Suzanne Vega's show that happened later in the year.

If I have one criticism, it is Tori Amos' outfit. Look, we all know that Tennessee is a very "red" state (so much so that it drew The Atlantic staff writer Anne Applebaum's attention). However, not every Tennessean is a jingoistic "patriot" who has contempt for anyone who aren't "real Americans." I'm pretty sure no one will confuse a Tori Amos show for a Morgan Wallen concert. Therefore, artists like Tori don't have to patronize their fans by wearing outlandish outfits that could come across as condescending for some. For me, as long as she didn't dress up as "Stormfront" (a Nazi character from Amazon's "The Boys" show), I would have been cool with anything that Tori wore.

SIDE NOTE: If there was any doubt about Tori's "woke" audience, her changing the gender of a character in a song (in an LGBTQ-friendly way) to rousing approval should have dispelled any assumptions about how "redneck" her fans are.

Overall, both the concert and everything else about the trip was great. Unlike the Suzanne Vega concert where I had a few curveballs thrown at me, this trip to Nashville went without a hitch. I even learned a few things about traveling that helped me on my return to the Music City. With the Tori Amos concert checked off my bucket list, I feel like I took some weight off my shoulders. As for the Ryman, I hope to attend more shows there because it's a fun place to go. With a bonus of a nearly international food court across the street, I have everything I need to have a good time in Nashville.