26 Nashville restaurants opening this year with high anticipation

Tennessean, January 2026

Dalts American Grill, reopening

38 White Bridge Road

After 45 years as a west Nashville gathering spot, Dalts American Grill closed permanently in December, sparking an immediate outpouring of memories from loyal customers who loved its classic American fare and neighborhood feel.

Among those longtime patrons are brothers Max and Benjamin Goldberg of Strategic Hospitality, who grew up eating at Dalts. Their restaurant group will reimagine and reopen Dalts on an unspecified timeline in partnership with Andrew Sohr, founder of Nashville-based Happy Fat Boy Hospitality. The team has purchased the Dalts brand and concept and entered into a long-term lease with property owners Randy and Janice LaGasse for the existing site, with plans to rebuild within the current footprint. Their goal, they said, is to solidify Dalts as the "Cheers" of West Nashville.

Sally's Stay Awhile

611 Wedgewood Ave.

Sally’s Stay Awhile, opening in spring 2026 in Nashville’s Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, is an all-day restaurant from Strategic Hospitality. Designed as a welcoming neighborhood gathering place, it will serve approachable takes on classic American dishes from breakfast through dinner, along with a full beverage program of cocktails, beer, wine, and coffee. It will be the group’s second concept in the neighborhood, following Bastion, which opened in 2016.

The restaurant’s name honors Sally Rains Merritt, daughter of Captain John Rains, who settled 640 acres of what is now Wedgewood-Houston in 1779. After his death, she built the Merritt Mansion nearby — a story that subtly ties the project to the area’s early history, when horse racing was central to Middle Tennessee life and one of the region’s celebrated racehorses shared the name Wedgewood.