Acts20.com

Don't mean to waste anyone's time on here but I thought I'd take a moment and share some restaurant info with you all in case you haven't been here much.I'm so glad to have everyone in my hometown for the GA. If you haven't been to Nashville in a while, even the past 3 years, you will notice some MAJOR changes in our city. This town is BOOMING!! There are construction cranes everywhere and high rises going up all around the city. The convention center alone is one of the most beautiful facilities you will ever see. The architecture and design alone are world class. Obviously we have awesome music downtown but of course that may not be the best place to be seen at the COG GA. (ha!) You know, places like Tootsies and Stage and even if you like Blues music you definitely DON'T want to hang out at the Bourbon St. Blues Club in old Printer's Alley. Just saying. I mean really.....WHO would come to Nashville to listen to world class musicians and singers anyways???? Perplexing!!!! ANYWAY....this post is mostly about restaurants anyways so I hope I'm not taken the wrong way. We have some amazing restaurants so I thought I would list a few of my favorites in case you are interested. Sorry to waste your time if this doesn't interest you at all. I love sharing my city!!!! So, here goes......Omni Hotel:BOB'S STEAK HOUSE: By far my FAVORITE STEAK HOUSE in Nashville. The steaks are out of this world! MUCH better than Ruth's Chris or Mortons (which are also options in downtown Nashville)BONGO JAVA: World famous coffee shop next to Bob's Steakhouse. Authentic coffee and great in the morning!BARLINES SPORTS BAR: The sports bar / restaurant inside the Omni has great hamburgers and great music (THAT YOU WILL NOT BE LISTENING TO REMEMBER?!?!) and best of all tons of TV's and big screens. The Omni is connected to the Country Music Hall of Fame and just a bit down the sidewalk towards the HILTON and on the same side as BARLINES is a mexican restaurant that is very casual called BAJO SEXTO TACO (No, its not a vulgar name....the owner is a bass player and plays a 6 string bass thus the name....yes....true story folks).... Oh....and the tacos??? SIMPLY AMAZING!!!!! Not your regular tacos that you're used to getting at Taco Bell either. These are gourmet tacos as well as awesome homemade Guacamole! The Carnitas (pulled pork with fresh pico) is my absolute favorite taco and will melt in your mouth! I'm so hungry for some carnitas tacos that I'm almost tempted to get in my car RIGHT NOW and head downtown for some CARNITAS. FOLKS.......THEY ARE THAT GOOD!! BUT PLEASE UNDERSTAND, I WILL NOT BE GOING DOWNTOWN TO LISTEN TO ANY OF THAT MUSIC. NO WAY!! WHO COMES TO NASHVILLE TO LISTEN TO MUSIC???? WEIRDOS!HILTON Hotel:IL MULINO TRATTORIA is an italian restaurant just off the lobby of the Hilton. Very good ITALIAN food and great pizza as well.Other favs downtown Nashville:IN THE GULCH (about 5-7 blocks from the Convention Center)PINEWOOD SOCIAL: This is one of the new fun spots in Nashville because its near the riverfront and is a place where you can do some work, drink some coffee, get some great gourmet food and then kick back and hit the really really really nice bowling lanes in the room next to the dining room. Like I mentioned, Its also a great place to link up with free wifi and plenty of power outlets while sipping your favorite coffee. An upscale Starbucks is the best way to describe the chill/office/meeting lounge area. This place truly is one of a kind. A GREAT place to hang out during the day and kid friendly.VIRAGO: If you love sushi and asian fusion food then this is your place. It is located just a few blocks away in The Gulch. GREAT FOOD!!!!! They also have an outside deck Overlooking downtown Nashville.KAYNE PRIME: Owned by the same group as VIRAGO and WHISKEY KITCHEN and REALLY REALLY GOOD!!! They have Kobe and Wagyu steaks and they have amazing sides (served Ruth's Chris style) that includes the best side you will ever eat.....Corn Souffle!!!! Yes, its JUST as it sounds. Just trust me on this one. They also have popovers that melt in your mouth. Pricey but worth it! Its next door to VIRAGO. WHISKEY KITCHEN: If you can get by the name theres a third restaurant owned by the same guy that owns VIRAGO and KAYNE PRIME that also has great food and is a major destination for Nashville's country music elite.SAMBUCA: A jazz / fusion themed restaurant based in Dallas. GREAT gourmet food and GREAT chill music while you eat. An amazing view of downtown Nashville so a great location for later evening fellowship on the upstairs outdoor deck overlooking the lights of downtown Nashville.DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE:PUCKETTS: This is your normal meat and 3 and is located downtown a few blocks from the HILTON and OMNI. Really good food and very reasonable. You can usually get in and out fairly quickly during lunch time. You know, in case you have to quickly get back to vote for Eddie Robbins, Old Time Country Preacher, or Nature Boy Florida for 1st Assistant General Overseer (just checking to see who is actually reading all of this information that has come from hours upon hours of late night research!!! NOT REALLY!)JACKS BBQ: This is a dive joint on Broadway a long block from the Convention Center and its some of the best BBQ you will ever eat! Lines are sometimes out the door but they move fairly quickly. Don't even go anywhere else for BBQ. Seriously. It should be against the law to eat anything other than Jacks BBQ. Cheap too! And yes, you can hear the amazing music from all the other venues located on Broadway and surrounding Jacks BBQ. OOPS.... I MEANT TO SAY YOU CANNOT LISTEN TO MUSIC IN NASHVILLE! SHAME ON YOU FOR YOUR CARELESSNESS IN BRINGING IT UP.....AGAIN! STOP IT OK!?!? HA!NORTH DOWNTOWN AREA:GERMANTOWN: This is the old section north of downtown where they have built the brand new baseball field for the Nashville Sounds as well as new condo's and houses to go along with new gourmet restaurants. The Germantown Cafe' is one of the staples of this area but if you do a google search of Germantown you will find plenty of eating options. EAST DOWNTOWN AREA:EAST NASHVILLE: Another trendy area of downtown that has your Nashville Hot Chicken places....some of them look really sketchy but East Nashville is safe and has the coffee and hot chicken places for those who dare.SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN:LOVELESS CAFE': This is about a 20 minute drive from downtown Nashville but is a MUST if you have never been there. Southern food at its best including world famous biscuits, jam, and gravy from the late great Mama Fay. This is one of America's historical places and you will see hundreds of photos on the walls from just about every type of celebrity you can think of.WORSHIP NIGHT:If you don't have any plans Tuesday night theres a new church called THE BELONGING that meets at ROCKETOWN at 7:30pm Tuesday night. Rocketown is only two blocks south of the Omni Hotel and the Convention Center. Pastors Henry & Alex Seeley planted this church a few years ago after leaving 10,000 member church Planetshakers in Melbourne, Australia. This church is growing quickly as they have reached out to the music community and have focused on serving those artists and musicians who usually travel during the weekends. So Tuesday nights are packed with young people passionate about worship but even older folk like myself and Eddie Robbins are welcome. How nice eh?? Hillsong and Planetshaker worship leaders frequently lead worship at The Belonging. They also have a Sunday service at 4pm if you are coming in early. What started as a ministry to the music community has literally started to impact a city including the unchurched. The Belonging is DEFINITELY something you should experience if you have the time. Obviously some will be trying very hard to get Eddie Robbins on the Executive Committee and that will require so much of your time so getting to The Belonging may be difficult. #VoteEddie!AS I WRAP UP THIS PLETHORA OF VITAL INFORMATION, aka MY FOOD SERMON W/ A SMIDGEN OF THAT REMINDER NOT TO LISTEN TO ANY MUSIC LIKE THE RECORDS YOU BURNED BACK IN THE DAY BECAUSE WHEN PLAYED BACKWARDS THEY WARNED OF EATING AT OTHER BBQ JOINTS OTHER THAN JACKS BBQ...... SO PLEASE KNOW THAT IF YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS INFO I WILL NOT FEEL HURT......LOL!FINALLY....IN MY FIRST ATTEMPT TO CLOSE THIS SERMON.....Please understand this one thing about Music City....this town is world class and ............AND expensive!!! Hotels like The Omni and Hilton usually charge around $350 - $450 for one night's stay but I know the COG was able to negotiate a much better rate. Food is also expensive except for a couple places that I mentioned above like Jacks BBQ and BAJO SEXTO TACO. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. PLEASE UPDATE YOURSELF ON TIPPING GUIDELINES NOT ONLY AT THE RESTAURANTS BUT ALSO YOUR HOTEL MAID SERVICE. LETS MAKE SURE TO TAKE CARE OF THOSE WHO TAKE CARE OF US AND LEAVE A GREAT IMPRESSION ON THIS CITY. (That is all I'll say about that! OH, AND DON'T LISTEN TO ANY MUSIC IN MUSIC CITY!!!! YOU HEAR ME????)Ok, seriously, if you have any questions about my city please don't hesitate to send me a message and I'll do my best to answer. I know many of you already know this information but I've been watching a FOOD NETWORK marathon of Andrew Zimmern and I'm in the mood to share my city's tremendous character with my COG friends and associates. Safe travels and don't forget the make your reservations in advance at most of the places I listed above as they fill up quickly on any given night. There are anywhere between 10 - 25 major conventions going on at the same time here in Nashville so it is always packed and always BUSY!!!! JUST SAYIN'Ok, shocker.....I'm done! Really.....DONE! Hope you all have a blast next week!!!!!Enjoy!Darin Scott

Dear "The Love Of God"

Not really that many seafood restaurants that I can recommend. However, Bob's Steakhouse flies in fresh Lobster from Australia on a daily basis and its amazing! Also, Ruth's Chris (at the Hilton) flies in whole Crab from Alaska and its also good. But you'll pay for it too. ha!Brick Church Pike is just on the north side of downtown and I believe theres a Jacks BBQ on that exit. As for food in the convention center.....I'm not really sure because I haven't actually attended an event there yet. Sorry.

Thank you. We like barbeque and will probably try Jacks, Thanks againl.

Brother, we tried Jack's today and LOVED it. There is one here at our exit. Something funny happened before we got there. I remembered the name Jack's and we were hunting it and saw the word Jack and pulled in and was ready to get out and I thought this doesn't look right, well, it was a Jack in the Box. We both laughed and got back out on Church Brick Pk and found it only a block or so down. I am sure we will be eating at it again before we leave. I really do thank you for informing us. Otherwise, we probably would not even noticed it. My husband has been on the phone telling our relatives all about the barbeque and the beans. Good food and good atmosphere. God bless.