New Italian, sushi and Southern cooking is on its way to Nashville

New menu items debuted at one of Nashville's oldest restaurants. An authentic Italian spot replaced a longtime, beloved neighborhood restaurant. And gourmet hot dogs are now available in Williamson County.

All of it happened in April within the ever-evolving dining scene in the Nashville area.

Here is everything you need to know about the restaurants that opened and closed this month.

Brown's Diner serving up new cocktail menu

One of Nashville's oldest restaurants got a new cocktail menu in April in the midst of a revamp for the beloved spot.

Brown's Diner on 21st Avenue now offers a lineup of signature cocktails, including bushwhackers, screwdrivers and margaritas. The 97-year-old restaurant boasts the oldest beer license in Nashville.

“When I took over Brown’s Diner in 2021, I knew I was taking over a part of Nashville history,” owner Bret Tuck said in a news release. It has had three owners in its long history.

"Brown’s has long been a place to enjoy a cold beer and great food, and that hasn’t changed. But we wanted to create something new and exciting for guests with our cocktail menu."

The diner now offers classic cocktail recipes like Tom Collins and Old Fashioned. "The Goldfish" will have Uncle Val's Peppered Gin and Blonde Bloody House Mix while "Derby" will have Blue Note Bourbon, fresh grapefruit juice, simple syrup and cherry.

Brown's also has a large new patio and breakfast all day.

Openings

Rodney Scott opens barbecue spot at Chiefs

Chief's, the six-story Broadway bar, restaurant and entertainment themed after Eric Church opened in early April, which means award-winning pitmaster Rodney Scott made his Nashville debut.

Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ takes up the top two floors of the huge Chief's building, where Eric Church is in the midst of a 19-show residency to celebrate the venue's opening.

The Nashville location makes Tennessee the fourth state to have a barbecue restaurant spearheaded by Scott, who began smoking meats at just 11 years old.

Daddy's Dogs opens new Franklin location

After lots of interest from fans of dressed-up hot dog stand Daddy's Dogs, the restaurant opened a Williamson County location in April.

A couple hundred foodies showed up at the soft opening of The Factory at Franklin. Before the newest location opened, one of the only places to get Daddy's Dogs in Williamson County was at the annual Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin.

No longer.

The restaurant is also working on an expansion to the Madison area later this year.

More Italian opens in Belle Meade area

Chef Rosario DeLuca, originally from Italy, opened DeLuca on April 30 in the former Porta Via space on White Bridge Road.

The traditional Italian restaurant concept will feature dishes DeLuca grew up eating. General manager Angelo Ferrante, who managed top-rated downtown Italian spot Yolan, was also born in Italy.

"It’s full blown Italian that's not Americanized," Ferrante told The Tennessean. "No chicken parm here."

Closings

Porta Via closes after 15 years on White Bridge Pike

A longtime Italian restaurant on White Bridge Road closed April 7 after several decades in business. Porta Via originally opened in 1989 in Bellevue and relocated to its White Bridge home in 2009.

"We could not be more proud of what we have accomplished together at Porta Via. But, as is often said: 'All things must pass,'" General Manager Mehrdad Alviri wrote in a social media post about the closure. "Of course, nothing this meaningful passes without both joy and sadness."

Alviri cited health concerns for the closure and said he is passing the reins to Chef Rosario DeLuca, who developed a new restaurant concept at the location.

Other news

Franklin Italian favorite coming to Nashville

Another new Italian restaurant is opening, this time at the master-planned Nashville Yards development in the downtown area. Frank Pullara, chef and owner of Franklin's esteemed Culamar and Culaccino Italian restaurants, is bringing a new location of Culaccino to Nashville.

The restaurant isn't slated to open until next summer, but it's set to join a growing number upscale Italian eateries in the area.

Beloved family-owned restaurant to reopen

Cal's Country Kitchen, a longtime favorite for homestyle southern cooking, is planning a reopening celebration in the Cleveland Park area of East Nashville. Cal's original owner, Carolyn Buggs, spent 24 years running the restaurant in Madison. Now, her son Marcus Buggs is breathing new life into the restaurant on Dickerson Pike.

Marcus Buggs currently owns chicken shop Coneheads in the Dickerson Pike space. That concept will move to a food truck format to make room for Cal's. Marcus Buggs said the new restaurant will be "pretty much the same," only with a few updates and a full bar.

Upscale sushi restaurant to open with "over the top" design

A new upscale sushi restaurant and bar called Experience Zuzu is also opening in downtown Nashville, in a nearly 8,000-square-foot space on First Avenue South. The interior design in the building will be "beautiful and over the top" according to the Detroit-based restaurant group opening the restaurant.

Elia Group also operates a location of Experience Zuzu in Detroit, and has tapped design firm iCraze for the interior design. The firm created the futuristic interior of the Sphere venue in Las Vegas.

Reporter Molly Davis covers growth and development in Nashville. Reach her at mdavis2@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville restaurants gain new Italian, cocktail, fast casual options