Things you should never do in Nashville and what you should do, according to a local

Renting a car is a good idea, and driving in this city isn’t as bad as you might think.

It’s great to get out of the center of the city, but the logistics can be tricky.

Public transportation has been a hot issue in Nashville over the past decade. There have been big plans, big debates and big disappointments, especially when it comes to financing.

The city’s bright purple WeGo bus system is limited, and while certain neighborhoods are walkable, the city is too spread out to get anywhere effectively by bus or on foot.

While ride sharing is good for short trips, I recommend giving yourself the freedom of a car so you can really explore.

While driving in a city doesn’t sound ideal, Nashville drivers are quite patient and careful (honking is a no-no). Plus, I’d say parking is never hard to find.

There is so much more to eat than typical Southern food.

Having good Southern food in Nashville is a must – you won’t want to miss the James Beard Award-winning meat and three (a plate usually filled with meat and three vegetables) at Arnold’s Country Kitchen.

But Nashville is quite diverse and has restaurants serving expertly prepared dishes from around the world.

Head to a Charlotte Pike strip mall for bubbling bowls of soundbar jjigae and steaming bibimbap at Korea House. Head east and try the braised beef tibs on spongy injera at Gojo Ethiopian, or charred lamb shank at Persian neighbor House of Kabob.

You can’t miss the sweet and salty coconut custard at The Smiling Elephant, one of Nashville’s most beloved Thai spots, or the lengua tacos at La Juquilita.

Not only will these stops inspire your taste buds, but you’ll also see more of Nashville than just the trendy boutiques and rowdy honky-tonks.

It’s worth leaving Nashville to explore Tennessee’s beautiful landscape.

Nashville is beautiful, but part of what makes it stand out is its access to the bucolic beauty of rural Tennessee.

Just a 20-minute drive along Hillsboro Road takes you to rolling hills dotted with hay bales and horses.

Stop by Barbara’s Home Cookin, where Mrs. Barbara Thomas creates Southern delicacies in a converted house with mismatched chairs and the menu scribbled on the chalkboard walls. Don’t miss the poppy seed chicken and the fluffy yeast rolls.

If aimless driving isn’t your thing, make Leiper’s Fork your final destination.

The historic village is home to an array of antique shops and art galleries, but nothing beats sitting on a rocking chair outside Puckett’s Market with a glass of sweet tea and the smell of applewood smoke and pork wafting toward you.

Please be calm when it comes to celebrities.

Leiper’s Fork and surrounding areas are home to famous musicians such as Justin Timberlake, Chris Stapleton and Brad Paisley. Nashville, in a broader sense, is home to Dolly Parton, Nicole Kidman and countless other stars.

Part of the appeal of Nashville – or at least what we like to tell ourselves is part of the appeal – is that we don’t bother the city’s celebrities. It’s a point of pride for Nashvillians.

I ran into Taylor Swift at a cupcake shop and advised Steven Tyler on which brand of peanut butter to buy at Whole Foods (Justin’s, of course).

So if during your visit you see Reese Witherspoon visiting her 12th South boutique or Blake Shelton checking out his Broadway bar, do your best to be polite.

It’s worth treating yourself to food from Nashville’s celebrity chefs.

While there are plenty of delicious places that offer great value (many of which are mentioned above), it’s worth spending a little extra to partake in Nashville’s star-studded dining scene.

Visit Food Network star Maneet Chauhan’s Chauhan Ale and Masala House for Indian classics like tandoori chicken poutine. Dine at Adele’s, guided by one of the pioneers of California cuisine, Jonathan Waxman.

Try homegrown favorites like Henrietta Red, which earned Chef Julia Sullivan the title of Food & Wine’s Best New Chef, or Etch, where Nashville legend Deb Paquette combines flavors in original and stunning ways.

Don’t miss the traditional pork ragu or the pastured chicken with preserved lemon at Rolf & Daughters by James Beard nominee Philip Krajeck.

Plan ahead because most of these places fill up quickly.

Make sure you support local musicians and venues

There are plenty of ways to enjoy the great music Nashville has to offer.

You should definitely plan a night at the honky-tonks of South Broadway – SoBro, if you want to sound local – which is filled with rowdy bars with sticky floors and bands belting out country-rock covers.

Maybe one of your favorite artists is on tour at one of Nashville’s great outdoor venues like Ascend Amphitheater or FirstBank Amphitheater. Or maybe you want to catch a show at a venue steeped in history like The Grand Ole Opry or The Ryman.

I like to visit smaller places. The Bluebird Cafe is known for the singer-songwriters who pass through it.

Station Inn is an old-fashioned, sturdy business in the middle of the busy Gulch neighborhood. Basement East or The 5 Spot are East Nashville venues that are sure to show off local favorites, and Marathon Music Works and Exit/In are sure to offer unique experiences and rocking performances.

Wherever you go, make sure you tip well.

If you’re going to try the city’s famous hot chicken, do it right and learn some of the history first.

If there’s anything more synonymous with Nashville than music, it’s hot chicken.

These days, hot chicken is popping up on menus around the city with all kinds of variations, but the dish has a long history in Nashville’s black community. It also illustrates a much larger problem in Southern food chains, with white chefs taking credit and profiting from Black ingenuity.

It is believed that the dish was created by the Prince family decades ago when local casanova Thorton Prince got into trouble with his partner for coming home late. She allegedly added a bunch of hot pepper to his fried chicken as punishment, but it ended up being delicious.

Due to the city’s segregation, both officially (until the mid-1960s) and unofficially since, hot chicken was a favorite in Nashville’s black community for decades but was widely unrecognized outside of it.

This has changed over the past decade, and André Prince Jeffries, queen of hot chicken and current owner of the original Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, has encouraged competition from other restaurants but has suggested visitors remember the dish’s creators.

And I definitely think it’s worth going to Prince’s to get the original hot chicken.