The Top 100 Coffee Shops in Nashville, TN
Nashville is known for music, hot chicken, and bachelorette parties, but locals will tell you the real engine of this city is coffee. Songwriters work out lyrics over pour overs on Music Row. East Nashville regulars line up at trailers before the sun is up. Hotel lobbies, brewery taprooms, bodega counters, and even a cat cafe all serve a serious cup. With a scene this big and this varied, picking where to get your next latte can feel like a coin flip.
That is the problem BusinessRate was built to solve. Instead of leaning on a single star rating or whichever shop has the loudest marketing, we pulled real Google review data from coffee shops across Nashville and ran it through our proprietary Benchmark Score, a 0 to 300 scale built from three separate factors. The result is a ranking of the top 100 coffee shops in Nashville based on what customers are actually experiencing, not what a business is willing to pay for visibility.
Below, we explain how the Benchmark Score works, spotlight the highest ranked shops in the city, give a shoutout to five more right behind them, and list the full top 100 so you can see exactly where your favorite spot landed.
How We Ranked Them: The Benchmark Score
Every shop on this list was scored using the BusinessRate Benchmark Score, which combines three components pulled from public Google review data.
Endurancemeasures how long a business has been earning positive reviews and how consistent that reputation has been over time. A coffee shop that has kept its regulars happy for years is a very different business from one riding a few months of buzz.
Momentummeasures the direction a business is trending right now. Are new reviews still coming in steadily and staying positive, or has the energy faded? Momentum is what separates a shop that peaked two years ago from one that is getting better today.
Review Qualitylooks past the star rating and into the substance of what customers are actually writing. Detailed, specific, and consistently positive reviews carry more weight than a pile of short, generic ones.
Each of these three factors is scored independently and combined into a single Benchmark Score out of 300. The higher the score, the stronger and more consistent a shop's reputation is across all three dimensions, not just one.
We built the score this way on purpose. A single star average tells you almost nothing useful. A coffee shop with 900 reviews averaging 4.7 stars over eight years is a very different place from one with 70 reviews averaging 4.7 stars over the last three months, even though they would look identical on a typical review site. By separating out how long a reputation has been built, whether it is trending up or down, and how substantive the feedback is, we get a much more honest picture of who is earning trust right now.
A quick note on how this list reads. Our data pull covers every coffee shop in Nashville with enough review volume to score, which means a handful of national chains appear in it alongside the local favorites, and several local brands appear more than once because each of their locations is scored on its own reviews. We have left every listing in place so the ranking mirrors the underlying data exactly. The names you will want to look at first are the independent shops at the top of the list.
The Top 5 Coffee Shops in Nashville
1.Blue Hound Brew Coffee Company
Topping the list with a Benchmark Score of 288 isBlue Hound Brew Coffee Company, a nitro cold brew specialist that built its following through canned cold brew lattes before opening a nitro cold brew bar on 17th Avenue South. Scoring this high across Endurance, Momentum, and Review Quality at the same time is rare, and it says a lot about how customers feel about a drink that is built to be smooth, cold, and consistent. For anyone who thinks coffee in Nashville means a flat white and a pastry, this is a good reminder that the city has plenty of range.
2.Elevate Coffee
Elevate Coffeelands at number two with a score of 285. It has grown into a Middle Tennessee favorite with shops in Hermitage, Donelson, and Lebanon, and its plans for a downtown Broadway cafe show a brand that is still moving forward. A score this strong, with that many locations behind it, points to a team that keeps its standards high no matter which counter you walk up to.
3.Matryoshka Coffee
At number three with a 282,Matryoshka Coffeehas become one of the most talked about specialty coffee stops in the city. It is the kind of spot that gets mentioned in coffee circles well outside Tennessee, and its review data shows why: detailed, enthusiastic feedback that goes far beyond a quick star rating.
4.Verna Café & Bar
Verna Café & Barscores a 280 and brings something a little different to the list. As the name suggests, it is part cafe and part bar, in the Rock Block area, which makes it a spot you can settle into from morning through evening. Places that earn loyalty across more than one part of the day tend to score well on Endurance, and Verna is a good example.
5.Primitive Coffee Company
Also scoring 280 isPrimitive Coffee Companyon Nolensville Pike. It is proof that some of the best coffee in Nashville is not in the busiest tourist corridors. A neighborhood roaster on a long, working stretch of road, with a score this high, is exactly the kind of discovery this ranking is built to surface.
Also Worth Watching: 6 Through 10
Just behind the top five, five more Nashville coffee shops scored high enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the leaders.
Forevermore Coffee, Matcha & Goods(6) scored a 280 with a menu that goes beyond espresso into matcha and gifts, and it has a second location coming to Wedgewood.
Café del Sol(7) earned a 279 as a mobile coffee shop, which is a hard thing to do when your customers have to find you first.
Middle Grounds Coffee(8) scored a 273 and has become one of the most followed independent shops on this list, a sign that its fans are as loud online as they are in line.
Nashville Coffees(9) also scored a 273 and recently came under new ownership, which makes its score a vote of confidence in where the shop is headed.
Caliber Coffee Co.(10) rounds out the top ten at 272, a Lebanon Pike favorite with a steady local following.
The Full Top 100
Here is the complete ranking of coffee shops in Nashville, Tennessee, based on Benchmark Score.
Blue Hound Brew Coffee Company
Elevate Coffee
Matryoshka Coffee
Verna Café & Bar
Primitive Coffee Company
Forevermore Coffee, Matcha & Goods
Café del Sol
Middle Grounds Coffee
Nashville Coffees
Caliber Coffee Co.
The Well Coffeehouse
Daily Grind Coffee House
ESPRESSO BAR
Paradeisos Coffee Company - West End
Just Love Coffee Cafe - Melrose
The Horn - Midtown
The Herban Perk & Pantry
Surefire Coffee Co. - Germantown
Crema Coffee Roasters
Dutch Bros Coffee
KAHAWA
Humphreys Street Coffee Shop
Em & Me Cafe / Vietnamese Food and Drinks
Tim Hortons
Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii
Momento Specialty Coffee - EAST
Retrograde Coffee
Drug Store Coffee
Crema Coffee Roasters Takeaway Cafe
Crest Coffee House
Troll House Cottage
Sump Coffee
Weak Coffee
Haraz Coffee House
Dutch Bros Coffee
East Nashville Cream & Bean (Ice Cream & Coffee Shoppe)
Sip Café
cafe babu
Beignets & Brew
Crossroads Cat Café
Flora + Fauna Cafe and Roaster
The Well Coffeehouse
Earl Espresso
Bongo Java East
Dutch Bros Coffee
Silver Fox Coffee Lounge
The Peach's
Tempo
Elegy Coffee Germantown
Elegy Coffee East
Surefire Coffee Co.
Momo Coffee House
Dawn Cafe East Nashville
Elixr Coffee Roasters
8th & Roast
Starbucks Coffee Company
Valhalla Coffee
Sam & Zoe's
Starbucks Coffee Company
Poindexter Coffee
Surefire Coffee Co. - Crieve Hall
Red Bicycle Coffee Co.
District
Morning Ritual
Red Bicycle Coffee Co.
Dutch Bros Coffee
Ramblin' Joe's Coffee- Nashville
Surefire Coffee Co. - Bellevue
7 Brew Coffee
Jo's Coffee - Nashville
Cafe Sperry's
Dutch Bros Coffee
51st Deli Charlotte Pike
The Well Coffeehouse
Tin Cup Coffee
Juniper & Co. Coffee & Tea
Marsha Rose
8th & Roast Charlotte
Killebrew Coffee
Elegy Coffee WeHo
Starbucks Coffee Company
Starbucks Coffee Company
Americano Lounge
Headquarters
Honest Coffee Roasters Downtown
Sol & Luna Coffee
Dose Coffee
Elegy Coffee Downtown
THE DEN NASHVILLE
Living Waters Coffee Bar
moonshot coffee bar
Twice Daily
Starbucks
Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea
Starbucks Coffee Company
Bongo Java
Honest Coffee Roasters West Nashville
Land Of A Thousand Hills Coffee & Social-Edgehill
Starbucks Coffee Company
Starbucks Coffee Company
What This List Tells Us About Nashville's Coffee Scene
The first thing that jumps out is how many different formats earned a spot. There are coffee trailers and campers in East Nashville, hotel cafes likeDrug Store CoffeeandDawn Cafe East Nashville, a bodega with a coffee counter inTHE DEN NASHVILLE, a brewery and coffee bar inLiving Waters Coffee Bar, a nonprofit cat cafe inCrossroads Cat Café, and a mobile coffee shop inCafé del Sol. Nashville drinks its coffee in an unusually wide range of places, and customers are rewarding all of them.
The second is how much outside talent has found a home here.Jo's Coffeebrought its famous Austin mural and Iced Turbo to Printer's Alley.Elixr Coffee Roasterscarries a Philadelphia name into Nashville.Sump Coffeestarted in St. Louis, andLand Of A Thousand Hills Coffee & Socialhas Atlanta roots. A city that attracts this much coffee talent from elsewhere is a city with a serious coffee audience.
The third is that local multi-location brands do well here.Surefire Coffee Co.,Elegy Coffee,Crema Coffee Roasters,Red Bicycle Coffee Co.,8th & Roast, andThe Well Coffeehouseall appear on the list more than once, because each location earns its own reviews. That is a good sign: it means a shop can grow past one corner without losing what made people love it.
Finally, the national chains that appear on this list are a reminder of how much room the independents have to compete. When you look at the scores, the shops at the top are almost entirely local, and the chains sit lower down. A big footprint and a big marketing budget do not show up in the Benchmark Score. A great cup, again and again, does.
A Note on Pay to Play
BusinessRate does not accept payment in exchange for ranking placement, and no business on this list paid to be included or to be ranked higher than a competitor. Every score is generated from public Google review data run through our Benchmark Score model. Businesses that appear on this list may choose to purchase a physical award plaque, a digital badge, or a media package after the fact to celebrate their placement, but that purchase happens after the ranking is calculated and has no effect on the score itself or on a business's position in the list. We publish this disclaimer on every ranking we produce because we believe trust in the data is the entire point of BusinessRate.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often is this ranking updated?BusinessRate rankings are refreshed periodically as new Google review data becomes available. Because our Momentum score is time sensitive, a shop's position can shift over time even if nothing else about it has changed.
Why isn't my favorite coffee shop on this list?There are a few possible reasons. A shop may not have enough Google review volume yet to produce a reliable Benchmark Score, or it may have scored just outside the top 100 in this pull. You can look up any business's Benchmark Score directly at businessrate.com.
Why does the same shop appear more than once?Some shops operate multiple locations, and each location is scored on its own reviews. That is why brands likeSurefire Coffee Co.,Elegy Coffee, andThe Well Coffeehouseappear more than once.
Can a coffee shop pay to improve its ranking?No. Ranking placement is generated entirely from public review data. Paid products like award plaques and digital badges are available after a business is recognized, but they do not influence the underlying score.
What does the 0 to 300 Benchmark Score actually mean?The scale combines three separately scored components, Endurance, Momentum, and Review Quality, into a single number. A higher score reflects a business with a longer track record of positive reviews, a healthy or improving trend in recent activity, and consistently detailed, high quality feedback from customers.
How do I nominate a coffee shop that isn't on this list?Reach out through businessrate.com and tell us which shop deserves a closer look. As long as it has enough public review data, it can be scored and considered for future rankings.
Final Thoughts
Nashville's coffee scene is too big and too varied to sum up in one sentence, and that is exactly what makes ranking it so interesting. This list exists to cut through the noise and point you toward the shops that are earning real, sustained trust from the people who actually walk through the door, whether that is a roaster that has been pulling shots for a decade or a camper that opened last spring.
Whether you are a lifelong Nashvillian looking for a new regular, a visitor trying to find where locals actually go, or just someone who wants a better answer than "somewhere near Broadway," the full list above is your starting point. Bookmark this page for the next time someone asks where to get coffee.
Want to see how your shop compares, or think a spot deserves a second look? Look up any Nashville coffee shop's Benchmark Score at businessrate.com.
