This Labor Day In Nashville Join A Food Crawl At Restaurants Representing More Than 30 Countries

If you've been looking for where the best international food in Nashville has been hiding, look no further. How does an exclusive international food tour with charter bus transportation sound?

Labor Day weekend, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) invites all ages to its fifth annual InterNASHional Food Crawl. On Saturday, September 2, from noon to 4 p.m., be guided to and from the best restaurants and markets on Nolensville Pike and access a plethora of international foods by attending this culinary crawl. Sorry folks, participating restaurants are top secret prior to the event.

Many immigrant entrepreneurs own businesses up and down Nashville's Nolensville Road and many of them are restaurants and markets. Nolensville Pike might not be the "trendiest" part of town, but it could arguably be the tastiest, with some of the best unexplored bites in the Music City. The food crawl is a vehicle (literally) to explore the best this five-mile stretch has to offer. According to TIRRC, Tennessee has one of the fastest-growing immigrant and refugee populaces in the U.S. The InterNASHional Food Crawl is hosted annually by TIRRC as a fundraiser to continue its mission to build a more inclusive Tennessee.

There are a few different ways to explore Nashville's international corridor on Sept. 2. The first is with a $20 General Admission ticket, which includes general food sampling and music at the "Food Crawl Hub" (Plaza Mariachi). Or opt for a $65 Curated Food Tour that includes a tour guide, drinks, and charter bus transportation to exclusive eats. Another option is to host a bus for groups of 10, 25, or 50. If you can't make it Labor Day weekend but want to support TIRRC, or if you need more information regarding bus possibilities and tickets, visit NashvilleFoodCrawl.com. Be sure to dress appropriately, as the InterNASHional Food Crawl is indoor and outdoor as well as rain or shine!

"I think that people are finally interested, whether they were from here or whether they moved here from somewhere else," chef Sarah Gavigan of Otaku Ramen, Pop Nashville, and Little Octopus told The Daily Meal when chatting about the growth of Nashville's culinary landscape. "People are finally interested in the food and different cultures we live amongst in Nashville. Like a really good taco truck on Nolensville Road or Kurdish food."

"I came from Los Angeles, where we ate ethnic food in its proprietary neighborhood 90 percent of the time," Gavigan continued. "We didn't do a lot of fine dining or casual fine dining. We were always looking for the best Chinese restaurant or the best Vietnamese restaurant. And in Los Angeles, there are literally thousands. That is mostly what people look for. You wore it like a badge of honor — I found this place! — and when I came here [Nashville], people were like WHAT, you're eating on Nolensville Road? What? And I didn't understand. The food is amazing. It blew my mind.

"After living here two years, I started Otaku Ramen and was very fortunate to be cast in Andrew Zimmern's show [Bizarre Food] and to work with him on the Nashville episode. He was reporting on the Kurdish population here and he was the first person to tell me that we have 25,000 Kurds and they had been living here for 20 years. My mind was blown. I was floored. I started talking to friends of mine who were born and raised here who have been here their whole lives and had no idea. Literally up until a year ago you could have asked anybody who grew up here, and if they were white, they probably had no idea. That has been a seismic shift in the culture of the city. So for me, that is truly exciting because that means people are engaging in educating themselves about the cultures that they live amongst and I also think that it's kind of ironic and crazy that this population of peaceful Muslims lives in the heart of the Bible belt."

The InterNASHional Food Crawl allows others to explore what Gavigan discovered: a global buffet in our backyards.