Nashville, TN

So I must be honest, this blog post is from a few months ago when I was visiting my husband on tour, but I purely forgot to actually write it, until now! Nashville is always a good time and for a while we did consider moving there. They seem to be a city that's great at having gluten free options and there are a lot of places that accommodate celiacs well. I was only here for a night, so this post is primarily about just one restaurant, so read on if you're heading to Nashville and fancy some Italian food!

Little Mosko's

Firstly, a quick shoutout to The Juice Bar - I really do enjoy a good juice place and the juices here are delicious. I always head here when I'm in Nashville, so if you're a native, and haven't been - why not? 

Now, last summer when my husband was recording his album in Nashville I found an amazing gluten free bakery/restaurant that we went and got breakfast at one day. Everything was super delicious and you can read about it in a previous post, but I thought it was worth a mention and to let you know that Little Mosko's unfortunately is not a restaurant anymore. BUT, this time before I was in Nashville I contacted them as I saw that they were still producing cookies for places like Shake Shack (amazing!) and the owner was so wonderful to me! She said she would happily (out of the usual) make me a box of chocolate chip cookies! I was so overjoyed. These cookies are out of the world good & I actually ended up taking half the box home with me & froze them so they would last longer! I'm not sure if Mosko's would ever do the same for people when they ask, but the fact that they did this for me was so lovely and such a treat! Thank you Little Mosko's! 

Mangia Italian

When I discovered this restaurant online I thought I had read wrong that they could make everything gluten free. Chicken Parmesan? Surely not, and if so, surely with no breading. I called them up - and I was happily surprised. Everything in it's usual form, breaded or otherwise and even deserts (!!!) so that night we took a trip out to Mangia! My husband was great and happily suggested we order more than we would eat, and he got his food gluten free too. All their GF food comes out on green plates so you know it's fine and the owner herself has celiacs so they are 100% clued up about cross contamination - a celiac's dream!


We decided to start with some Arancini balls and some meatballs too. I don't love arancini because I'm not a rice person, but I was happily surprised by these. They had a hint of lemon and the crispy breading outside was glorious. Meatballs are something us sufferers also can't usually eat, so it was a nice change to be able to order them! They were truly yummy and I bet with pasta they would've been great! Everything came with a side of 2 different types of GF bread; one charcoal and one white. (They know how great charcoal can be for digestion!) We then decided to order: Pancetta and Spicy Arrabbiata  pasta & the Sun-Dried Tomato and Spinach Cream pasta with a side of lemon roasted chicken. The GF pasta was rigatoni which I LOVE and was so nice not to be penne for once (amiright!) We also got a side of chicken parmesan, because I honestly wasn't sure if I had ever had it? Maybe once in NY?


So... the chicken parm was as perfect as I thought it would be - crispy, tons of mozzarella, and their marinara was smooth as anything. The Arrabbiata was truly great, I love spice, but the pancetta unfortunately hadn't been cooked down enough, so the fat was chewy and not crispy. Everything else was so good, it was a shame. The spinach & sun-dried tomato cream was glorious and the lemon chicken was ridiculously good. Everything was truly on point. I would recommend this place greatly. The staff were also excellent. As we were leaving we ordered a GF cannoli, and some Zeppole (vanilla ricotta donuts). I had never had a cannoli before in my entire life and although the shell was super crispy, the ricotta hadn't been sweetened. I'm not sure if that was a mistake or if they usually serve them that way, but it wasn't for me. I'm sure I would absolutely order them again to try from somewhere else, but this one I didn't enjoy. The ricotta donuts I will say were absolute PERFECTION and I wish I had ordered a few bags of those. I would LOVE to be eating some of those again right this moment, ahhh the dream.


So basically, overall, you should definitely try this restaurant out! Go, go, go if you live in Nashville!