Saint Anejo – Nashville, TN – 2020

By Molly Rene

It was a sweltering Saturday afternoon and I was looking for a place to park myself for a while to enjoy some good food and read my Kindle. A little ‘me’ date if you will. Restaurants had recently opened back up for dine-in service and I was excited to find a place with an outdoor patio and bar area. My sister, who has lived in Nashville for much longer than I have, recommended Saint Anejo. Being from Texas, I love Mexican food so I was all about it. I found it easily enough but I was a little worried at first about the parking because it’s downtown. Turns out that they share a designated parking lot with Whiskey Kitchen so parking was no issue at all. 

I walked up to the restaurant, which has a really eclectic style of modern industrial accented with natural vines plants, and they had a little pop up host stand outside. It was a short wait (maybe 10 minutes) and the hostesses were super nice. They even complimented me on going on a solo date saying, “Go you!”. I ended up being sat at a high-top near the bar with a great view of the restaurant and the downtown scene. After perusing the menu, I ordered myself a beer with a tequila shooter on the side (hey, it’s Saturday right?) and the street tacos. I was thrilled to see an option where you could ask for the “skinny tortilla” which is what I did. I waited and enjoyed my drink(s) and the summery heat.

I must admit that I was a little confused when the food came out because it turns out that the “skinny tortilla” was a lettuce wrap. I laughed to myself because I was thinking it was going to be a low-carb tortilla. Would I have preferred that the menu said “lettuce wrap”? Sure. But it honestly tasted so good and came out so fast that I quickly got over it. If I had to pick a favorite taco, I would say it was the hot chicken one hands down. It was crispy and spicy without dripping in sauce so it was manageable in the lettuce wrap. I would assume that they used a hot dry rub as opposed to a sauce and it worked perfectly. It had a light slaw served on top that gave it a nice crunch and coolness to offset the heat. I’ll be honest with you, this is how you know when you are eating good food: simplicity. It doesn’t take a million ingredients or sauces to make something taste good. You just need a few quality ingredients used with intent. Needless to say, I ordered another one.

Overall, the atmosphere and food worked really well together. It was hip without being pretentious, southern while chic, and had an authentic Mexican style without coming across as kitschy or disingenuous. The menu is plentiful but not overwhelming and I’m looking forward to being able to try some of their other dishes (I see you huevos rancheros). 

So, next time you’re in the area, put Saint Anejo at the top of your list. You won’t be disappointed.