This is Marie, contributing an article about a meal we had at the Rosepepper Cantina in Nashville. We were up visiting some old (but nevertheless very youthful!) friends, Brooke and Tory, and this place seemed to be the right kind of place for us all to meet and hang out for a bit. Rosepepper Cantina has been winning prizes in Nashville for their food and margaritas for over a decade since setting up shop in 2001 and leading the development of this very trendy neighborhood.. They call their food Sonoran-style Mexican, and it’s not as hot as some Mexican places. I prefer flavorful meals to sweaty-forehead sinus-clearing food, so it was perfect for me. While we didn’t have any of the drinks, we can definitely vouch for the food being excellent.
The first thing I noticed on walking in was the aroma of cooking food, the kind of harmonious mixture of scents that make you really want to check out the other tables as you pass. The second was that the food on the tables we were passing looked really, really good. The place was pretty full but happened to have a table free perfect for our group just as we were getting in, lucky for us!
Our table got a variety of different items. The burritos and enchiladas are large enough to take home half for the next day’s lunch and they come with a generous scoop of sour cream and guacamole in taco shell bowls; the fajitas are large enough to share (lots of the surrounding tables had them, and I was very much tempted but not hungry enough to order one for myself). I had the special appetizer of the day, a spinach and onion quesadilla; after consulting with the server, who said she’d had several people order it as an entree, I was doubly glad to have chosen it. First because it was excellent, but also because it was quite enough for me. If were weren’t from out of town I’d have been happy for leftovers but was glad not to be wasteful. Brooke likely had enough for two meals after she took hers home! The chips come with three bowls of salsa, ranging from one the toddler monopolized (regrettably, he double-dips) to one that Grant found spicy enough. Tory also ordered a bowl of queso with fried tortilla strips for the table that I could strongly recommend – that is, of course, assuming that you are intending not to have room to finish your portion. When the cheese ran out people were still eating the tortilla strips.
The music was also a pleasant surprise. We’d had too many occasions lately where the musical background could have been shipped directly from any top-40 station in 1972, or worse, 1982, but this had a nice rock mix that several of us were motivated to pretend to sing along to (even though, sadly, none of us has a voice to write home about). It’s not the cheapest tex-mex place around, but you can’t be if you have decent quality ingredients. We could taste the difference, and enjoyed it.
Other blog posts about Rosepepper Cantina:
Nashvegan (Sep. 29 2009)
Restless Tech (May 6 2011)
Eat, Drink and Be Genevieve (July 29 2011)
The Asheville Foodie (Oct. 11 2011)
experience nashville (Sep. 19 2012)
You can see all the restaurants that we have visited for our blog on this map, with links back to the original blog posts. It’s a terrific resource for anybody planning a road trip through the southeast!
Marie, Let's Eat! 
Your crack about the music is so spot on. If I never hear that crap again, I’ll be a happy camper!
There have been times when I have seriously considered leaving a restaurant because the music was so despicable I figured it might put me off my feed. Who wants to leave a meal involuntarily humming “Hungry Like The Wolf” or “Breakfast At Tiffany’s?” Who picks this stuff?