11/23/2025
-Table for two and a half
Have you tried Hawkers Asian Street Food in Nashville? Read along to hear my take on it, and stick around till the end to see how it went with a three month old. 😬
We were in Nashville after a long day of Christmas shopping with our three month old, where we ended up only buying things for ourselves 🤷♂️ oh well, sometimes you gotta treat yourself! We were starving and wanted something other than the same old “been there, done that” options. We’re 30 somethings with a kid but we still want to eat at the hip and cool places, even though we might get those “you don’t belong here” looks.
I looked on my maps app for dinner ideas and found “Hawkers”. The name didn’t tell me much, but it drew my attention. The “Asian Street Food” is what kept my attention. Who doesn’t love street food, right? I kept reading more about it and saw in the “good to know” section that it said it was good for kids. That’s awesome, I thought, a place that looks good, fun and it’s suitable for kids! Let’s do it!
I told Siri to take us there and put on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to appease fussy baby in the backseat and off we went. As we get closer we start making some turns that had me questioning my decision. This doesn’t look like a part of town we should be in with a baby… but we’re hungry and in Siri we trust. Kinda.. Thankfully after a few turns things started looking up. The lights got brighter and the streets cleaner. I was feeling better.. and hungrier. We finally hear the “in 300 feet your destination is on the right”. Heck yeah, we’re almost there. Then I see that the place looks to be under construction, and definitely gave the vibe of a cool hangout vs a family dinner spot.. Nonetheless, we found the entrance to the parking lot and pull in. I’m thinking maybe I should run in and scope the place out to make sure we should eat here with the baby, but no, we’re hungry and she’s a cool baby anyways, she’ll fit right in with the crowd. We’re getting the stroller out and ready to roll into who knows what, when I see an older couple coming out to their car. That made me feel better.. They see us and mentioned the somewhat awkward parking situation but didn’t say “I don’t recommend you take your baby in there”. So here we are. We walk in past the outdoor seating. The place has a super cool vibe. Very “hip” but not in a hipster kind of way. I liked it so far, but was really doubting having a three month old there. We get inside to the hostess and she asks if we need a table for two and a half. She didn’t seem thrown off by the baby so I’m back to being cool with having her there. I asked if we could have a table outside since the weather seemed nice and the music inside was pretty loud. That made me feel old, immediately… but oh well, it’s the stage of life I’ve come to and I couldn’t be happier about it. She was very accommodating and cleaned a table for us and sat us very quickly. We get out there, sit down and the wind starts to blow.. maybe outside in the wind is worse than inside with the loud music.. so we were those annoying people who asked to move from the table we just had them clean especially for us.. 🤦♂️ But, again, they were extremely kind and understanding. They swapped us to a table inside right away and didn’t make us feel like a burden. They did great. We get taken to our new table and it’s right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of this busy and lively restaurant, also, right by the kitchen. Being from the restaurant industry I enjoyed that part. I love seeing how a place operates, and may I say, this place had it going in. It’s not fancy, but it works. The kitchen, which you can partially see from the dining room, was woking and rolling. (See what I did there? 😉)
So we’re there, in the middle of it all, with a baby, stroller and diaper bag, surrounded by a bunch “cool kids”. I start to take the now definitely NOT asleep baby out of the stroller so she can look around. This is probably the most music and lights she’s been exposed to in her entire life and she’s loving it. I told you she would fit right in.
The server comes to greet us, answer some questions and take our order. Meanwhile the three month old is already making friends with the guys sitting behind us who said “you’ve got the cutest baby”. That’s always a good way to make a parent like you. It also made us feel accepted into the club even with our baby… or maybe because of our baby… We’ll never know about that one..
So the food starts to come out, and WOAH we were not disappointed.
The first round was the Golden Wontons. They were crispy and stuffed with chicken, shrimp and mushroom. So good. And the Thai Chili dipping sauce that came with them was fire 🔥 (do people still say that? 🤷♂️)
Second round was Spring rolls. They also did not disappoint. Crispy, stuffed and delicious. They had some kind of vinaigrette with them that made for the perfect combination of savory and tangy.
Next came round three. My wife had the Pad Thai, I had the C.K.T., and the baby had her favorite.. breast milk. If we’re eating, she’s gotta eat with us.
The Pad Thai had a slight spice to it, but not too much, and was very good. But that C.K.T…… WOW. So good. It was a combination of perfectly paired flavors and textures. For those asking what C.K.T. means- it is Char Kway Teow. Don’t ask me what that means. But definitely order it! You will be glad you did.
While we were eating, a guy comes to our table to see how everything is and ask if we’d be interested in a gift for the baby. Of course, we said sure! Not sure what to expect but man did it make us feel welcomed to be there. It was really nice to know that not only did they accept kids, they thought about them before we even got there. A little while later our server comes to the table with a very appropriate onesie that says “Little Dumpling”. She will probably be wearing it tomorrow since she’s grows two sizes every week.
All in all we had a great experience and will definitely be going back to try other things from the menu.
If you have been here, let us know what you tried so we can try it next time!
If you haven’t been, you should! Take your grandma, your baby and anyone in between.
Hawkers Nashville
