Airport eats and treats: 5 new restaurants and retail stores open at BNA

Last-minute eats and souvenirs at the Nashville International Airport are enjoying an upgrade.

Starting Tuesday, passengers dined and shopped at five new eateries and retail stores, part of a multibillion-dollar investment plan.

Extra TSA checkpoint lines opened this week and airport officials expect daily traffic to eventually increase to over 70,000 guests, up from around 60,000 currently.

From mouth-watering burgers to a slice of country music, here are five new eateries and retail stores at the Nashville International Airport.

The Pharmacy Burger Parlor

This restaurant calls itself the "wurst-burger" joint, as this Nashville staple brings it's German wurst and beef burger menu to Nashville International Airport.

The restaurant uses 100% Tennessee-raised beef and pure cane sugar in sodas. Guests can also try The Pharmacy's restaurant at 731 Mcferrin Ave. in Nashville.

Country Music Hall of Fame

Can't make it to the downtown location of the Country Music Hall of Fame at 222 Rep. John Lewis Way S.? The hall of fame comes to you in the form of a gift shop inside the airport's grand lobby offering shirts, glassware and gifts for just about anyone in the family.

Draper James

Joining its 12th Ave. S. store, Reese Witherspoon's clothing line will have a new storefront at Nashville International Airport. The clothing line, named after Witherspoon's grandparents, offers fashionable boutique shopping selling dresses, loungewear and pajamas, athletic wear and accessories like jewelry, shoes, handbags and hats.

The Music City Shop

Another new shop at the airport will join its Bridgestone Arena store offering locally made gifts and treats life coffee grounds and local preserves, apparel, children's clothing and cookbooks.

Natalie's Candy Jar

Mostly known for being a last stop at several airports across the country, Natalie's will now satisfy a sweet tooth or needed sugar rush before boarding a plane in Nashville.

From jelly beans to chocolate, Natalie's features more than 400 varieties of conventional and unique concoctions.

5 additional restaurants coming in September

Slim and Husky's

One of Nashville's top pizza places is headed to the Nashville International Airport. Tennessean storytelling columnist Brad Schmitt recently voted Slim and Husky's his second-favorite pizza spot in Music City.

Hattie B's

It wouldn't be a Nashville experience without a little hot chicken. And Music City staple Hattie B's will bring its spicy mix of chicken and scratch-made sides.

Whether you are looking for chicken tenders, a basket or a sandwich, this Nashville eatery has four other locations in Nashville with six different heat levels from no heat all the way to shut the cluck up.

ACME Feed & Seed

Elevated cocktails and food usually found on Lower Broadway will be available at the Nashville International Airport.

The Goo Goo Shop

Satisfy your sweet tooth with some Nashville history. The Goo Goo cluster is a combination of caramel, marshmallow nougat and fresh roasted peanuts covered in milk chocolate. Created in 1912, the Goo Goo cluster was the first combination candy bar. Want to buck tradition? Goo Goo allows customers to customize clusters.

Smashville

A new bar and restaurant taking on the nickname associated with the Nashville Predators hockey team will serve drinks and food.

Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on Twitter @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to www.tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 5 new restaurants and shops to check out at Nashville airport BNA