Small Plates Menus
Starters through dessert. Everything made from scratch, built for sharing.
Here in Franklin, small plates are how we eat at Bravado. You can expect bold Italian flavor, genuinely excellent ingredients, and dishes built for sharing. Our Italian small plates span vegetable plates, seafood, meat, salads, brunch options, and desserts. Every single plate begins with better ingredients: no seed oils, imported olive oil, and everything – every sauce, every dough, every garnish – made from scratch in our kitchen.
The menu shifts with the seasons. The standards don’t.
Here’s the thing about small plates: they let you taste more, share more, and build your own dinner exactly how you want it.
Small plates work beautifully for:
- Date night – split a few plates and let the conversation carry itself
- Family tables – the kids get to try a little of everything without committing to one entrée
- A night at the bar with friends – order whatever sounds good and pass it all around
We always recommend two or three plates per person, and keep the table moving. This is food meant to be lingered over, not inhaled. Start savory. Layer in a salad. Finish sweet. Anyone who grew up around here knows the best meals are the ones where nobody’s checking the time or reaching for keys. Small plates at Bravado are bold, social, and made to stick with you long after you leave. This style of eating also reflects a broader shift toward smaller portions happening across the restaurant industry as diners look for more flexibility and variety at the table.
Starters and Appetizers
Get the table going with big flavor and set the tone for everything that follows. These are the plates that arrive first and immediately start making the rounds: whipped ricotta, focaccia, charcuterie, meatballs, garlic shrimp. Our starters and appetizers feature imported olive oil, housemade bread, and ingredients chosen purely for real, uncompromised flavor.
They’re popular before dinner in the main dining room or alongside cocktails at the bar. And honestly? There’s nothing quite like sitting down after a long Franklin day and watching that first warm plate land on the table.
Bold spice. Wood-fired char. Plates that make you want to immediately order a second round. Every starter is designed for sharing – whether it’s your first plate of the night or your fourth.
Seasonal Small Plates
Taste what’s fresh right now. Watch the menu bend and shift alongside the ingredients themselves. The seasonal menu evolves based on what’s available and – more importantly – what tastes absolutely best at this particular moment.
Here’s what drives the rotation throughout the year:
| Season | What You Might See |
|---|---|
| Summer | Heirloom tomatoes, stone fruit, fresh herbs |
| Fall | Squash, root vegetables, warm spices |
| Winter | Citrus, hearty greens, braised dishes |
| Spring | Peas, asparagus, bright flavors |
Our seasonal small plates showcase chef-driven cooking and bold Italian flavor. They hit the specials board and rotate weekly across Cool Springs and downtown Franklin tables. For regulars, seasonal plates mean there’s always something new waiting. For first-timers, they’re a real-time snapshot of how we cook. Come once per season and you’ll have four completely different experiences – that’s not a bug, that’s the whole point.
Vegetable Small Plates
Big, fearless flavor from vegetables – no cheese crutch, no filler, no apologies. These plates lean hard on wood-fired cooking, olive oil, garlic, lemon, herbs, and honest Italian technique.
Think:
- Charred broccolini
- Roasted cauliflower with crispy edges
- Marinated peppers
- White beans slow-cooked until creamy
- Crispy Brussels sprouts
Vegetables here are not playing backup. Our vegetable small plates are the main event, full stop. They’re a favorite for lunch near the Franklin square or lighter dinners before catching a show. Every vegetable plate gets cooked to order and finished with good olive oil and sea salt. Even the folks around here who swear up and down they don’t love vegetables? They clean these plates. Every time.
Seafood Small Plates
Coastal Italian flavor, right in the heart of Tennessee. We know – Franklin isn’t exactly sitting on a shoreline. But that’s precisely what makes this special. Seafood plates rotate with availability, though the philosophy stays constant: simple preparation, enormous flavor.
Expect grilled octopus, garlic shrimp, mussels, crudo, anchovies – plates inspired by Italian and Greek coastlines where fishermen eat better than kings. High-quality sourcing and bold, confident seasoning make our seafood small plates stand out. They pair gorgeously with white wine or an Aperol spritz at the bar near Berry’s Chapel.
One thing we promise: Seafood at Bravado tastes clean, bright, and never oversauced. If Middle Tennessee seafood has let you down before, give us one shot.
Meat Small Plates
Bold cuts, house preparation, Italian spice threaded through every single bite. Meat plates include meatballs, sausage, lamb, pork, beef, and charcuterie – all sized and styled for the center of the table.
The flavor comes from:
- Wood fire – that irreplaceable smoky char
- Garlic and rosemary – classic Italian backbone
- Calabrian chili – just enough kick to wake everything up
- Olive oil – the thread that ties it all together
Our meat small plates use quality cuts with seasoning that respects the protein rather than burying it. They’re a staple for weekend dinners and family-style meals all across Franklin. Every meat plate is finished to order and lands on your table hot, straight from the kitchen. If you’re the kind of person who actually wants to taste the meat – not just a blanket of sauce – this is your spot.
Salad Plates
Crunch, brightness, freshness – without sacrificing a single ounce of flavor. Salads here aren’t filler or obligation. They’re constructed with imported olive oil, proper vinegar, fresh herbs, and whatever seasonal produce deserves the spotlight.
Expect chopped salad, Caesar, arugula, kale, grains, citrus, nuts, good cheese, and dressings that actually have a point of view. Our salad plates work as a starter, a side, or even a legitimate light main course. They’re popular for midday meals near downtown Franklin or paired with pizza at dinner.
Every salad is dressed to order, portioned for sharing. And here’s something people underestimate: a great salad sitting right next to a rich meat plate or a warm starter is one of the smartest ways to balance your entire meal. The contrast is what makes both plates better.
Brunch Plates
Start your morning with real flavor and Italian brunch energy. These plates push well beyond standard eggs-and-toast territory – think frittatas, ricotta pancakes, prosciutto, burrata, roasted vegetables, wood-fired focaccia.
We cook brunch with the same conviction we bring to dinner: no seed oils, real ingredients, seasoning that matters. Weekend mornings were made for our brunch plates, served alongside coffee, fresh juice, or a breakfast cocktail. Available Saturday and Sunday mornings in the main dining room and bar near Berry’s Chapel.
What brunch feels like here: a long European breakfast with better coffee and absolutely no rush. Grab a seat. Let the morning stretch. Nobody’s hurrying you anywhere.
Something about a slow Franklin weekend morning fits this kind of meal perfectly. No rushing off to the next errand – just good food, good company, and a second cup of coffee you didn’t plan on ordering but absolutely don’t regret.
Dessert Plates
End the meal with something sweet, rich, and completely shareable. Dessert plates include tiramisu, panna cotta, gelato, seasonal fruit, chocolate, espresso-soaked cake, and house-made sweets that change with the chef’s mood and the season.
These are not oversized American desserts. They’re Italian-portioned – meant to close out the meal gracefully, not replace it. Our dessert plates rely on real vanilla, imported chocolate, espresso, and simple preparation that lets quality ingredients do the talking.
Order one after dinner in the dining room or pair it with an amaro at the bar. Dessert is the final plate on the table and the reason you stay for one more drink. Skipping it here? That’s a mistake you’ll replay in your head the whole drive home down Columbia Avenue.