Fido

All-day cafe that has anchored Hillsboro Village since October 1996. Founder Bob Bernstein came to Nashville in 1988 as a Nashville Business Journal reporter, then quit journalism to open Bongo Java in 1993.

The storefront spent 50 years as Jones Pet Shop before the cafe moved in. The shop’s neon sign, a dog stepping out of its doghouse, still hangs out front and gave Fido its name.

Hillsboro Village grew out of the Belmont estate and boomed after streetcar lines arrived in 1901. By the early 1920s the strip held 5 grocery stores; many of those storefronts still stand.

Bernstein had a modest lease in mind until Jones Pet Shop’s owners decided to retire. The space that came free tripled his planned footprint, and he took all of it.

Bernstein announced in November 2025 that the run ends June 1, 2028. He told the Nashville Scene the formula no longer works without more alcohol and a menu overhaul.

Taylor Swift brought Jake Gyllenhaal here for coffee the Saturday after Thanksgiving 2010, at the height of their brief romance. By Tuesday they had been spotted again at Frothy Monkey.

The Swift tie outlasted the romance. She told Time in 2014: “Fido has such a great atmosphere, and you can wander around browsing the shops in Hillsboro Village once you’re there.”