If you have lived in Antioch or the Nolensville Pike corridor for more than a few years, you know the shorthand: the mall closed, the fun left, downtown or Murfreesboro were the only real options. That story is now out of date. The center of gravity for a Southeast Nashville weekend has physically shifted about a mile south of Hickory Hollow Parkway to Century Farms, while the old mall site is being rebuilt around the anchors that stayed. If you already live here, that shift changes where you spend a Saturday this summer.
This is not a "come discover Antioch" list. You live here. It is a look at what actually opened, what is opening in July, and how to string it together into a day without leaving the ZIP code.
The mile that moved
Century Farms is the roughly 1,000-acre mixed-use development off Bell Road that Oldacre McDonald has been assembling since 2013. For years it was cattle land with a Tanger Outlets sign at the edge. In the last twelve months it turned into the reason people are driving toward Antioch instead of away from it.
The clearest signal was December 28, 2025, when PopStroke opened at Century Farms. The Tiger Woods and TaylorMade-backed venue is the brand's first indoor-outdoor prototype in the country: two 18-hole courses inside, one 18-hole course outside, a scratch kitchen, a 22-flavor ice cream parlor, and a rooftop that faces the downtown skyline. District 32 Councilmember Joy Styles has been blunt about what that means for the neighborhood:
"Antioch really is becoming the ground zero place for first-time ideas."
That is not a small claim from the councilmember whose district also contains the Global Mall site. Read it as a working theory the rest of this post tests.
What's actually open (or opening) within a five-minute drive
Rather than a roundup of every business in the 37013, here are the specific arrivals and additions worth knowing about if you are planning around them this summer:
- PopStroke at Century Farms. 54 holes total across two indoor courses and one outdoor course, order food and drinks from the mobile app while you play, rooftop bar on the second floor.
- In-N-Out Burger at 4242 Century Farms Terrace. Opened December 2025. The lines have shortened from opening week but weeknight dinner is still the sane window.
- Whataburger at 2110 Century Farms Parkway. Same development, opposite corner of the drive-thru wars.
- Texas Roadhouse at Century Farms. Opened mid-January 2026 with a reported 220 new hires.
- Cava and First Watch are announced additions to the same development, with Chick-fil-A also in the pipeline.
- Target filed plans on February 11, 2026 for a store at Century Farms. That is a permit filing, not a ribbon cutting, but it moves the "we have to drive to Brentwood for household basics" complaint closer to expiration.
- Tanger Outlets Nashville remains the retail anchor of the corridor and the reason a lot of the newer restaurant traffic exists.
- L&L Hawaiian Barbecue is targeting a mid-July 2026 opening at 5763 Nolensville Pike, per franchise partners Alixander Soto and Erwin Corpuz. It is the chain's Nashville debut. If you have been curious about Kalua pork or a proper mixed plate, it is on the way and it is not downtown.
Mark McDonald of Oldacre McDonald has estimated that Century Farms is roughly 40 percent built out. That means another four to five years of announcements at this pace. The practical read for residents this summer: expect construction traffic on Bell Road, and expect the "there is nothing to do out here" reflex to keep aging poorly.
A Southeast Nashville Saturday, June through August
If you want a concrete itinerary that uses what is actually open right now, this is the version I would give a friend who moved here two years ago and has not caught up:
- Morning. Coffee and a walk through the weekend flea market at Plaza Mariachi, 3955 Nolensville Pike. The Saturday and Sunday market runs alongside a rotating Spring/Summer Market of handmade vendors. It reads like the neighborhood's actual living room rather than a curated food-hall version of one.
- Late morning. Errands at Tanger Outlets or a Target run once that store opens. In the meantime, a lap through the shops at Global Mall at the Crossings, which still houses Nashville State Community College, the Southeast Regional Community Center at 5260 Hickory Hollow Parkway, KIPP Nashville, and Ford Ice Center.
- Lunch. Degthai at 3025 Nolensville Pike, which took the No. 28 spot on Yelp's Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. for 2026. It is the only restaurant on that list south of downtown, and the takeout window is faster than the dining room on a Saturday.
- Afternoon. Ford Ice Center for a public skate session if it is 95 degrees outside, or the outdoor courses at PopStroke if it is not. The venue's mobile app lets you order drinks to the tee, which sounds gimmicky until it is 4 p.m. and you are seven holes in.
- Evening. Back to Plaza Mariachi. Thursday nights are a free salsa lesson from 7:15 to 7:45 p.m. followed by an open floor. Saturdays run half-price margaritas and palomas at Z Bar from 4 to 6 p.m. During the FIFA World Cup 2026 window, Plaza Mariachi has been hosting free watch parties for major matches, including the July 14 and July 15 semifinals.
The point of laying it out this way is that none of those stops require a drive to Midtown, Germantown, or the Gulch. Five years ago that itinerary did not exist inside the neighborhood.
Nolensville Pike is still the pantry
Century Farms gets the headlines, but the corridor between Thompson Lane and Old Hickory Boulevard remains the most interesting stretch of food in Southeast Nashville. Edessa for Kurdish and Turkish, Taste of Persia, La Hacienda Taqueria, Only Chicken, Southside Grill, and Noodle Essence all sit within a few minutes of each other on the Pike. A Yelp-ranked destination like Degthai on this stretch is a data point, not a coincidence.
Two things worth watching this summer on the Pike specifically. First, the L&L Hawaiian opening at 5763 in July fills a genuine gap; the corridor has essentially no Hawaiian food. Second, on May 27, 2026, Metro held a community meeting at Glencliff High School to discuss proposed upgrades to Nolensville Pike, layered on top of a Tennessee Department of Transportation ten-year plan that includes widening. If your commute uses the Pike, the safety and pedestrian improvements are the ones to track. If you own a business on the Pike, so is the widening timeline.
What the old mall is actually becoming
The Global Mall redevelopment is the piece most residents ask about, and the piece that has moved slower than any of the Century Farms announcements. Here is where it stands.
Metro acquired most of the 78-acre site in 2022 for around $45 million. The four anchor buildings, Nashville State Community College, the Southeast Community Center, KIPP Nashville, and Ford Ice Center, all stay. The interior of the mall itself will be demolished. The master plan splits the site into three subdistricts labeled Arts Village, Innovation Village, and Opportunity Village. The first physical piece will be a WeGo Public Transit regional mobility center, backed by a $5 million Federal Transit Administration grant, with an express bus planned to run from Antioch to downtown.
Timeline for full buildout has been described as seven to ten years and phased. For a resident, the useful takeaway is that Global Mall is not being reborn as a shopping mall. The retail energy has moved to Century Farms. The old site is being redrawn as a civic, educational, and transit hub with an arts overlay. Those are different jobs. Once both are running, Southeast Nashville has two distinct centers about a mile apart, which is a healthier map than the single-mall era it replaced.
One practical note before you drive Bell Road
Bell Road between Hickory Hollow Parkway and the Century Farms entrances is carrying a lot more weekend traffic than it was a year ago, and additional projects are queued. If you are heading to PopStroke or the new restaurant cluster on a Friday or Saturday night, add ten minutes and consider the back approach from Old Franklin Road. If you are heading to Plaza Mariachi from farther south on the Pike, the Harding Place light is the choke point, not Thompson Lane.
None of this is a reason to stay home. It is a reason to stop assuming Southeast Nashville is the same neighborhood it was in 2019.
If a move, a sale, or a purchase is somewhere on your horizon and you want a read on how these Antioch and Nolensville Pike changes are shaping specific streets and price bands, that is the conversation we like having. Reach out to Pinnacle Point Properties and Development. Let's Work Together — Schedule Your Consultation.
