Not so long ago, in a much sleepier Nashville, a person couldn’t swing a microphone without hitting a “meat and three” (chicken, beef or pork and three Southern sides), those almost-home-cooked-answers to what’s for lunch or dinner. Meat and threes are still dishing it out in Music City, but their numbers are dwindling (Arnold’s Country Kitchen, a James Beard American Classics Award winner, appears to be filling the vacuum more than adequately). And certainly there are still great barbecue places like Martin’s Bar-B-Cue Joint, Peg Leg Porker and Edley’s Bar-B-Cue.

These days, Nashville’s shiny new culinary scene is expanding in different directions and at breakneck speed with notable additions like Julia Sullivan’s seafood-forward Henrietta Red in Germantown, and Chef Vivek Surti’s Southeast-Asian/American Tailor, among many others.

Amid all the comings and goings, some restaurateurs — acutely aware of the changing tastes of a more diverse and often younger clientele concerned about sustainability, healthy eating and animals rights — are choosing vegan-only menus, or at least adding a range of vegan dishes.

Enter places like Avo with its deliciously confusing chocolate avocado tart (and sustainable metal straws); and the soul-food vegan restaurant, Vege-licious, with its intrepid vegan version of a Philly cheesesteak. Gone are the days when healthy food in Nashville was simply tolerable. The city is now at the point where nearly every vegan spot is at least trying its hand at a plant-based version of Nashville hot chicken — and with surprisingly good results.