So I did a thing. If you follow my blog at all, you know it’s not my normal thing. But during a cousin’s weekend in Nashville, we went down to Broadway and visited some of the famous country singers’ bars. Now, remember, I don’t drink alcohol (with my family’s history? Umm, no), I rarely enter a bar, I’m not big on crowds, and I find big flashing neon lights to be well outside my comfort zone. I still had fun, my cousin and her husband had a fantastic time, and it was great to get out and do something I would normally never touch with a 10-foot pole.
If you’re not familiar with Broadway, it’s a street in downtown Nashville lined with bars, eateries, and curio shops. In the evenings (especially Friday-Sunday), most establishments have live music. Many of the bars are owned by famous country singers (not that most were familiar to me – my musical tastes lie more in the rock direction), though I gather something is happening on Broadway most days of the week.
We opted to visit on Sunday night, as Google suggested it would be quieter than Saturday. My cousin said it was ridiculously quieter; she and her husband drove around a bit on Saturday and found they couldn’t even get down the road, there were so many people. So I highly recommend going on Sunday night rather than Friday or Saturday if possible.
Also, if you want to save on parking, use one of the Metro-owned garages. I parked in the Library Garage… and paid $10 for the entire evening. Most other places were at least $45 for four hours. You might be charged closer to $15 if there is an event on, but it’s still a fair lot cheaper than the regular lots! (There is a Metro-owned garage (Metro Courthouse) slightly further away.) We did have to walk, but it was supposedly only 0.4 miles, most of it on Broadway, to our furthest-out point, so it wasn’t bad at all.
We ended up visiting five different establishments (and only one freaked me out enough I wouldn’t go back voluntarily – the others were all very nice). We started at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row. It was nice enough, but I wasn’t fond of the live music there. So I was happy that we moved on pretty quickly.
Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa was a very positive experience. There are two different bars with live music; one on the ground floor (very loud with the music echoing off the walls) and the second on the third floor with an open-air patio nearby. The group upstairs was excellent, and there was enough room to breathe or even dance. We ended up eating at the restaurant (Tex-Mex Cantina) on the second floor. The food was pricey (entrees started at $16 and were mostly in the $20s), but not bad given it was Broadway. Plus it was all delicious! I can highly recommend the steak quesadilla; others in my group enjoyed Miranda’s hot chicken & waffle (think really good fried chicken on a cornmeal waffle with maple syrup), the enchiladas (gluten free and she didn’t have a reaction, so it must be truly GF), smoked brisket burrito, and the Casa quesadilla.
From there, we walked down to Luke Comb’s Category 10. It’s one of the newer establishments, but it was also by far the most fun. The group on the main stage was fantastic – plus they had line dancing! Yay! Most of us had never been line dancing before, but we’re all pretty good at making up dance steps, so we went straight out to the dance floor. A guy up front made up steps for each of the songs (and yes, he was making it up for each song… he’d pause at the beginning and then concoct a choreography for us to follow).
Unfortunately, it was pretty chaotic, with most people about a quarter beat behind the lead dancer if they could see him, and at least a beat, if not two, behind him by the time you got to the back row of dancers. So you really had to watch yourself, watch him, and watch the people around you who might be heading your way (or in your way!) when you were following the dance steps a little better (or a little worse!) than the people around you. One of my group stepped on her brother’s foot, fell, and twisted her ankle when they weren’t quite on the same beat (he was fine, BTW). But that put a bit of a damper on line dancing. If I ever go back to Broadway (which is an if!), I’ll probably head to Category 10 and stay there for a while!
Category 10 also has a very nice rooftop bar (with different live music – they were musically good but not so great as singers) with a patio and views out onto the Cumberland River. This was just lovely, and I enjoyed doing some night photography. (You might notice that I don’t have pictures of every venue – I wasn’t planning on doing this post, so I wasn’t thinking about pictures. Also, I only had my cell phone with me, so they aren’t quite up to the quality I’d shoot with my Canon.)
The night was getting on, so we headed up the south (east) side of Broadway. This was how we ended up in the most disappointing (creepy?) venue of the evening. Jelly Roll’s Goodnight Nashville was just not fun at all. First, we had to leave our food outside. (Ok, fine.) Then we went inside, and there were a couple of super weird characters singing downstairs. So we went upstairs (very, very steep and dark stairs, I might add) and found ourselves in what appeared to be a nightclub on the third floor. Now, I’ve never been to a nightclub, but the number of half-naked ladies running around to disco and rap music… well… it creeped me out. None of us could wait to get out of that place!
Thank goodness, Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottoms Up was a much more positive experience! It’s on a side street and, therefore, a little calmer than any of the other places we had been. The singers were phenomenal and had a great rapport with the crowd. In fact, they were probably the best audience-facing group we saw all night. The decorations were also fun and laid back. It was a great way to end the evening before walking back to the parking garage!
Good to Know: None of these establishments charge a fee for entry, but they will scan your license. I hear the drinks were good, but I can’t speak to that. Prices vary; there are cheaper and more expensive options, including food trucks. I was very thankful for earplugs.
