Belly up to the bar at these Music City hotspots and you might just rub that elbow you’re bending with a famous musician who owns the place.
A slew of celebrity musicians have opened honky-tonks in Nashville this year, from beachy rooftop bars and colorful cantinas to intimate lounges with bell bottom-inspired decor. Most are on and around Lower Broadway, the city’s entertainment epicenter, and all have multiple bars, live-music stages, and menus loaded with feel-good food. Each bears the unique stamp of its namesake creator, and whether you want to kick back or rock out, dance or sing along, you’ll find a place that fits.
Eric Church’s Chief’s on Broadway
Eric Church is involved in every detail of his six-story honky-tonk, where 20 large stained glass windows depict his favorite artists. Most celebrity bars have memorabilia on the walls, but here it’s also plastered on the chairs, bar, floors, and ceiling. The top two levels are home to Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ, a sit-down restaurant by the James Beard Award-winning pitmaster. Put a drink in your hand and try treats like pork-skin nachos topped with slow-smoked brisket and Alabama white sauce. Can’t make it up the steps to the restaurant? A walk-up window on the ground level stays open late for midnight snacks.
Head To: 200 Broadway
Check It Out: www.chiefsonbroadway.com
Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottoms Up
The Grammy-winning performer, Yellowstone actor, and Wrangler brand ambassador has reached a new career pinnacle: her own honky-tonk in Nashville. It’s bell bottoms up — literally — in the main room, which features a life-size disco ball shaped like a pair of bell bottoms. Tables take up most of the floor for a cozier feel, and a gallery wall showcases Wilson’s fashion-forward style. Cajun cuisine speaks to Wilson’s Louisiana roots; a neon sign proudly proclaims: “Cookin’ with GREASE.” Head downstairs for Bayou Keys Dueling Piano Bar, or climb to the 1970s Western-themed rooftop stage and dance floor.
Head To: 120 3rd Ave. S
Check It Out: bellbottomsupbar.com
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Jon Bon Jovi’s JBJ’s Nashville
With screaming electric guitars and a multitiered stage right by the front door, Jon Bon Jovi’s eponymously initialed JBJ’s Nashville delivers a dramatic dose of rock ’n’ roll. Stripes of green neon lights soar up from the stage past two upper balconies, drawing the eyes and spirit upward like a modern five-story music cathedral. Enjoy views of Broadway from two rooftop decks connected by an indoor space with another stage. On the way up, check out the wall art made of cymbals and guitars. Nosh on classic American eats and wash it down with a Bad Medicine cocktail.
Head To: 405 Broadway
Check It Out: jbjsnash.com
Tanya Tucker’s Tequila Cantina
Tucker’s vibrant ode to tequila and enterainment is found on the second story at Nudie’s Honky Tonk, a legendary venue honoring the originator of the rhinestone-covered Nudie suit favored by many a country crooner. The famous Ukrainian-born tailor’s mega-insured Cadillac El Dorado — one of his customized “Nudie Mobiles” — is mounted on the wall. The Nudie bar downstairs is 100 feet long; Tanya’s second-floor bar isn’t quite as long, but it’s still impressive. In her Tequila Cantina, you can belly up to the bar on metal stools in every color of the rainbow in the multihued mood lighting of extravagantly large blown-glass pendant lamps. A blanket of tiny lights overhead and a spirited mural of bold butterfly and flower motifs continue the fiesta mood. The stage is at the far end of the bar, which serves margaritas made with Tucker’s Cosa Salvaje tequila. Street tacos and chorizo queso on the menu complete the cantina vibe.
Head To: 409 Broadway
Check It Out: tanyatuckerstequilacantina.com
Garth Brooks’ & Trisha Yearwood’s Friends in Low Places
Famed for the stars who own it and the docuseries that chronicled its build-out, this power-couple honky-tonk is the biggest on Broadway. Two lower floors wrap around a retractable stage and offer plenty of excellent sightlines. Yearwood’s bestselling cookbooks inspire the food: Think collard green-stuffed wontons and boiled-peanut hummus. Snap a selfie with the Garth statue, and then slip on up to The Oasis rooftop deck. With fake palm trees and striped umbrellas, it has the air of a tiki bar by the beach. The piña coladas are some of the best in the city; order two — you’ll need them to polish off that one-, two-, or three-patty Backyard Burger.
Head To: 411 Broadway
Check It Out: friendsbarnashville.com
Riley Green’s Duck Blind
Located in Midtown outside the Broadway hubbub, Riley Green’s sports bar brings a bit of the backcountry into the city. Past the church-style façade, it feels like a downhome hunting lodge that’s decked out with corrugated tin and wood panel walls and massive TVs for watching the game. It’s an easy place to settle in to, especially with Southern comfort cuisine like steak biscuit sandwiches au jus. There’s even a bologna platter with cheese and crackers for that authentic hunting-trip experience.
Head To: 1913 Division St.
Check It Out: losersmidtown.com
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PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of vendors