Questions about a Nashville visit (Brentwood, Athens: hotel, home, to buy)

[Banji33]

Hey all, I am going to be making a trip to Nashville in a couple weekends and was hoping for some recommendations. Here's some info...

Group of guys and gals (all single) in our 20's, staying downtown, will be in town Thursday - Monday. We like country music, sports, and bars.

I was hoping for some recommendations for places to hit for the following...

Sports bars
Dive bars
Karaoke bars (not necessarily very talented, lol!)
Mexican restaurants
Cheap happy hour specials
Bars with vast selection on tap
Late night restaurant (delivery, or, even better, open late)
Shopping
Cheap-ish cowboy boots / western style clothing
Any "Must-Go" places you'd like to add

Any and all help is appreciated. Would like to stick closer to downtown or Vandy area for this, but willing to go a little farther if necessary.

[bobtn]

I'd bet you'd have a good time strolling Broadway in downtown Nashville. Many establishments feature live, professional music. The most known is Tootsie's, but it is not the only one. If you like live music by even lesser known talent (some of whom will eventually do well), The Bluebird Cafe on 21st a few miles o/s of downtown you may find appealing. They do have open mike partial nights a few times/week. As for clothing choices, Broadway has a few cheap outfits, a few pricey ones, but you will also find what you want all around the city.

[brentwoodgirl]

Mexican restaurants-
Taco Mamacita Made-From-Scratch, Super-Fresh, Totally Tasty Eats and Drinks — Taco Mamacita

Local Taco: Local Taco Home Page

San Antonio Taco Company: San Antonio Taco Company - Nashville, Tennessee (this is a dive near Vandy, good food, buckets of beer, etc.)

Bar with nice tap selection- Beer Sellar Welcome to the Beer Sellar - Nashville, Tennessee

Best shopping- Green Hills, Green Hills Mall & Hill Center:
Hill Center Green Hills: Home

The Mall at Green Hills

Late night restaurants:
Cafe Coco is great if you want something more unique than a typical late night greasy spoon, open 24 hours.
Cafe Coco

Venitos has good pizza & calzones, open until 2 am on Saturdays:
http://venitospizza.food.officelive.com/default.aspx (broken link)

Broadway/2nd are your best bets for a multitude of bars and Western wear- sometimes both in the same place:
Robert's Western World, Nashville, TN

And one thing not to miss is the Nashtrash tour: The Original Nashtrash Tour

Here's some reviews:
NashTrash Tours - Nashville - Reviews of NashTrash Tours - TripAdvisor

This sells out quickly, so you would need to get tickets now if they are still available.

Have a great trip!

[CountryGirl2b=]

The Flying Saucer, behind the Union Station Hotel, is actually a chain BUT it's in a very cool space and lots of different beers. It's also next to the Frist Museum in case you'd like a break from the bars . . .

The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium - www.beerknurd.com

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by CountryGirl2b=

The Flying Saucer, behind the Union Station Hotel, is actually a chain BUT it's in a very cool space and lots of different beers. It's also next to the Frist Museum in case you'd like a break from the bars . . .

The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium - www.beerknurd.com

If you're a beer fan, this is absolutely one of the best places you can go.

Along the same lines, Broadway Brewhouse is also a good bet.

[Banji33]

Thanks for the input. I'll definitely check out Flying Saucer and Tootsie's. Are those places expensive? From reading reviews it sounds like Flying Saucer is.

Any other specific places to check out downtown? I'm sure I could find everything walking up and down Broadway, but any specifics are great.

Brentwoodgirl, thanks a bunch!

[bobtn]

Last I knew, Tootsie's still never has a cover charge. Its basically a bar, so you would be expected to buy drinks, but prices are not uncommon on those. Its small in square footage, like many like it, so expect a very crowded atmostphere.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by Banji33

Thanks for the input. I'll definitely check out Flying Saucer and Tootsie's. Are those places expensive? From reading reviews it sounds like Flying Saucer is.

Any other specific places to check out downtown? I'm sure I could find everything walking up and down Broadway, but any specifics are great.

Brentwoodgirl, thanks a bunch!

1) I wouldn't call the Saucer expensive. It's not cheap...and you can certainly get an expensive beer...but the beers there aren't what they serve in your average sports bar. They have more than 100 beers on tap, and about 200 more bottles. Lots of imports and microbrews, if you're into that sort of thing. A typical beer there is $4-5.50...they also have "beer flights" which are five 5oz servings of certain themed beers (German, English, American, etc) that runs about $8 IIRC. Mondays are Pint Nite, where most of their beers (non-specialty) are $3. Tuesday is trivia night. Wednesday is Brewery Night, where they have a featured brewery (a lot of times they feature glasses from the brewery, which you can buy when you drink them). Thursday is American Pint Nite, where the American beers (mostly microbrews) are $2.75 during happy hour, then $3.50 till midnight. Fridays and Saturdays they have live music and a small cover charge (like $3). They usually have some sort of beer special going on Sunday.

Website
Schedule


2) The entertainment/nightlife places downtown are very concentrated in a 5 block "L" shape from Broadway at 5th Ave to Broadway at 2nd, then turning up 2nd Ave from Broadway to Church St.

There are a lot of other things to see downtown, for certain...mainly during the day. If you don't mind spending a little money, and you're a Country Music fan, you must check out the Country Music Hall of Fame. It's a block off of Broadway between 4th and 5th on Demonbreun St. Vanderbilt's campus (about 1.5-2 miles west of downtown) is worth a look. Very pretty campus (also check out Centennial Park while you are out there).

As far as late night dining....as long as you aren't drunk driving (which is bad, mkay?), my suggestion would be Athens Family Restaurant in Melrose. It's open 24 hours from Thursday through Saturday (actually till Sunday night at 10). It's a Greek restaurant, but they serve American food, too...and they do a GREAT breakfast (which is served all day, btw). It's not super cheap...but compared to a lot of sit down restaurants, you do pretty well. Pretty much everything is less than $12, and most of the time you are spending $7-9 per entree. You can get away with less on a smaller breakfast, but that's about it.



Do you have any idea where you will be staying? Also, are there any cultural/historical sites you have any interest in?

[Banji33]

Thanks for the post! We're staying downtown, I believe on Broadway, but that's really all I know. I didn't book the hotel.

Not much into the historial sites -- just not really our thing.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by Banji33

Thanks for the post! We're staying downtown, I believe on Broadway, but that's really all I know. I didn't book the hotel.

Not much into the historial sites -- just not really our thing.

Also, if you like BBQ, definitely check out Jack's...or, if they are a bit busy, Rippy's will work, too (both are on Broadway right in the entertainment district).