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No menu — tell them what you like, they figure it out. Worth the detour.

Sun–Thu 5pm–2am, Fri–Sat 4pm–2am · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

A small bar on Dickerson that gets quieter and better the later it gets. Go late.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

The Coral Club feels like SoCal by way of Mars. The crowd looks the part. Their team makes good drinks, too.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

The best burger spot in Nashville. Grab a bacon cheeseburger, special sauce, animal style fries. You'll be back.

Open late · Walk-in bar food.

Duke's is the bar of bars, our favorite in the whole city. The drinks are cheap and stout. The DJs hit every time. The bartenders and owners embody the closeness and creativity of this big small town.

Open late · Walk-in bar.

Tiki bar, kitsch, good punch drinks. Strange and easy. Good after a show.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Underneath Basement East. The after-show that requires no planning — you are already there.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Dark. Glowing red. Great jukebox. Pool, darts. Smoky patio. Need we say more?

Open late · Walk-in bar.

Beachy cocktails and a loose patio, useful when the first stop should feel social without getting too loud. Enjoy the tropics for an hour or two.

Late afternoon through late night · Great for groups; call ahead if needed.

A Texas-inflected East Nashville institution. The crunch wrap reigns supreme. The margs will get your day well underway.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Five Points cocktail bar. Good drinks, open late. End the night here.

Open late · Walk-in bar.

Riverside Village bar for one more stop without the debate about where to go.

Hours not listed · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Hang outside and have a beer. Take your time. Grab a pretzel, pet a dog. This is Riverside Village.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Wilburn is the neighborhood bar in McFerrin. Have a whiskey, talk about a whole lotta love or a whole lot of nothing. Stay long enough, and you may get some extra tunes.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Beer hall with late-night food. Still serving when the show lets out.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Death & Company opened this in the basement of the Neuhoff's Curve Building in May 2025 — their 'unbuttoned, unpretentious younger sister.' Walk-ins only. Conversation pit, Bitter Melon Negroni. Nashville Scene's Best New Bar. Go.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Good cocktails, open till 2am daily. The name fits the city.

Daily til 2am · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Big outdoor patio with fire pits and cabanas. Dog-friendly. Comedy nights, karaoke, cheap beer. Germantown without the scene.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

The rooftop is the reason. Panoramic views of the Cumberland, Nissan Stadium, Riverfront Park — retractable panels. Best rooftop bar in Nashville per Nashville Scene readers. Sushi and Southern food on the same menu, which works better than it sounds.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Layla Vartanian opened it in 1997 — the only female-owned independent bar on Lower Broadway. While everything around it plays country radio, Layla's books bluegrass, hillbilly, rockabilly, Americana. Vintage license plates on the ceiling. Better drink prices than anything near it.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

The best honky-tonk on Lower Broadway. No cover. Whoever's playing is probably incredible.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

222 Printers Alley, basement of the Southern Turf Building. Skull Schulman opened it in 1948. Elvis and Johnny Cash came through. Burlesque twice nightly Thursday through Sunday. Nashville's only downtown jazz lounge. The checkerboard stage is original.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Inside The Harpeth Hotel. 240-plus whiskeys in the keep, live music four nights a week. The quietest way to land in Franklin after a show.

Open late for Franklin · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Wine bar on Main Street. The calm continuation after the Franklin Theatre.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

A no-fuss Irish pub on Main Street. Pints, pub food. The easy pre-show drink in Franklin.

Open through late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

1927. Stay there. Order a beer. Nashville's most comfortably unchanged bar.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Cash register, dart board, cheap beer. Hillsboro Village. Been here since before you needed a reason.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Darek Bell and Andrew Webber opened Corsair in 2010 — Nashville's first distillery since Prohibition. Guided tasting of five spirits in what they call a 'bootlegger-style' setup. Taproom and bottle shop on site.

Afternoon through evening · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Coffee in the morning, cocktails at night — inside Marathon Village. Wed–Thu 3–10pm, Fri–Sun 10am–midnight. The preamble and the after in the same room.

Wed–Thu 3pm–10pm, Fri–Sun 10am–midnight · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Charles Nelson — a German immigrant — founded this in 1867. At its peak in 1885, the largest sour mash producer in Robertson County. DSP-TN-5, an older federal distillery number than Jack Daniel's TN-7. Shut down in 1909 when Tennessee enacted state Prohibition. His great-great-great-grandchildren reopened on November 23, 2014. Tours, tastings, cocktail bar.

Afternoon through evening · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

The building has been a bar since 1896 — built as the barroom for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Speakeasy during Prohibition. The lore says Al Capone and Jimmy Hoffa both hid out here. Pool tables, pinball machines, bumper stickers floor to ceiling. Live music five nights a week. Just go.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

A neighborhood bar and working music room on Elliston Place. The easy pre-show drink when you don't want a plan.

Open through late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

In the old Café Coco space on Louise Ave, still pulling the Vanderbilt crowd. Coffee and Japanese comfort food until 3pm. Cocktails heavy on amaro Thursday through Monday from 5. Happy hour 5 to 7.

Dinner hours · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Amy found a decaying old beer joint behind a donut bakery and sex toy shop in then-undiscovered Madison and kept the plywood floors. Margo Price and Elizabeth Cook were early regulars. Frozen drinks, Frito pie, 70s country lounge. Fri–Sat till 3am. The best bar in Madison.

Mon–Thu til 1am, Fri–Sat til 3am · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Kava is a root from the Pacific Islands — ground and mixed with water, mildly sedative, earthy, non-alcoholic. Nashville's kava lounge: Victorian aesthetic, 21+, open 8am to 2am every day of the year. Live music Monday and Tuesday, trivia Wednesday, karaoke Thursday.

Daytime through evening · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Newer Gallatin Pike bar. Beer, cocktails, easy.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Vintage bowling lanes from a 1950s Indiana Bowl-O-Rama. Handcrafted cocktails, dipping pools, a covered patio. A quieter way to keep the night moving once Broadway gets to be too much.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Josh Habiger's WeHo anchor — Michelin star, James Beard nominee, Food & Wine Best New Chef. Two sides: the bar is walk-in; the 24-seat tasting menu room is behind an iron door and requires booking ahead. The bar side is the right call before GEODIS.

Hours not listed · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Elmer 'Santa' Irwin built this karaoke bar inside a double-wide trailer on Bransford Ave and hung Christmas lights that never came down. He died in September 2025 at 75; his grandson Riley runs it now. Cash, beer only, and no cursing on the mic — those were his rules and they still stand. Ed Sheeran and Kacey Musgraves both sang here. Open Wed–Sun from 4pm.

Wed–Sun 4pm–3am · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Founded 1944. Nashville's oldest pool hall — an underground space in Melrose with tables, cheap drinks, and no pretense. Just show up.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Cold beer, neighborhood crowd, Gallatin Pike. Nothing fancy.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

A 19-room boutique hotel in two restored 1920s Craftsman cottages that used to house Asylum Records and Spirit Music. LeBlanc+Smith — the Barrel Proof people. Gulf Coast cooking from Matt Regan, Tennessee whiskey cocktail program from Jason Sorbet. The least hotel-feeling hotel bar in Nashville.

Open 7am–11pm · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.

Nashville's last songwriter bar on Music Row. Six owners, three locations, nearly a century — now at 9 Music Square South, the only live music venue left on the Row. Pick-and-sing nights. The real thing.

Open late · Walk-in unless the bar says otherwise.