When you visit Nashville, your first stop is probably going to be Lower Broadway.
It’s that glorious strip of honky-tonks that welcomes you with live music from every window. And one of the first things you’ll notice (besides all of those fucking pedal taverns and tractors full of bachelorette parties driving past you) is that you probably recognize a lot of the names hanging on neon signs in front of those bars.
Country artists are opening their own bars on almost every corner of Broadway. Some of them are good, some of them are shit, and some fall in between – they’re just generic bars that you could find pretty much anywhere else.
With Miranda Lambert recently becoming the first female artist to open a bar on Broadway, we thought now would be a good time to revisit our rankings of the artist-owned bars of Nashville’s famous entertainment district.
So which bars are worth checking out, which ones are just “meh,” and which ones should you skip altogether?
Here’s the definitive ranking:
1. AJ’s Good Time Bar
Would you honestly expect anything less than the best from a legend like Alan Jackson?
AJ’s Good Time Bar is a no-frills honky tonk where you’ll hear nothing but real country music. It’s the kind of bar that’s almost hard to find on Broadway these days. You won’t hear any shitty pop music, you won’t hear endless Pat Benatar covers, and you won’t hear any rap disguised as country.
And that’s not just my opinion: It’s Alan’s rule. Nothing but damn good country music at AJ’s.
2. Redneck Riviera
I knew I was going to like this place from the first time I stepped inside and heard the band playing Eric Church’s “Mr. Misunderstood.” Finally, somewhere that I won’t have to hear fucking Journey covers all night long.
John Rich’s Redneck Riviera definitely lives up to its name. It’s nothing fancy – in fact, you’ll probably feel like you’re at a hole-in-the-wall dive bar, as opposed to the massive venues and cookie-cutter experiences you get at some of the other bars on this list. There’s a stage made out of an Airstream trailer, and a rooftop bar covered in Astroturf where you can play giant Jenga and cornhole (or “bags,” as some of you weirdos like to call it).
Oh, and American flags everywhere – because if there’s one thing John Rich loves more than his country music, it’s his country. Redneck Riviera is a great bar – unless you hate America and country music.
And John’s Redneck Riviera whiskey is pretty damn good too.
3. Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa
When she became the first female artist to open a bar on Broadway, Miranda managed to pull off one of the most unique of the artist-owned venues. And I’m not just talking about all of the pink decor.
Casa Rosa has a Tex-Mex inspired menu, and it has easily the best food of any of the other bars on this list. Why settle for an overpriced burger and fries when you can stop in and get fajitas, tamales, or just some chips and queso? That’s the stuff that’ll keep you going when you’re already a few drinks in.
But it’s not just the food that earned Casa Rosa the third spot on the list: Casa Rosa actually has a pretty cool atmosphere too – one that’s equal parts laid back and badass, just like its namesake.
4. Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock ‘N Roll Steakhouse
It’s not the most country of the artist-owned bars, but it’s not the least country either.
It IS the least family-friendly though – so if you’re offended by “Cadillac Pussy” signs and a logo featuring a woman’s ass, you should probably stay away from Kid Rock’s. It’s a little tacky, but what did you really expect from the guy who put a giant middle finger statue in front of his house?
It’s also unquestionably the wildest of the artist-owned bars. On any given night you may see Morgan Wallen getting arrested, a man slinging his colostomy bag at the police, or even Kid Rock himself telling Oprah and Joy Behar to “suck dick sideways.”
This bar has also somehow become one of the most popular bars on Broadway, with visitors seemingly planning their entire trip around a visit to Kid Rock’s bar. Lines at this place regularly snake around the building, but the bar is massive so it’s usually not too long to get inside.
My favorite thing about Kid Rock’s, though, is the variety of music that you’ll find here. On any given night, you may hear a rock band on one stage doing Metallica covers while the band upstairs sings “Dust on the Bottle.” It’s a good time, and one of the bars worth checking out – as long as you’re not easily offended and don’t care if things get a little wild.
5. Ole Red
The first time I walked into Ole Red I thought I was in a gift shop for Blake Shelton merch. The music’s pretty good here, and the dance floor on the first level is massive, but overall the bar is just kind of…generic. Yeah, they have food, but it’s still just shitty bar food.
The one saving grace, though, is the rooftop bar. Every bar on Broadway has a rooftop these days, but The Lookout at Ole Red is the best rooftop of them all.
There’s live music and both indoor and outdoor seating, TVs for all of the sports fans, and there are even couches for when you’ve been drinking for too long and just want to relax. For the rooftop alone, Ole Red manages to jump ahead of some of the other bars on this list.
These next three bars are tied, because honestly, they’re all the fucking same.
Give me a few drinks and I wouldn’t even be able to tell you whose bar I was in…
6. Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row
Walk into the first floor of Whiskey Row and you’ll probably be ready to walk back out because it’s so damn crowded. That’s because the main bar takes up the entire fucking middle of the floor.
You could try to escape to the rooftop bar, but you’d better bring your climbing shoes and oxygen tank if you plan to go up there, because it’s a hike. Dierks recently opened a Whiskey Row in Denver, and coincidentally, once you finish climbing all the stairs at the Nashville location you’re at the same altitude as Denver.
There’s absolutely nothing special about Whiskey Row, unless you’re looking for a DJ who plays Taylor Swift and want to climb 20 flights of stairs to get to a tiny rooftop bar. If that’s your thing, sure, check it out.
6. Luke’s 32 Bridge
Ok, I’ll say it: This bar is just weird. It has a restaurant with a tiny stage on the first floor, and then you get upstairs to find a huge dance floor with a stage that’s half a floor above you.
And don’t expect to hear much country music either, because this place is more “That’s My Kind of Night” Luke Bryan than “We Rode in Trucks” Luke Bryan.
Hell, the first song I heard the band play here was “Santeria” by Sublime. The dance floor looks more like a college nightclub than a honky tonk, so if you’re in town for your bachelorette party and want a place to get white girl wasted, Luke’s is probably a safe choice.
Oh, and there’s a sushi bar on the rooftop. Who the hell wants to eat sushi from a bar in the hot Nashville summer sun? Nope. Pass.
6. Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar
Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop bar actually shares a rooftop with Luke’s 32 Bridge, which is appropriate because they’re basically the same anyway – they’re owned by the same group, and even share the same executive chef.
The main bar is, appropriately, a big green tractor, and it’s actually on the second floor of the building occupied by Tequila Cowboy. Other than that, not much really stands out about Jason Aldean’s.
The music’s a little more country than Luke Bryan’s bar, but the entire place felt like a parody of a Jason Aldean song. There’s also a gift shop, which is good, because buying a t-shirt is probably the best way to remember you were here. Otherwise, there’s not much that stands out about it.
9. FGL House
Florida Georgia Line’s bar isn’t even on Broadway, which is appropriate because it’s not even country.
I haven’t spent much time at FGL House, but in the little time that I’ve been there, I don’t think I heard a single country song. Which probably explains why I haven’t spent much time there – well that, and the fact that it’s full of frat guys wanting to black out on shots of Fireball surrounded by bachelorette parties who want to jam out to TLC’s “No Scrubs.”
FGL House feels like the clubs I went to in college (if the clubs I went to in college had a live band doing shitty Rhianna covers). It’s overcrowded, has a terrible layout, and shitty music.
If I’m out in downtown Nashville, I would rather go literally anywhere else than FGL House – and that includes the homeless camp down by the river.
