The Chick-fil-A of honky tonks?
Ever since Garth Brooks announced his new Nashville bar, Friends In Low Places, he’s described his vision of having a world-class honky tonk:
“I want the Chick-fil-a of honky tonks. I want a place you go in where you feel good, you feel safe. Everybody’s got good manners. I’m hoping that there’s right when you walk in it’s a ‘Love Everybody’ stated right there. That’s what it’s about, right? So I want a place that’s just safe. That feels good.”
And part of having a honky tonk is having actual country music, right? That’s something that Garth said he wanted in his new bar:
“I’d love it to be a classic honky tonk. Cause country music to me has been so good to me. And I want to hear, on lower Broadway in 2022, I want to hear King George coming out of that honky tonk. I want to hear Haggard coming out of that honky tonk. And I don’t think that’s impossible to ask.”
Sounds good to me.
There aren’t many classic honky tonks on Broadway these days. You’ve got Robert’s Western World…and that’s about it. And of the artist-owned bars (of which there are many), the only one that you’re guaranteed to hear country music when you walk into is Alan Jackson’s place, AJ’s Good Time Bar.
But it sounded like Garth wanted to add his name to that list and keep it country.
So how did he do?
Well judging by the reviews…it’s not quite living up to the vision that Garth laid out.
Friends In Low Places opened up last November, with the first two floors welcoming visitors on weekends for the past couple of months. And earlier this month, the bar had its grand opening and officially unveiled the full four-story venue to folks looking for that “classic honky tonk” that Garth promised.
So I decided to check the reviews now that the bar has started welcoming visitors, and one of the most frequent complaints is that…they weren’t playing country music.
I mean, I don’t have anything against Flo Rida but his music doesn’t exactly scream “country” to me.
Now, these reviews were from before the grand opening so maybe things have changed since then. But one of the more recent reviews seems to have had the same experience – and saw the variety of music as a positive:
I’ve been in Friends In Low Places twice since it opened, and both times the band played mostly country music – though they did mix in some rock and pop too. But the first time I was there, there was a DJ playing between bands and they most definitely didn’t stick to country music: I heard everything from Pitbull and Biggie Smalls to Rihanna and Taylor Swift.
So it sounds like Garth’s bar isn’t strictly a classic honky tonk. And that seems fairly obvious when you walk in and see the massive stage and LED screen behind it, along with the two-story palm trees surrounding the dance floor.
But it’s definitely not the least country bar downtown either.
Just don’t go expecting to hear only country music…
