Nashville's TOP FIVE

Nashville is full of good times, but here are GUITAR FOODIE'S top five places for fun

The last couple of years have really given a facelift to Nashville. It is a vibrant city full of music, art, and nightlife. Its hard to pin point the ever changing Hot Spots, but there are a few parts of town that will always have the allure for the outsider and locals as well.

Number 5

Printers Alley

Printers Alley has a long history of being a night life Hot Spot. Located between 3rd and 4th Avenue, this Alley has been on the Nashville club scene since the 40's. Performers like Chet Atkins, Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, and Dottie West made their mark. In this era of Honky Tonk liquor sales for consumption on premise were not allowed. The clubs in the Alley claimed the customers brought in their own brown bagged liquor. Who knows? When there is a will there is a way. The name came from the 2 newspapers, 10 print houses and and multiple publishers that occupied the area around the Alley. Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar never disappoints with thrilling authentic Blues and Boogie music all night long. Skulls Rainbow room has a decadent history and serves up some great food and liquor. Great times can be had any night of the week. It's just a short walk from lower Broadway. Worth the walk! Plenty of nightlife to be had here with a different feel then the mega bars of lower Broadway. Alley Taps has a great assortment of music almost every night of the week.

Number 4

Opry Mills

This location was formally Opryland, a theme park based off of the rich history of the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry house still resides next to the Opry Mill Mall and has live music many nights of the week throughout the year. The Mall itself is now a year round shopping haven, with a Dave and Busters, Rainforest Cafe, Movie Theater, German Beer Garden, Food Court, and hundreds of shops. A family can easily spend the day here and still not do everything. The Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center is next door and is filled with vibrant waterfalls, a full indoor river cruise , boutique shops, bars, and restaurants. Consisting of over 4000 rooms, multiple pools, and a convention center this is a great location to stay and have it all at your finger tips. There are also shuttles that run to downtown a couple times an hour. So you can stay for all the amenities and still get a ride to and from downtown hotspots. The area directly around the hotel also has some great eateries and live music venues such as The Nashville Palace. this area is also a little more family orientated compared to downtown Nashville. Great area to stay for a weekend. Just don't spend all your time here !

Number 3

Five POints

East Nashville

Just across the bridge from Nashville is East Nashville. East Nashville has been experiencing quite the rebuild over the last 10 years, as much of Nashville has. The East side of the river has proven to be on the frontline of new music clubs, bars, and restaurants. Five Points is the area where you guessed it, 5 five roads meet. For quite a long time there has been good bars on this strip, but in the last few years the nightlife has really came alive. More of a college hipster vibe, a little cheaper, not much though, East Nashville has quite the nightlife with many local favorites in walking distance within each other. Parking isn't hard to find, but is getting harder and harder especially on weekends. Five Points pizza is the pizza capitol of East Nashville with a NY style pizza loaded the way you love it, with a crust you can wrap and easily eat with your hands. I really like their garlic knots as well. Red Door Saloon, 3 Crow Bar, and Dukes are great hangs. Dukes has some of the best Sandwich's in town. Catch a show at The Basement East or the 5 Spot to experience some of the local up and comers, as well as Nationally touring bands. With a younger crowd and much less tourists than lower Broadway, the east side of the river can be a dandy of a time for an entire evening of bar hopping and eating. East Nashville is a hot spot, give it a good spin, there are a lot of nooks and crannies.

Number 2

MidTown

Music Row

Music Row used to have some of the best bars in town and studios to boot. Now days it is more of the business side of music, as well as being next to the Belmont University campus. A couple of studios remain, but most have moved into the Berry Hill area of Nashville. The studio that Elvis recorded most of his hits, RCA Studio B is still there, but it serves up more tours for tourists and music lovers these days, even though it is still a working studio. RCA Studio A , the house that Chet Atkins built is right next door. RCA Studio A has been recently the home to Dave Cobb and his projects including many of the Chris Stapleton hits as of late. Just off of Music Row is where the bars and restaurants landed. This area is known as Mid Town. Hattie B's Hot Chicken opened here and the Nashville Hot Chicken craze went into overdrive. As the rumor goes, the Hattie B's Recipe is based off of Prince's Hot Chicken which has been a Nashville Staple since 1945. The Hattie B's Mid Town location is known for its long lines and HOT chicken. Do not order it hot unless you really want it HOT!!! Medium and mild are even too HOT for some people. Luckily you can order southern style which is flavorful, but not the heat levels that Nashville HOT chicken is known for. Whiskey Jam is held at Winners bar every Monday and Thursday night. You can catch some of Nashville's hottest acts gracing this stage. Right next door is Losers which don't let the name fool ya, this bar is full of winners. Two Boots pizza is the KING of pizza Mid Town style. They even have a HOT chicken pizza. Yummy dough and pizza that you can order by the slice makes this place a great pit stop. Mid Town has a much more local feel to it, with a superb collection of Bars and Restaurants. The Tavern has a great weekend brunch and one of the best bar menus I've ever see. So does the Brewhouse. The Brewhouse and Mojo Grill has my favorite Bushwacker in town. Haven't tried one? This is the spot. The Row also has tremendous food packed into a quaint spot that really showcases the musical history of this part of town. You can easily spend a whole evening in this part of town as well. Cheers!

Number 1

Lower Broadway

Downtown

It is a tourist trap, full of trouble, and good times! Live music is a alive and well in Downtown Nashville. There is a band or two, and even sometimes three LIVE BANDS in almost every building. Don't expect to hear original songs, it will mainly be performers playing the usual top forty hits of the last 50 years. The rest are boutique shops, tourist souvenirs, restaurants, and all are built on music. It will be a party! Downtown Nashville has a long history of live music, honky tonk's, dive bars, and local eateries. The last few years have really expanded the scene here. Locals for the most part stay clear of downtown unless it is their gig, or they are meeting out of town friends, but the vitality of Nashville's music scene still beckons from here. If large crowds are not your thing you can enjoy downtown earlier in the day. As the night unfolds the streets get more and more packed with people out to have a good time. When we think of live music in Nashville, the first iconic building that started it all is Ryman Auditorium. The Ryman was the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. All the early Country and Bluegrass stars have graced her stage. You could even say that being on the Opry is what made them stars. The Grand Ole Opry still hosts shows in here, but the Grand Ole Opry is now located near Opry Mills Mall. Right to the South of the Ryman is Legends, Tootsie's, and Roberts Western World. These are great Honky Tonk's to start your night out in downtown Nashville. Many of todays modern Country artists have bars with their names on them in downtown Nashville. Too long to list, it's part of the new marketing strategy of Nashville's music industry. Other hot spot bars of downtown are the Hard Rock Cafe, Acme, Tin Roof, and Tequila Cowboy. There are several other streets right off of Broadway that boast fun as well. One of my favorites is HD Beercade. Its a vintage video game arcade that is full of nostalgia for me. I literally made a list of 12 games that I hoped they had from my childhood and when I got there....11 out of 12 were there! Great Chicago style food as well. A huge movie theater sized screen for sports and current events and an 80's vibe to boot. I usually start the night here, play games for free and have a drink and start working my way up Broadway for a night of fun. The Johnny Cash Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame, Patsy Cline Museum, The Fisk Art Museum,Goo Goo Factory,Ryman Tour, and not to mention the Nashville Predators and Titans play right here. It all happens here. Quickly becoming one of the quintessential cities to have a night out on the town. Music lives in Nashville, the downtown is the essence of the city. Cheers!