Bar Guide
It’s 6 p.m. on a weeknight and the scene at Cabana feels like the calm before the storm. Clusters of men and women are scattered throughout the expansive establishment, and, at least for the moment, they’re chatting exclusively with their own parties. More than a dozen men are bellied up to the dark wood bar. Despite the range of ages—mid-30s and beyond—they all look strikingly similar, sporting golf shirts and seemingly expensive wristwatches. A cursory check of their left hands as they throw back draft beers and bourbons reveals that either A) the majority are not married, or B) they don’t wear their wedding rings out for drinks. Let’s be optimistic and assume it’s the former, which means this is a great place for single gals to meet that special someone, or at least score a free drink after work.
A lone woman finally sits at the bar, and an hour later she’s still there, gulping an appletini and conversing intently with a man seated on the stool to her right.
Outside on the deck, the crowd is a bit younger and dominated by ladies. Five women in their mid-20s occupy one table, each wearing high-heel sandals, flirty skirts and tank tops, and all with shoulder-length hair. They nibble on a shared a pizza and, remarkably, all sip on glasses of white wine. Two women across the deck bypass appetizers, instead ordering beers and lighting up Marlboro Lights when their drinks arrive. Then there’s a group of six ladies clad in corporate attire. Their table is littered with martini glasses, and it’s apparent from the volume of their conversation that they’ve been here a while. Every few minutes, a light mist falls from a sprinkler system above the deck, cooling the crowd on this warm spring evening without frizzing, flattening or otherwise futzing up anyone’s hair.
CABANA
1910 Belcourt Ave.
577-2262
By 7 p.m. the crowd is picking up both inside and out on the deck. Two guys in a black Jeep Wrangler slowly drive by to check out the scene. They approve and stroll in a few minutes later. Two more men walk through the door, one wearing a blue blazer and button-down shirt, the other removing a Bluetooth from his ear. As the evening progresses, the crowd becomes noticeably younger, and the great divide between groups of men and women milling about seems to narrow. As the drinks flow, so does conversation. Whether any lifelong matches will be made tonight is anybody’s guess, but one thing is certain: Cabana is a veritable playground for singles.
If this Hillsboro Village haunt isn’t quite your scene, here are a few other suggestions:
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- Tin Roof: a live-music spot crawling with an early-20s clientele. 1516 Demonbreun St.
- Virago: a sleek, sushi-heavy restaurant that serves up great martinis to a young professional crowd. 1811 Division St.
- Tribe: a mainstay nightclub in the city’s thriving gay business district. 1517 Church St.
- Lucky’s Garage: the newest addition to Nashville’s gay nightlife scene, offering drag shows and DJs on the weekend. 207 14th Ave. N.
- Lipstick Lounge: East Side hang originally opened as a lesbian bar, a great place for trivia, karaoke or music. 1400 Woodland St.