Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Barbecue / Restaurant openings Drifters to Fill Alleycat
Posted by Carrington Fox on Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 6:42 AM
East Nashville restaurateur Matt Charette is expanding his empire into the space that formerly housed Alleycat Lounge. If all goes according to plan, Charette will launch Drifters restaurant and bar by the weekend. Coming on the heels of Charette's Batter'd & Fried, Beyond the Edge and Watanabe Sushi and Asian Restaurant, Drifters will focus on barbecue and bar service.
"I've bought the most expensive piece of equipment I've ever bought," Charette says of the slow roaster, which will cook brisket, pulled pork, baby back ribs, pork sausage and chicken. Batter'd & Fried chef Andy Trexler will man the kitchen at Drifters, just around the corner from B&F at Five Points.
Trexler & Co. have created four signature barbecue sauces, including Texas-style sorghum-tomato-based sauce, Tennessee-style vinegar-based sauce, Georgia-style spicy hot mustard sauce and New Mexico-style pepper-based sauce, which "is not for the faint of heart," according to Trexler. For vegetarians, there will be fried tofu with barbecue sauce and a vegan burger made with rice, beans and potatoes.
With a fresh coat of paint and a new layout, Drifters could open as early as this weekend, in time for the Last Minute Toy Store poker run, which raises money for holiday gifts for families in need.
Located at 1008-B Woodland St., Drifters will open for dinner during the week and lunch and dinner on the weekends, until Labor Day, when Charette plans to expand to lunch all week.
Comments (25)
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A BBQ restaurant that actually offers vegetarian and vegan options excites me...my husband could get his BBQ fix, and I won't be stuck just eating the coleslaw.
I'll give it a try.I always want to support East Nashville, but I have never cared for any of the food in his other 3 restaurants. We have so many bar bq, and wing places in East Nashville already.I am much more excited about the new Vietnamese restaurant.
The new Vietnamese place is worth being excited about. But I'll be happy to be able to drink beer on that patio once again! An evening at Alleycat was never *really* about the food, anyway....
wow, when I saw "drifters" and his name, I immediately thought of driftwood piling up along beaches found on lazy sunset strolls with sandals in hand and bare toes covered in sand, and got my hopes up for some local low-key grilled fish bastion, like those little favorite places you always find on your last night at the coast.
and then, instead, I read "BBQ". Huh? And from an expensive "slow roaster", with no mention of wood OR expertise. No pedigree of contests won or lost, and apparently all flavor hopes resting on the bottles of sauces. (Who thinks Texas sauces are sorghum-based?? Who thinks Tennessee has a sauce its own? When did all that is the culinary cornucopia called New Mexico get reduced down to simply not for the faint of heart?) The guy manning the fryers down the road is going to run its kitchen? (Can you really call the cook at a fried seafood place a chef ?)
"Set the knob on the slow roaster to 'Pork' !" "Yes, Chef!"
Oh.
Don't wanna be a hater, but it would be nice to see another person on the East side scene take on this spot.
Yeah, color me underwhelmed. And, as a Georgia native I swear I never ever saw a mustard-based sauce growing up, much less one that called itself "Georgia Style." And Tennessee sauces are vinegar based? Since when?
Yeah... your mustard is gonna come from South Carolina while the best vinegar stuff is found in North Carolina. Never heard of a Georgia-specific sauce, tho. No Alabama white sauce?
I agree, the emphasis on the sauces doesn't bode well. And BBQ joints that are known for their sauces only have one or two offerings and usually never give a nod to all parts of the BBQ map.
A good rule for BBQ is focus. Judge Beans is focused on TX style, Martin's is traditional West Tennessee. Drifters sounds like we'll be getting the Ruby Tuesday's version of smoke meats.
UGH, I love barbeque and all but as an East Sider I want to see restaurants owned by someone other than Charette. Most of his joints are very underwhelming, tho I like Watanabe. Missing the Alley Cat...
>"I've bought the most expensive piece of equipment I've ever bought," Charette says of the slow roaster
I wonder how much the slow roaster at the Kroger deli cost. Jeez.
Great....another place of Charette's that I'll be avoiding for fear of getting food poisoning....again.
Are you kidding me? Do you know how Mat Charette has done and invested in this neighborhood/s? Let us not forget he first brought sushi to the hood. And you can beetch about the food at BTE all you want but name me one other place in East Nasty that has a better Happy Hour (maybe foobar, but come on, two for one drafts and nightly specials to boot?)and isn't that what it's all about?? I guess you wish Wantanabe was still an empty derelict building? Geez, maybe you should take your sleeve tatooe'd arm and pull your Elvis Costello glasses, irononic trucker hat wearing skulls out of your a-hole.
Someone just needs to convince Martins BBQ to open a place in Nashville. While it is worth the drive it would be great to have one right in town.
@tragic
I think we're mostly bemoaning the lack of variety. Plenty of BBQ on the EastSide already. Please don't take it personally.
But, yes, I do wish Watanabe was still an empty building.
(pulls on skinny jeans)
yr pal,
Vinny
"plenty of BBQ on eastside already"
plenty may be true, but none are above avg., maybe except Dee's. Maybe charette can pull it off with drifters, but if it ends up being avg. they'll just rape from the other 10 avg Q restaurants on eastside. I don't care if there are 50, I'd love to see the "Q" fairy bring us east-siders a place like martins.
To have actually been to all of the spots Matt has in East Nashville, I am a fan of his newest spot due to the sauces and variety. To have already tried the nachos and the brisket they were awesome. The venue is great and expanded compared to Alley Cat, so we will see what will become of another "Golden Nugget" in his business resume I just wish that it can have some bands in the back patio to entertain will customers enjoy meals with my favorite so far the Texas BBQ sauce..
GIVE IT A TRY!!! Being from the Chicago-land area coming to Nashville and trying Famous Dave’s I fall in love...I think I just started an affair...lol.
A friend and I gave it a try tonight and unfortunately were disappointed. The service was lackluster, the food was the same (don't get the tofu), and the manager was less than concerned.. Should've taken my $18 to Calypso as originally planned. :-/
Tried it last night with a few others in tow and it was good. Sauces had a lots of spice and the various meats we tried all were prepared VERY well. Pretty darn tasty! I recommend the ribs...
Service and food was really great when I went.
I would recommend to anyone that enjoys BBQ. Next time I go back I will have to try the veggie options.
Yum!
KEEP IT UP MATT, GREAT JOB GReAT FOOD !!!!!!!! i dont know where those people have been eating, and the place is now really clean, there may be other bbq joints but not like this ever !!!!! try the home made corn dogs KILLER !!!!!!!!!
ALMOST COMPLETE CRAP! I ordered the BBQ Pork Sandwich and it was about 1/4 meat and 3/4 FAT. The fries that came with the Fatwich were completely soggy and inedible. The sauces were alright and the Hush poppies that probable came frozen from Sysco were good.
I had the please of trying watanabe for the fist time last night. Ordered the Pine combo. Tasted great. No more than an hour later, I had the first case of food poisoning in my life. I almost wanted to go back and ask for a refund. I normally eat sushi 2-r times a month, and have done so for about the past 10 years. I will never eat there again. Though, on a positive note the service was good. Perhaps they should pay closer attention to the ways their food is prepared.
