Pork tonkatsu
Bar Otaku has ceased operations in The Gulch — likely the latest restaurant and bar victim of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The closing comes about 1.5 years after the restaurant, which was inspired by traditional Japanese izakaya presentation, opened as a replacement for Little Octopus. It had won a Writers' Choice nod in the 2019 Best of Nashville issue for Best Izakaya.
Nashville-based chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Sarah Gavigan operated Bar Otaku, which was located at 505 12th Ave. S. and served, among other items, pork tonkatsu and other bar snacks. Gavigan started Little Octopus, which served Caribbean and Latin cuisine in a tapas-like format, in East Nashville before later opening in the Gulch in 2016.
Gavigan also owns Gulch noodle house Otaku Ramen, which has an address of 1104 Division St. and remains open.
“We set out a year ago to give Nashville a fun, vibrant izakaya that both reminded us of Japan and claimed a stake for the American izakaya,” the restaurant writes on its Facebook page. “We are proud to say that we did just that, but business requires hard decisions. And for us, that means it’s time to place 100 percent of our love and attention to building more Otaku Ramens both in Nashville and beyond.”
