It’s been several years since I first told you all about my discovery of Nashville Underground and asserted that the burger recipe from Joey DeGraw, brother of popular musician and co-owner of the restaurant Gavin DeGraw, was one of the best in town. At the time, the restaurant literally was underground, a tiny hole-in-the-wall spot in the basement of the last building on Lower Broad between Big River and well, the big river.
Since then, the brothers DeGraw have gone big time, IMHO leaving that other famous pair of burger brethren in their dust. An option opened up to purchase the entire building, and Nashville Underground has expanded to fill floors 1, 2, 5, 6 and the rooftop, with an option to occupy the remaining floors in a few years if their current tenants choose to move out.
The current trend in downtown Nashville bars/restaurants is to develop a multi-level concept, and nowadays if you don’t offer access to the rooftop, don’t even bother opening the front door. (Because apparently Miller Lite and Fireball taste even better at altitude. Woo-hoo!) But Nashville Underground has done it right and gone really big with their new development. It has been open since early this year, and I got a chance to check out the space and the menu.
As part of the focus on outdoor spaces, Nashville Underground has outdoor patio areas on every single floor in the venue, including an expansive rooftop that they claim is the only multi-level roof space on Broadway. Moving from the bottom floor to the top is an experience in changing vibes all the way up. The main street level space is exposed to the craziness of Broadway, and a large stage features live music seven nights a week to fight back against the din of downtown. A big bar brags of serving the coldest beer in the area, and a thermometer read 27.3 degrees in the beer cooler when I was there. Smart touches like charging stations in the bar area are intended to keep patrons comfortable for long music sets, and an impressive 24 bathrooms in the complex is a major improvement over most downtown eating and drinking establishments.
Moving up to the second floor, there’s more of a loungy vibe with lots of different seating configurations to allow for private conversations even in the midst of all those partying patrons. You may find this floor closed for private parties, but it does serve as overflow space on busy weekends. Oh, and they’re planning to add a mechanical bull.
Nashville Underground spent more than $1 million on their audiovisual system, and the music sounds great on every floor. Not only can they pipe the bands or DJs into different spaces, but large screens can project the musical acts or sports on the wall of screens in the top floor lounge. There’s also an LED dance floor that is like Saturday Night Fever thrust into the 21st century.
The fifth-floor lounge opens up into an outdoor space with an expansive view of downtown and access to the sixth-floor “Imaginarium” bar. This bar has a roof shaped like a guitar, because, of course it does! The uppermost level of the outdoor deck actually has a dog-friendly green space with real grass and cozy adirondack chairs for lounging. I’m not sure how you’d get your dog through the bar onto the roof, but they swear Fido is welcome.
All in all, it’s a very impressive facility from top to bottom, and it’s especially noteworthy that the DeGraws have made an investment to expand their tiny (1,600-square-foot) little hamburger joint/small songwriter stage that I already loved into a behemoth of an entertainment venue that occupies more than 40,000 square feet. Still, among all the new celebrity-focused mega-bars downtown, the DeGraws don’t emphasize themselves over their city.
Joey explains, “We had 10 years to do market research with our customers. We made a very conscious decision to make Nashville the star of this place.” This attitude shows up on the menu where there are some touristy items but also some thoughtful plates to attract the locals looking for a good lunch downtown.
Sure, there’s the ubiquitous hot chicken sandwich on the menu, but Nashville Underground’s version is actually bone-in, a detail they claim is unique on Broadway. I appreciated the effort, and would put the heat level at between mild and medium at Prince’s. The JD’s Original Cheeseburger that drew me in years ago is still on the menu and is still an excellent burger. Other highlights of the menu include a sweet Brussels sprouts and honey toast app, a well-conceived Strawberry Fields Salad with mesclun spring mix, grilled chicken, strawberries, grapes, blue cheese crumbles and candied pecans, tossed in balsamic vinaigrette and a solid Southern Fried Catfish entree, brined in buttermilk and cornmeal-breaded before a pass through hot oil to cook the fish to a golden brown.
Nashville Underground hopes to be a place that locals will patronize along with out-of-towners. It’s a fine addition to the downtown lunchtime dining scene, and if you want a little breathing room to escape the throngs of Lower Broad, head in and head up to the wide open spaces of the rooftop decks. And get that burger. It’s still a winner!
