No. 308
I’ll admit it. I panicked a little when I saw No. 308 post on Facebook that the Gallatin Avenue bar would hold its “final service as 308” on New Year’s Eve.
I’ve spent a lot of time at 308. A lot. Before there was a craft cocktail bar in every East Nashville retail strip, 308 was a beacon — a place to have a drink made for you and your tastebuds with thoughtful ingredients (and at one glorious point in time, daily pickled vegetables I still miss), knowledgeable staff, and a few corner booths where a friend and I solved most of the world’s problems after work, repeating the bar’s tagline, “Sorry about tomorrow,” as our parting words. For a decade, the bar has been my most reliable hangout, allowing me to duck out as the late-night crowd showed up and the DJs started spinning.
My conversation with the folks behind 308 — Alexis Soler, Ben Clemons and Sean Glenn — calmed me down a little. It is true that No. 308 as we know it will cease to serve its “writer’s block shot” as the calendar turns to 2020. But it's not the end. A decade is a long time for a bar to be relevant, and Soler and friends are ready to create something new. The space will be closed in January as they reconfigure to open No. 308 Presents CAMP, a National Parks-themed bar. While that might sound nuts at first blush, it ultimately incorporates many great things: cocktails worth drinking; bars with seating; nuts and seeds; handmade art projects; protecting open spaces; and talking about camping.
Inspired in part by a cross-country road trip Soler took earlier this year, the bar will feature specialty cocktails served on handmade themed diorama/platters — one each for 10 different National Parks. At the end of each month CAMP will make a donation to each park, based on the drinks that have been sold. Drinks will have ingredients that make sense for the park for which they are named. American Samoa National Park, for example, will be a tropical drink with rum from the area, taro root and coconut. Even beer and wine will be sustainable and made in the U.S., Glenn says. Each drink comes with a pamphlet about each park, and the menu will be a map featuring the 10 parks. Munch on homemade trail mix (one of my four basic personal food groups) while you wait for your drink, which Glenn says will be “over the top.”
The parks have been chosen for their geographic diversity, from mountainous to tropical to desert, which was something Soler was moved by on her trip.
Renovation will start in January. Expect a complete overhaul, featuring live “jungle-like” trees and a fish tank to bring nature indoors. Lighting will transition from sunset to a starry night each evening, and seating will include boulder-like rocks (with tables, so you can put down your fancy piece of art/drink). The bar will be seated-only until 11:30 p.m., limiting the experience to 60 or so at a time. Late night will see a transformation to dancing DJs, and all the merriment East Siders have come to expect from after midnight at 308 (and the handmade dioramas for each drink will be put away for safekeeping).
Clemons is developing a themed retail merchandise area, with T-shirts, patches and hats, and perhaps hiking socks and other goods in the future. A portion of proceeds from the retail will benefit the parks, too.
For all the newness — and Soler’s passion to create an immersive experience and a way to start discussions about conservation and nature — she promises that CAMP, thanks to the current 308 staff sticking around, will have the same “friendly neighborhood vibe where everyone feels welcome” that we’ve spent 10 years appreciating.
