The Reunion team — Tusk Brothers Entertainment (a management group made up of Mollie Ward, Jamie Kenney and others) — purchased what was the Vandyke Bed and Beverage in 2022 and got to renovating. The first floor of the former East Nashville hotel once was a lobby that doubled as a restaurant, bar and pop-up space.
Tusk Brothers, who also own Wedgewood-Houston’s Never Never, have other plans. “We wanted to flip that," says Ward. "Our goal is to be a neighborhood bar in Five Points that also has eight hotel rooms."
Reunion opened in mid-June, and its happy hour — which generously lasts from 2 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and late night from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday and Tuesday — is already bringing in folks from the neighborhood who appreciate the affordable drinks, laid-back vibe, groovy decor and large windows that make for excellent people-watching. Reunion is open seven days a week starting at 11 a.m. Happy hour offers include two-for-one draft beers (there are nine available) and $6 well drinks. Wine specials will be added soon.
Ward lives in East Nashville and thought there was an opportunity to open a bar that was something in between the dive bars and sports bars and the high-end crafted cocktail spots. Tusk Brothers call Never Never a “dive-plus” bar, and Ward says Reunion is in that same lane — although the decor is nicer. Reunion is designed with several distinct spaces, with arches creating areas to have conversations with friends or to be part of a buzzier experience with the crowd.
The new decor has a New Orleans-esque wallpaper, great lighting over the U-shaped bar, plants, upholstered booths and a new configuration in the small, private courtyard.
While the eight rooms are still available as hotel rooms, they’re now booked exclusively through Airbnb, and hotel guests don’t check in through the lobby. The lobby, garden and rooftop deck have been completely redesigned to function more like that neighborhood bar than like a hotel. The rooftop deck, for example, had largely been only for hotel guests and you had to walk past the hotel room doors to get there. A new staircase gives access to the rooftop from the garden. There’s a temporary second bar on the rooftop now; Ward expects something more designed in the future. There’s also room for a DJ there, and the space is available to rent for private events. DJs will play Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Jazz nights will come on Sundays.
In early August, Reunion will introduce a new food menu to go with the drinks, and an expanded zero-proof menu is being developed as well. Outside of happy hour, well drinks start at $7 and house cocktails are $12. Beer ranges from $5 to $8.
“The idea behind Reunion was that we wanted this to be a place that people can meet up to congregate and socialize," Ward says. "Bars are great in happy times. Bars are great in bad times. Bars are great in the in-between times. And we want to be a place that is a reunion of friends. We use the term a ‘Society of Friends’ a lot on our social media. We wanted everyone to come in and feel a part of it.”
Reunion is located at 105 S. 11th St.
