Schulman’s Neighborhood Bar Opens in East Nashville

Every winter, I vacation in California with my family, and I can measure in minutes the amount of time from wheels on the ground at the airport to when I'm in line at Sherman’s Deli and Bakery for a pastrami sandwich. So when I was recently driving down Porter Road looking at the progress at Schulman’s Neighborhood Bar — the newest Icon Entertainment & Hospitality venture — I stopped short as I saw the graphic design of the exterior sign. (Apologies to the silver Rogue driving behind me.)

Schulman’s, which is now open for business, is not a deli, but it does serve a delicious pastrami sandwich. And the sign, indeed, is a cheeky nod to the Palm Springs favorite. Easter eggs of nostalgia are hidden throughout the new bar at the corner of Greenwood Avenue and Porter Road. The bar is named in honor of David “Skull” Schulman, the man behind the original Skull’s Rainbow Room (which Icon now owns) and who the brand considers a pioneer of Nashville’s dive-bar scene. It has a North Woods of Wisconsin aesthetic (something for which I am also nostalgic after a period of eating and drinking there in my 20s).

But that’s not to say that Schulman’s is a gimmick. Started by Bill and Shannon Miller and their sons Blake, Jordan and Will, Schulman’s is the first East Nashville project for Icon. And yes, there’s lots of vintage and antique memorabilia throughout, similar to what Icon has on display at House of Cards, Nudie’s Honky Tonk and Sinatra Bar and Lounge. Heads turn at the rounded corners of the ’70s-era television behind the bar, scrolling period-style images. There’s an actual cigarette machine. Cozy booths are adorned with more beer memorabilia than you can imagine. (Don’t skip the Farrah Fawcett poster in the hallway.) "Less is more" is the collecting ethos at Icon.

But the Miller boys wanted to create a neighborhood hang, a place where they and their friends could sip a frozen margarita or drink a beer and eat the aforementioned pastrami, fried pickles, rumaki (that’s chicken liver and water chestnuts in a ’70s-style teriyaki). Grab a $4 PBR or shell out $25 for the “Champagne of Beers," which includes “Table Side Spaghett, 750ml Miller High Life served with a sidecar of Aperol.” So, for as theatrical as Skull’s and House of Cards are, Schulman’s is a low-key vibe. There are shelves weighted with vinyl for listening to tunes and both an outdoor patio and an indoor-outdoor area with skylights that make it look sunny even when the weather is inclement. (Last Thursday’s rain storm was a good test for this.) 

Schulman’s is located at 1201 Porter Road and will be open seven days a week from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. The kitchen closes at 1:30 a.m., which means late-night pastrami in the neighborhood, no plane ticket to California needed.