The ribald but tourist-friendly restaurant concept
Dick's Last Resortmay be based in Nashville, but it doesn't actually have a location here. Now that's about to change.
We've known for a while that the company is expanding, but as J.R. Lind first reported on Bites' sister site Nashville Post, it's now staking out a place on Second Avenue North downtown.
Dick's is famous for its winking innuendo (evident in its name) and the lively banter of its servers. Just don't call them rude, says company president Ralph W. McCracken. He prefers the terms "irreverent" and "smart-ass."
Customers flock to the joint to "eat, drink and laugh," McCracken says. The jokes and attitude are designed to make diners smile, he says.
And while prolonged dick jokes may seem like a male-dominated pursuit, McCracken reports that the customer base is actually 66 percent female. He says that's one of the things he and CEO Ted Moats (both former Logan's Roadhouse execs) learned while doing their due diligence before taking over the company in 2008. Bacherlorette parties are part of the reason.
Dick's already has outposts in tourist-attracting towns like Las Vegas and Myrtle Beach. (A Gatlinburg store opens this week.) But the Nashville location will have a special allure — it's going in at 154 Second Ave. N., a four-level 1870s warehouse that already houses the Coyote Ugly chain and popular longtime bar and pool hall Buffalo Billiards. McCracken calls it synergy.
