Love's Alibi
Amid the spate of out-of-town hospitality groups opening new restaurant and bar projects in Nashville, it’s refreshing to see some development courtesy of cocktail professionals with local ties. Since the beginning of the year, three fun new bars have welcomed their first guests, and each one offers a different but welcome flavor to the area around downtown as an alternative to the typical hotel bars and mega-celebritonks.
The first is a sultry lounge in The Gulch with unexpected food options courtesy of the team behind the popular Barrel Proof in Germantown. The second new entrant is a proper cocktail bar in a building with a fascinating history. (A building that was also formerly a Subway.) The last new player is a hard-to-find gem of a dive bar from the James Beard-winning crew at Peninsula.
I decided to visit all three of these new bars in a single evening without driving or using rideshares. I’m participating in Nashville’s Greenways Challenge: I committed to walking or biking the entire system of Nashville’s greenways during this calendar year. That’s 35 different segments and almost 100 miles. The recent icy unpleasantness has put me behind on my schedule, and I realized that these three particular establishments are all located within a block or two of different greenways. A quick ride on the WeGo No. 7 from my house to the corner of Broadway and 12th Avenue, and my quest began.
I’ll spoil the ending right up front. Can you get between these three bars by walking? Yes. Did I do it? Yes. Was it a good idea? No. Ten-thousand steps and some poorly lit streets later, I accomplished my quest, but I wouldn’t advise it.
Love's Alibi
My first stop was Love’s Alibi, just across the street from Peg Leg Porker in The Gulch. The third jewel in the Nashville crown for NOLA-based hospitality team LeBlanc + Smith, Love’s Alibi joins Barrel Proof and The Chloe.
The decor at Love’s Alibi leans industrial, with exposed brickwork and ducts running along the ceiling. The concrete bar seems designed to survive anything a rowdy tourist could throw at it, but the overall vibe is decidedly chill. Color-changing lights illuminate the bottom of the bar and the glass bricks that form wall dividers between the bar and seating areas.
The team behind Barrel Proof Nashville provides an exclusive peek at their forthcoming neighborhood bar in The Gulch
Experienced mixologists work from a solid back bar of high-end spirits, but the menu is far from snooty. Six-dollar shots feature peanut butter tequila, raspberry vodka and Jägermeister as the main ingredients, or you can upgrade those options into a “Love Bomb” by adding Red Bull. Cocktails include a blackberry cobbler served in a Twisted Tea can and a really interesting savory martini made with briny sherry, saffron and Spanish peppers.
Something that makes Love’s Alibi stand out among local cocktail bars: its substantial food menu, which includes one of my new favorite burgers in town. The third-pound Alibi cheeseburger is topped with caramelized onions, fried shallots, bourbon mustard, house-made pickles, and American and provolone cheese — Love’s Alibi is worth a visit just for that burger. Other standouts on the food menu include honey-achiote-glazed chicken wings, shrimp remoulade lettuce wraps and a NOLA po’boy-inspired dish of fries smothered with burrata and beef “debris.” I never expected to see a braised beef rib with scallion whipped potatoes and collard greens on the menu at a cocktail emporium, but I’m happy that it exists.
Thanks to its afternoon opening hours, Love’s Alibi draws a mix of residents from nearby condos and apartments, along with a smattering of tourists. Later in the evening, they see more of a rush from outside visitors — and then a lot of industry folks coming in after their own bar shifts are over. It doesn’t matter where you came from; you’ll feel at home in Love’s Alibi.
The Hitchcock
Stop No. 2: The Hitchcock, a moody cocktail emporium under the management of Gabe Fuenmayor, the owner of another of my favorite downtown drinking spots, Bar Sovereign. The Hitchcock has a bit of a speakeasy feel, with a small video screen displaying a film of an eye peering back at you through a peephole in the front door. But the door is not shut, and you don’t need a password to get in.
The bar is located on the ground floor below The Maddox Hotel, a property that caters to group travelers with multiroom lodging options like The Honky Tonk Suite and The Elvis Penthouse. Although the hotel and The Hitchcock share the same ownership, they are not connected physically, so you probably won’t encounter bevies of bachelorettes at the bar. While it’s not a lobby bar, per se, it is becoming a bit of a lobbyist bar thanks to its proximity to the Tennessee State Capitol.
The bar takes its name from The Hitchcock Building, which has a fascinating history. Through the years, the corner of Fifth and Church has been home to the Berlitz Language School, the Tennessee Centennial planning committee, an ice cream parlor, Rexall Drug Store and the office where Herman Lay started his potato chip empire. Most notably to Nashvillians of a certain age, the building was part of department store Harveys from 1946 until 1983. Locals may remember the carousel with its gaily painted horses, or The Monkey Bar that had real live chimpanzees in cages near the food counter.
When The Hitchcock’s owners were first planning the design scheme, they contracted with a film set designer, who leaned into the name — there are images of Alfred Hitchcock on the walls and stuffed ravens perched over the back bar. Midway through the process, they decided to concentrate more on the building’s history, and the results are stunning. Dramatic chandeliers hang above the bar, more sculpture than fixtures. Wood, leather and metal decor offer a clubby atmosphere, and the original terrazzo tile of the former tenants feels historic.
History inspires many of the creative cocktails on the menu, and the snacks even include Lay’s potato chips flavored with a house spice blend. The fact that the party people staying upstairs can’t enter the bar directly and the honky-tonkers three blocks away on Broadway don’t like to climb more than 39 steps uphill makes for a more sedate and mature crowd. The Hitchcock is an urban oasis and a welcome retreat from the ruckus of Lower Broad.
Charmers
But they don’t mind a little ruckus at Charmers, the new bar project from the team behind Peninsula. Hidden away at the back of the Neuhoff District building that also contains Close Company and Fishmonger, Charmers is a spot you have to want to find. But once you do find it, you’ll want to return. If you know where the River Steps are in the Neuhoff District, you’re close. Find the steps, walk halfway down and turn left where you see a patio jutting out over the Cumberland.
The intentionally dark interior of Charmers makes it feel like you’ve discovered a secret club that doesn’t want everyone to know about it. But industry folks and fans of spritzes, fizzes, cocktails and cheap beer and wine have already discovered a new favorite. The short bar can be stacked three or four patrons deep on a busy weekend night, but the professional bar staff is up to the task.
Germantown’s adaptive reuse project puts the river front and center
The menu is also designed to keep the drinks flowing efficiently. There aren’t cutesy names to decipher on the menu of spritzes and fizzes. It’s just a numbered list of ingredients, so all you have to remember is whether you like the No. 3 or the No. 10. Cocktail names are just a wee bit precious, like The Orange Julius Erving or The Jimmy Carter, but they’re also descriptive. The former has vodka or gin plus OJ and foam, while the latter is a bourbon and Coke with peanuts and peanut orgeat (a peanut-flavored syrup).
The only food items on the menu are curly fries and the Gribiche Burger that Beard-winning chef Jake Howell has been perfecting during pop-up events at his East Side spot Peninsula. Having already housed an Alibi cheeseburger earlier that evening, I didn’t get to sample Charmers’ version, but I’ve heard it compared to Dino’s. High praise, indeed.
I’m really looking forward to warmer weather, when the patio at Charmers will be the place to enjoy a summer evening watching the river roll by. I just probably won’t walk there the next time.
