Pat Martin has always been a little larger than life: a wrasslin’-watchin’, Titans-lovin’, Waylon-quoting and barrel-chested pitmaster dedicated to preserving the heritage of West Tennessee whole-hog barbecue. It’s an image that can mask the businessman who has been quietly building an empire of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joints from Nolensville to Belmont all the way to Morgantown, W.V.
His latest Martin’s location is a pitmaster’s playground in the former home of music venue The Rutledge on Fourth Avenue South. Slated to open in late July after numerous construction and permitting delays, the nearly 13,000-square-foot restaurant is probably visible to the astronauts in the International Space Station, who will have to resist the urge to roll down a window for a whiff of hickory and pig coming off of one of the four large whole-hog smokers located on the upper level of the facility.
The joint really is more like two different restaurants (well, four if you count the two private dining rooms, Rutledge North and South, which can house up to 140 diners combined for family-style feasts). Downstairs will probably cater more to the tourist set staying in nearby hotels or attending conventions at the Music City Center. The size and layout of the main floor are very similar to Martin’s Belmont Boulevard location, a restaurant where the staff has mastered the art of volume-and-quality barbecue service. The new place is a short walk from the heart of Lower Broad, so expect a steady influx of visitors queuing up to enjoy a standard Martin’s menu of smoked pork, chicken, ribs and brisket — as well as one of the most underrated burgers in town.
The real difference-maker is apparent as you ascend the main staircase to the upper level. When Martin first took over the building, the top of the structure housed a green room for bands playing at The Rutledge, and there was a small gravel parking lot in back. Not wanting to have to disinfect a decade’s worth of backstage bacteria aside, he instead demolished the upper floor and hatched a plan to to build the ultimate hangout for his friends and customers. Martin also recognized that eight parking spots wouldn’t do much for the place. “I knew I couldn’t afford to build out a huge upper level on that gravel lot,” he says. “But I also knew I couldn’t afford not to.”
The resulting moonshot of an investment promises to be unlike anything Nashville has ever seen — with the possible exception of the convivial playhouse that Max and Ben Goldberg have created a few blocks away at Pinewood Social. Call it “Hickory Wood Social” — the atmosphere at the beer garden/barbecue emporium is surprisingly even more casual than the other Martin’s locations, if that’s possible. Martin is proud of his decorating style with each location, starting with a single photo hanging over the bar of The Dukes of Hazzard’s Catherine Bach as Daisy Duke. Once Daisy (also the name of Martin’s daughter ... coincidence?) is in place, Martin and his staff work outward, hanging posters and photos of a rogue’s gallery of friends, family, fellow pitmasters and heroes from the worlds of sports and music. True to form, the newest Martin’s features a huge neon Waylon Jennings logo, and a bar covered with photo clippings from a lifetime’s worth of wrestling magazines laminated under a thick layer of clear acrylic.
In Martin’s 2.0, Bach’s photo is replaced by Jessica Simpson, a nod to the 2005 movie remake of the popular television series. The landscaping plan is gorgeous: A partial greenhouse roof over the open beer garden collects rainwater to fortify full-grown trees that ring the dining area and planters full of colorful shrubs.
Murals dominate the open courtyard with shoutouts to Olive and Sinclair and the fictional “King Racing,” named after one of Martin’s ancestors. Multiple bars surround the beer garden, which covers more than 5,000 square feet and is expected to seat 225 people. The area is set up with multiple nooks and crannies for eating, drinking and playing, including a hip conversation pit constructed out of a repurposed shipping container. Look closely and you’ll actually see the panels that were cut out of the sides of the “K Line” container hanging on a wall, contributing an organic/industrial vibe to one of the many planters.
A whole hog in the pit.
The kitchen is designed to handle the huge expected crowds and has been divided into parallel cooking and serving lines to handle upstairs and downstairs ordering. An innovative system will geolocate customers through the number they receive when ordering and track them to wherever they settle in the restaurant. Just don’t accidentally take your number with you when you leave, or Martin will have to follow you home.
If the downstairs and the rest of the Martin’s locations are designed for a quicker dining experience, the beer garden welcomes customers to linger over a drink or three. Food will be available for purchase upstairs in more of a market-style system of purchase (think by the pound), but the emphasis will be more on fun and beverages. Ex-City House manager Juliet Ceballos has designed a menu of a half-dozen cocktails while she waits to dive full-bore into her new gig with Tandy Wilson as managing partner of Collo Rosso Pizza. There will also be 30 beers on tap, both upstairs and down.
A ping-pong table, dartboards and a full-sized old-school bar shuffleboard table will offer more entertainment while patrons enjoy a drink and some smoked meats, and a small stage at the edge of the courtyard may host
Pat Martin in the new Martin's space
musical acts or even live radio shows featuring some of Martin’s ex-Titan buddies. It is certainly positioned to be a pregame destination on Sundays or, depending on this year’s team performance, perhaps a spot to go instead of a Titans game.
Twenty years ago, the NFL team financed a portion of the construction costs of their new home across the river by selling personal seat licenses for the right to a dedicated spot in the stadium. As smart as Pat Martin is, I’m surprised he didn’t do the same thing at his new downtown emporium. Sign me up for two barstools in front of Jackie Fargo and Dutch Mantell.
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