A long-vacant building at the foot of Broadway that served as a reminder of Nashville's agricultural past is about to be transformed into a modern spot for dining, cocktails and live music.
Tom Morales, the veteran restaurateur who owns The Southern Steak and Oyster in the Pinnacle tower downtown, along with Saffire in Franklin and the TomKats movie catering business, is planning to turn the century-old Acme Farm Supply building at 101 Broadway into a restaurant, bar and music venue.
We don't know much yet about the new place, which will be called Acme Food & Spirits. Morales is planning a full announcement next week.
But in an email to Bites, Morales' company said the Acme will fill three floors of the historic building, along with a patio, and each space will have "its own unique style and a special set of offerings that honor Nashville then and now."
"The Acme will honor and elevate the traditional honky tonk experience, providing tourists and locals alike a place to eat, drink, listen to music, shop and hang out," it added.
"We recognize the changing demographic of the Nashville visitor and we will provide an experience that caters to them," Morales was quoted as saying.
The commercial building at 101 Broadway dates back to the 1890s. For most of the 20th century it housed Acme Feed, later known as Acme Farm Supply, and the cheerful red-and-white checkerboard paint remained a nostalgic sight on Broadway through the years of vacancy.
The building, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998, had several identities over the decades prior to Acme, including Bearden Buggy Co. and Continental Baking Powder.
And as my colleague J.R. Lind reported, back in 2010 a plan was floated in which the parent company of Jack Daniel's whiskey would have turned the building into a $10 million Jack Daniel's museum, but that proposal eventually dissolved.
