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Danielle Atkins
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Danielle Atkins
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Danielle Atkins
When I think of a tavern, I think of a neighborhood pub. Maybe it’s dimly lit. Beer is the primary beverage on hand. At the newly opened Tavern at Bobby, that’s not what you’ll find.
Instead of a cozy corner, the open room and sprawling bar feels more like a chic living room, where the folks around you are not neighbors but travelers, convention goers, or locals on their way to a show at TPAC or an art crawl. It’s a “tavern” in that it brings folks together over food and drink—but it’s definitely the most trendy and polished one you’ll find in this part of downtown.
Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the Tavern has various places to either sit and lounge, or dine properly. The nearly 500-foot-long, canopy-covered bar, with a bright backlight on its many stellar bottles, offers a perch for people watching. Just beyond, low tables and couches might be nice for a drink, like the Bobby’s Go-To, mixed with Four Roses bourbon, Cocchi Torino, maple syrup, and cardamom and lavender. (The hotel’s namesake is more of an idea, or persona—“Bobby” is your chic, jet-setting friend who’s landed in Nashville for a stylishly good time.) In the dining room, tall, leather banquettes, framed by uplit black subway tiling or salvaged wood, are easy to sink in to; a few exposed-bulb chandeliers shine like twinkling lights overhead.
The menu is where the tavern in the name comes into focus. Conceptualized by executive chef Jeff Axline, it hits all the right notes of contemporary American fare: There’s a kale salad, a burger, steak frites, avocado toast, and chicken wings—and they’re executed at a high level. Those wings, for example, sit like lollipops on their bones, a sweet, sticky glaze wrapping them in peppery heat, atop a pile of poblano-laced creamed corn. Many of the plates are “for sharing,” like the beets, which arrive on a long platter, dabbed with goat cheese, bits of arugula, and a crunchy pecan-bacon brittle. Over a pile of creamy grits, fat shrimp are coated in a Creole sauce. Axline, who came to town from Houston, pulls from those Texas experiences, adding barbecue sauce, and Creole, Cajun, and coastal influences where they fit.
Larger, individual entrees can be found in the “mains” section. There’s a pan-roasted salmon over succotash, and a large NY strip steak set beside ultra-creamy smashed potatoes and green beans dripping with brown butter. The signature burger gets a green-tomato-and-chili jam, plus the addition of bacon and an egg, if you choose.
The idea, it seems, is to give everyone a choice—to eat together, or off of one plate; to lounge or to dine; to stop in or to stay. At the Tavern at Bobby, it’s not so much about offering a neighborhood hang as it is about adapting to, and pleasing, many types of palates and a constantly changing audience.
Bobby Hotel, 230 4th Ave N, 615-600-5400; bobbyhotel.com