Lower Broadway is 4 blocks of neon where the music starts around 10 a.m. and doesn’t quit until 3. Our drivers roll past these doors every single ride, and the same questions come up at every stop: which ones are good? Where do the locals go? Do I have to pay to get in?
That last one is easy: the classic honky-tonks on Broadway don’t charge a cover. You walk in, the band is already playing, and the only thing expected of you is a drink in your hand and a few dollars in the tip jar when the singer passes it. The rest of your questions, we’ll answer bar by bar, starting with the one we partner with, then the south side old guard down to the big new rooms.
Chief’s
Eric Church’s place, 6 floors on the corner of 2nd and Broadway in an 1890 brick building, open since April 2024. Chief’s is the honky-tonk we partner with, so this is where our riders’ drink specials live. Downstairs is the tavern, where the house artists play their own songs instead of covers. Above it: a dueling piano bar, the Neon Steeple, a 2-story ticketed venue built out of salvaged church pews, Rodney Scott’s whole-hog barbecue, and a rooftop.
Walking in is free; only the Neon Steeple shows are ticketed. Come hungry. The barbecue is the real thing, and a plate of it is the best move on Broadway between bars.
Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge
The purple one. Tootsie’s is the most famous honky-tonk on earth for a reason: its back door faces the Ryman’s stage door, and in the sixties Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and half of country music’s songwriting royalty drank here between shows. It’s a pilgrimage site that still runs live music across 3 floors.
Go early or go upstairs — the ground floor packs shoulder-to-shoulder by late afternoon. The history is on the walls; take 5 minutes to look at it.
Robert’s Western World
Ask anyone who works on this street where they drink and this is the answer. Robert’s is the best-rated honky-tonk on Broadway and the one that still plays traditional country — real steel guitar, real Telecaster, boots on the wall from its days as a western-wear store.
The move is the Recession Special: a fried bologna sandwich, chips, a Moon Pie and a cold beer for pocket change. Order it without shame. Everyone does.
Our bike rolls right past these doors. The honky-tonk tour is 90 minutes on the bike, seats from $35.
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Layla’s Honky Tonk
Squeezed right between Tootsie’s and Robert’s, Layla’s is the one visitors walk past and regret missing. It leans vintage — honky-tonk, rockabilly, western swing — in a long, narrow room with a back porch most people never find.
If the band has an upright bass, stay for the set. That’s the house sound at its best.
Legends Corner
The corner of 5th and Broadway, with the famous mural outside that half of Nashville has posed in front of. Inside it’s a classic single-room honky-tonk — tight, loud, friendly, with bands that know exactly how to work a crowd of strangers into one big singalong.
It sits directly across from the Ryman block, which makes it the natural first or last stop of any Broadway run.
The Stage on Broadway
A big room with a big dance floor and a mural of country legends watching over it. The Stage is where you go when the group wants to two-step, not just stand and listen — it has the space the older rooms don’t, and you may recognize it from more than a few music videos.
Weekend nights it earns its name: the bands here play like they’re auditioning for the big time, because on this street they are.
Nudie’s Honky Tonk
Named for Nudie Cohn, the tailor who put rhinestones on country music — his suits and even one of his famous customized cars hang on display inside. The 100-foot bar — the house says it’s the longest in Nashville — runs nearly the length of the room, and standing at the end of it, you won’t argue.
Come for the sparkle, stay because the sightlines to the stage are some of the best on the street.
Honky Tonk Central
Honky Tonk Central stacks 3 floors, 3 stages, and balconies hanging right over the Broadway crowds. It is the modern, big-energy version of the formula. Every floor runs its own band, so if the first room isn’t your speed, the stairs fix it.
The balcony is the prize. Get a spot on the rail with a drink and watch the whole street perform for you.
Acme Feed & Seed
Down at the river end of Broadway in a feed-store building that’s stood there since 1890, Acme is 4 floors that each do something different — live music and proper food at street level, lounges above, and a rooftop with the best free view in downtown: the Cumberland River and the stadium on one side, the neon canyon of Broadway on the other.
It’s the breather of the group. When your ears need a rest and your phone needs a skyline photo, finish here.
How to do it like a local
Tip the band. Every one of these rooms runs on musicians playing 4-hour sets for whatever lands in the bucket — a few dollars per round of drinks is the going rate, and a $20 with a song request makes you the band’s favorite table. Cash is king on this street, so hit an ATM before you walk it.
And pace yourself. The honky-tonks don’t close until 3 a.m., and nobody has ever said “I wish we’d rushed Broadway faster.” If you want a seat between bars instead of a sidewalk, that’s the bike — seats from $35.
Ratings and photos come from each bar’s public Google listing, checked October 2026.