Rack Room Blue Bar

Surprisingly good hot chicken sandwich. It’s a weird little place, but I enjoy seeing tinpan south shows there!

Nice place, we came at 8pm. Very quiet. Don’t be fooled tho, they only have one pool table– so it’s by no means a rack room. Which was sad.

The owner of this establishment is wildly inappropriate.
Let me elaborate. Last night we left Rebar to go to this bar and it was sometime before midnight. There was a person who was talking to us, who had obviously become really drunk, and started to act a little mouthy. The owner engaged him in a verbal argument through the open patio window and was not backing down. I think it’s really unprofessional to not simply recognize someone is intoxicated and ask them to leave your establishment. Done. Altercation over.
However, the owner would not stop. I leaned over and politely tapped him on the shoulder and said «He might be very drunk, you should just ask him to leave.»
(He was yelling at the guy: «You, motherfu**er are a liability in my establishment!» Which is probably true, but what happened next speaks to a deeper issue.)
And he whipped to the side, and screamed at me.
«Don’t you fu**ing touch me you stupid bit**!!»
Woah there, homie. First of all, you don’t talk to a lady like that. Secondly, I did not do anything more than put two fingers on your shoulder in a polite manner to tell you that I agreed with you, he needed to go, and you both needed to end it– you were drawing a crowd on the sidewalk adjacent to the patio and my friends were sitting close to this. You were not dealing with myself or my friends– and we were not obnoxious in any way. I was trying to help diffuse the situation and, attempt to, also get you to get rid of this guy who had been following myself and my friends around most of the evening without drawing too much attention to myself for being the whistleblower potentially and/​or my girl friends.
Clearly, the owner is more concerned with being a hot headed loose cannon than he is the safety of his female patrons. He also seems to like to degrade and berate female patrons, too, as you can see.
We seem to visit Nashville enough– and we will not ever be returning to this establishment.
I advise others not to either.
You, sir, pissed off the wrong patron.

This place is great! I love watching games and playing some darts. The bartenders are so sweet and have great customer service. Highly recommend for some solid day drinking.

Obsessed with maintaining a high female to male ratio of guests. If you’re a group of guys trying to enter, do not attempt to go in together– stagger yourselves going in.
Chuck «the owner» is an egotistical idiot in a Ed Hardy shirt — you can’t miss him. He’ll have his doorman bounce you once you’ve racked up a nice tab, for just about anything.
The DJ’s are subpar.
There are many other places in the Gulch that you’ll have more fun spending your time in. Nothing to see here — keep moving.

I would give it a zero if I could. On Oct 31, 2014, I was refused entry even though I paid $ 25 for the block party entrance fee. The front door bouncer declined to let myself and every African American male who paid for block party entrance into the establishment. When I asked him what his reasoning was for letting the white friend I was with in and not me, he replied, «because I said so.» I will be reporting this experience and these observations to the regional human rights office.

Yeah, pretentious much… especially for having plastic cups.
The back room is pretty deserted which is nice. Plenty of couches and nobody seems to be sitting. The front room with the dance floor… old creepy dudes, girls who are so full of themselves… but hey this is a review of the back room, not the clientele.
Plastic cups… lame, service… only interested in pumping the drinks out. A get them drunk, get them more drunk approach. You’d be just as well off sitting I the alley with your own bottle. Next…

Aweful place and service. It reminds you that racism is still alive. You would think that people grow out of it but there is a little reminder that you are the color you are regardless if your spouse is fighting for this beautiful country. Managers just rude definantly would not recommend this place.

I used to like this bar, but not anymore thanks to the racist bouncer at the door.
The bouncer turned refused entry to one of my friends saying there were no «flat-​billed hat allowed.» (He was black.) We asked if he could just put the hat in his pocket, but the bouncer said no, and that «there was nothing he could do.» While talking to the bouncer, he immediately let in a white guy with a flat-​billed hat. After all of us called him out for this apparent racism, he continued to say «there was nothing he could do.»
Take your money elsewhere. Don’t support racist businesses.

I am only rating this for the Bye Bye Liver production.
I got it, as a bar in it of itself, it probably can be considered a little vanilla!
HOWEVER for Saturday nights at 8PM… Bye Bye Liver is a hidden Nashville gem. It really is SNL on steroids. The skits are super interactive, super-​drop dead funny, and of course super relevant for anyone between the ages of 20 to 60 (though I don’t recommend taking your parents).
BEST OF ALL it comes with table side service for drinks and FOOD! so you can drink while you play with the skits.
There are also no such thing as bad seats…

On our first night in Nashville last week, my friends and I had enjoyed a great dinner and as we were walking around enjoying the sights and sounds of the city, we decided to stop in to the Rack Room/​Blue Bar. Friendly people, really nice guy working the door, great music, «let’s go here.» We had a few beers, laughed and enjoyed ourselves.
It was time to move on and so I asked for the check.
The first item on the check was «name, old.» Now I could very well be misinterpreting something here but none of us had bourbon and it certainly wasn’t free if we did.
Apparently singing along with the Beastie Boys gives me gray hair because drinking fireball just makes us girls.
Now, I’m thinking something such as «girls with curls», «two reds and brunette», «girls in black» etc. could have been used if needed or Mr. Cole W could have gotten really crazy and… asked for a name or a card but no, instead he named us as «old.»
Wow. Nice buzzkill son. Didn’t you get the memo that «old» ladies tip? Or that «old» ladies can read?
So much for everyone in Nashville being super friendly. Don’t worry, we won’t be back, it’s probably past our bedtime when the bar opens anyway.

I love this place. I find myself continually coming back week after week just to see what’s going on. The atmosphere fits the Midtown vibe and the staff is always friendly and attentive. During the week it’s a great place to grab a happy hour beer and watch espn. On the weekends it’s an all out dance party. The jock there, Darren B, plays some of the best tunes of every flavor in town. If you’re looking for live music I hear Sundays are the best time to go. Reasonably priced drinks and fast, friendly service will have me visiting Blue Bar whenever I’m in midtown.

This place was nuts!
By this point in the night one of my buddies had gone to the hotel, and another was visiting some friends in town. That left me with one guy, and we had a blast at this place. We pretty much stayed in the pool hall side, and met some interesting characters.
One guy looked like Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Caribbean, the bartender was from Iowa which lead to some pretty interesting conversations, and we ended up partying with this guy who runs some underground gambling activities. Crazy night! Left this place to head downtown, but we certainly enjoyed our time here!
*****

I used to like this place somewhat solely because of the staff. Cool bartenders that you can talk to make a place fun, but the 30-​somethings in suits dancing awkwardly to modern rap seemed a bit odd next to a smoky pool hall.
Last time I went, however, the odd clientele and atmosphere took a turn for the worst. Some dude, claiming to be an MMA fighter, tried to pick a fight with my friend. We got my friend, who’d done nothing, out of the bar, and I went to close out my tab when the guy approaches me.
Now, I’ve got a secret security clearance with the army, and may need a top secret one some day. As such, I don’t fight with dudes at bars. Its bad for my future. This douche thought he’d let me know that he could «totally slam my head through the cigarette machine» positioned nearby. I told him that I’m sure he could, and he reached out to shake my hand. I was ready to leave, so, I went to shake it, at which point he gripped as tightly as he possibly could, and starting to buck up to me.
I asked him to let go of my hand, to which point he did, holding his hands above his head, palms towards me, with duck-​ish lips and bug-​eyed. I think I pissed him off by snickering at this point, but watching a Jersey Shore wannabe attempt to intimidate me just got funny after a while.
So, I walk outside and by the bouncer whom I thought was a friend of mine at the bar, and with whom much of this took place in front of. Thats when Anderson Silva wannabe comes out and attempts to put me in a head lock in front of the bouncer, who informs me that «I probably deserved it.»
At this point, I shoved the douche off me, and listened to the bouncer give me some bullshit about how I can’t «go around picking fights with people», before just telling them I had to get going. It wasn’t worth getting arrested over, and this bar certainly isn’t worth your time or money.

Oh my. I hate to do it but I’m going to have to drop a couple stars on this place. My group and I decided to stop in on New Years Eve and see what was gong on. I had fond memories of dancing and fun there a few years ago so I thought it would be a decent choice for us. WRONG. The rack room side was waaay too smokey and the music wasn’t continuous. The dance side was honestly just kind of lame and tacky. Too many girls in sequined-​out dresses and stilettos wobbling around and the DJ, although energetic, was playing pure crap. It appears that the average age of Blue Bar patrons are in their mid-​late twenties and thirties. So why was he playing «music» that would appeal to 18 year olds? Some kind of booty-​bass, thisismyfirsttimeataclub kind of music. Maybe I’m just old now, but I would much rather hear stuff that has actual lyrics and a good beat to DANCE to, not just drop it like it’s hot. Also, there were NO TABLES ANYWHERE. There used to be high tables that you could at least stand next to and sit your drink on. The only way to have a table that night was to be part of «Jason’s» entourage and then you would be allowed access to the lounge part of the dance room. LAME. Wonder how much he paid for that crap?
I realize that this was NYE and maaaaybe not what’s typical for a Saturday, but I probably won’t be back to find out. Boooo.

Blue Bar has the makings of a very bad choose-​your-​own-​adventure experience. For a $ 10 cover charge on New Year’s Eve, you had two options: turn left (I suppose this is the Rack Room side) and you can sit in a brightly lit white room that has the feel of an old basement and pay $ 1 per song if you want to hear any music. Had I had the opportunity and the jukebox had the song, I would have torturned the crowd with back-​to-​back playings of «What’s New, Pussycat» or some Spice Girls song.
Turn right, and you go down a long hallway to what appears to be the Blue Bar side of the house. No offense to schizophrenics, but I’m afraid the DJ that night was suffering from a bad case of music-​schizophrenia. Just as people were getting into the groove, he’d change the tune and tempo and it just killed any mood. Perhaps it’s just me, but guys dancing in suits is just weird. There was plenty of that.
As if those issues weren’t enough, asking $ 7.50 for a Jack and coke is ridiculous… and a poorly made Jack and coke at that. I mean, it’s ONLY two ingredients. I’d rather pay the extra $ 4.50 at Patterson House down the street for an infintiely better cocktail, but that would be comparing apples to crap.
During past visits to this place, the music was just OK and the staff was just OK, but after a hiatus from this place for a few years, I’m reminded why I should never return.

If you haven’t seen Bye Bye Liver, it’s definitely a must! This show is foul, fun and everything in between.
I had never been to Blue Bar before and was a little thrown off that the floor was odd tile and they were turning people away in jeans. Strange, considering it didn’t look like that type of place to me. I did love the ambiance of the back bar area though where Bye Bye Liver was performed.
The drinks weren’t cheap, 2 beers and 2 shots set me back a little over $ 25. However, for that show… I’d definitely go again. Probably not for any other reason.

Saw a great live band there. I actually got to compliment the lead singer and he was really down-​to-​earth and appreciative. There seemed to be two bar areas open the night I was there (hence the name Blue Bar and Rack Room). One was rather small and near the pooltables, the other in the main area near the stage. I was intrigued by this amazing portable furnace that was in the pooltable area blasting out a wicked blue flame. There was a side room area that looked like there was some serious construction going on, not sure if they are renovating or something. I liked the vibe of this place and the bartender was quick with our drinks and pretty attractive as well. ;)
I’d be back for a second round, the drinks were super strong and the entertainment was great.

Overall: One of the oddest bars I’ve been to in a while — pool hall meets dance club?
Drinks: They’re average priced with liquor drinks actually probably more on the lower end.
Atmosphere: It’s a pool hall in the front and a dance club in the back. Last time I was there, the A/​C was either broken or non-​existent (word of warning on hot summer nights.) It was absolutely packed wall to wall in the back but the front room was completely empty. Honestly, we didn’t stay long because it was so hot but based on past experience, it’s kind of a fun little place.

Do you remember back in the day when you went dancing at Johny Jackson’s Soul Satisfaction? You loved the tunes and couldn’t stop dancing?
Well, looky who the DJ is at Blue Bar!
Went to the Blue Bar on Saturday night to check it out since I knew J Jackson was the DJ that night. Walked into the front door, glimpsed at the pool room, and headed to the back room with the DJ booth, tables, bar, private booth areas, and even what appeared to be a private room. The place was empty at first but soon picked up and was packed by the time we decided to roll out to the next location. The drinks were strong which made me happy and the crowd was mostly friendly… except for those two dudes that got in a fight I guess! And the tunes! The tunes were jammin… everything from some retro 80s songs to some current R&B/Hip Hop jams. I danced my ass off for almost the entire hour and a half I was there.
Go here if you want to get your groove on!