Printers Alley runs north-south one block off Broadway between 3rd and 4th Avenue. It’s where Nashville’s nightlife scene started in the 1940s, decades before Lower Broadway became Lower Broadway. The honky-tonks across the street get the tourists; the alley keeps the regulars. If you want a quieter, older, more bourbon-leaning night, the alley is where you go.
A narrow, brick-paved alley with about a dozen bars and venues packed into a single block. Some go back to Prohibition. Some opened last year. The mix changes, but the alley itself doesn’t. It’s lit by neon signs, decorated with old-Nashville iconography, and feels like the place Hank Williams Sr. would have actually drunk — because he did.
It’s not the country music capital. Broadway is. Printers Alley is what Broadway looked like before Toby Keith’s opened a 35,000-square-foot bar. The scale is small, the rooms are dark, the music is closer to blues and jazz and rockabilly than to modern country. That’s the whole appeal.
The flagship. Live blues every night, no cover, drinks aren’t cheap but they’re not Broadway-tourist prices either. Small dance floor, a real bar, food that’s better than it has any right to be. The first stop if you’ve never been to the alley.
Burlesque, jazz, dinner. Reservations recommended. It’s pricier than the rest of the alley but it’s one of the few rooms in Nashville where the room itself is part of the experience — tiled walls, candlelight, a small stage that’s been there since 1948. Skip if you’re looking for honky-tonk; go if you’re looking for a real Nashville date night.
Cocktail bar, mid-alley. Better drinks than anywhere on Broadway proper. Comes alive after 10pm.
British-themed, soccer/footy on the TVs, good beer list. Quiet on weeknights, packed for matches.
The lineup shifts — rooms close, new ones open, and a few of the alley’s smaller venues operate as private clubs. The above are the ones that have been steady for a few years and are open to the public without a membership.
The natural play: start on Broadway with the loud honky-tonks (Tootsie’s, Robert’s, Legends), then duck up to the alley around 10pm when the alley bars get going and Broadway gets more crowded. You’re paying for the contrast — loud, fast, country on Broadway; slow, dark, blues in the alley. Most people don’t know about the alley, which means you can usually walk right in.
The other natural play: skip Broadway entirely. If you’re over 40, not interested in bachelorette tour buses, and looking for a real night out, start in the alley at 7pm and stay there. You’ll spend less money, hear better musicians (controversial), and not have to scream over the band.
In the early 1900s, Nashville’s newspapers and print shops clustered around this block. The Banner and the Tennessean both had offices nearby, and the alley itself was lined with print shops, hence the name. When Prohibition ended, the existing buildings became speakeasies and supper clubs. By the 1940s and 50s, Printers Alley was the Nashville nightlife strip. Lower Broadway, then, was mostly pawn shops, hardware stores, and a few honky-tonks.
The flip happened slowly. Through the 70s and 80s the alley faded while Broadway built up. By 2010, Broadway was the tourist scene and the alley was a quieter remnant. It’s now slowly coming back, with new operators opening cocktail bars and music rooms inside the historic shells. If you want to see what Lower Broadway felt like 50 years ago, go now.
The alley is well-lit and patrolled. It’s safer than half of Broadway because it’s smaller and the operators know each other. Don’t park in the alley itself; use the same Broadway lots. The walk from any parking garage between 3rd and 6th is 5 minutes.
If you’re a first-timer who came for honky-tonks, you can skip it. If you’ve been to Broadway before and you want a different vibe, it’s the best move in downtown Nashville.
Yes, one block. Walk north on 3rd Avenue or 4th Avenue from Broadway for 2 minutes.
Bourbon Street and most of the bars take walk-ins. Skull’s Rainbow Room takes reservations and you’ll want one on a weekend.