What Are the Best Bars in East Nashville?

February 19, 2026

East Nashville’s bar scene is the most reliable alternative to Broadway in Nashville, and in most respects the bars here are more interesting. No cover bands playing identical set lists, no mechanical bull rental, no $16 Bud Light. What you get instead is dive bars where regulars know each other, cocktail bars with actual bartenders, and neighborhood spots that double as community living rooms.

Dino’s

411 Gallatin Ave. Open until 3 a.m. every night. Dino’s is the closest East Nashville has to a twenty-four-hour institution: a classic bar-and-burger joint where the burgers are served Animal Style or Joe’s Style (the latter meaning the Dino’s way), the booths are well-worn, and the crowd mixes musicians finishing late sessions with neighbors who wandered over after 1 a.m. when everywhere else closed. This is the end-of-night bar that the whole neighborhood gravitates toward.

Attaboy

1 Lindsley Ave. A craft cocktail bar that operates without a menu. You tell the bartender what spirits you like, what you’re in the mood for, and they build something for you. This format requires actual bartenders who know what they’re doing, and Attaboy has them. It fills up on weekends, but the quality of the drinks justifies the wait.

Rosemary & Beauty Queen

1102 Forrest Ave. Two connected spaces: Rosemary is a vintage-decor cocktail bar inside a converted historic home; Beauty Queen is the bar attached to the garage. The rooftop has swings and cabana seating. Open Monday through Friday starting at 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from noon to 2 a.m. One of the better designed bar experiences in East Nashville.

Drifters Bar

Gallatin Ave at Five Points. A neighborhood dive that doesn’t try to be anything else. Cheap drinks, pool table, a jukebox with actual good choices. The kind of place you end up staying at longer than planned because nobody is pressuring you to leave and the beer is cold.

3 Crow Bar

1024 Woodland St. A Five Points staple with outdoor patio seating and a low-key atmosphere that makes it easy to stay for multiple rounds without feeling like you’re being processed through a machine. Good happy hour. Part of the core Five Points social infrastructure.

Smith & Lentz Brewing

903 Main St. East Nashville’s most established craft brewery, with a full taproom and strong beer program. The pizza is actually good, which matters when you’re planning to stay for several beers.

The Red Door Saloon East

1010 Forrest Ave. The East Nashville outpost of a Nashville institution. Dive bar energy, pool tables, a crowd that spans multiple generations of East Side residents.

Village Pub & Beer Garden

1308 McGavock Pike (Inglewood/Riverside Village). Worth the slight drive out to Inglewood. One of the better outdoor beer gardens in Nashville. Riverside Village is an underrated cluster of local businesses, and the Village Pub anchors it well.

Chopper

917 Woodland St. A dive with personality. Motorcycles parked outside, cash bar, no-nonsense drinks. The kind of place that exists because people who live nearby wanted somewhere to drink without a curated cocktail list.

The Cobra

2511 Gallatin Ave. Bar and music venue with a focus on underground and DIY acts. Further up Gallatin from Five Points, this is the East Nashville bar for people who want to see bands that aren’t playing the Ryman.

On the Bar Crawl

Five Points is the logical starting point for any East Nashville bar night. The cluster of Dino’s, 3 Crow Bar, Rosemary & Beauty Queen, and the 5 Spot (which books live music most nights) puts everything within a few blocks. Walk north on Gallatin toward the Fatherland District and the bar density continues. Attaboy requires a bit of intention, but the cocktail quality makes it a worthwhile stop.

The walk between bars in Five Points is genuine: everything on this list is within a 10-15 minute walk of everything else in the core. No rideshare required between stops.

Sources

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