How Is The Gulch Different from Broadway?
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- 1 table
- 5 sources cited
Lower Broadway is a strip of honky-tonks where you walk in off the street and the band is playing; the Gulch is a redeveloped neighborhood where you go to a particular restaurant, rooftop, or listening room. They touch, because the Gulch’s northwest edge is Broadway itself, but the honky-tonk blocks run from 1st to 5th Avenue, east of the Gulch. The Infatuation calls the Gulch “Classy Broadway” in its restaurant guide and notes that tourists from Broadway head there too, so the difference is less who is there than how the night works: a Gulch evening takes more planning ahead.
Side by Side
| Lower Broadway | The Gulch | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | the honky-tonk district, 1st to 5th Avenue | a former railyard redeveloped since the 1980s, between Broadway and the I-40 and I-65 curve |
| Live music | bands in bar after bar; Robert's Western World says it never charges an entry fee | the Station Inn at 402 12th Avenue South, a listening room with bluegrass, classic country, Americana, and roots music seven nights a week |
| Drinks | at Robert's, domestic beers are $2.50, according to Notes on Nashville | rooftop and hotel bars such as L.A. Jackson on top of the Thompson Nashville |
| Food | bar menus, such as Robert's $6 Recession Special of a fried baloney sandwich, chips, and PBR | a restaurant guide's worth of choices, from a tasting menu at The Catbird Seat to a meat and three at Arnold's |
| How you spend the night | hopping between bars | heading to a booked table or a show |
Sources: Robert’s FAQ; Notes on Nashville; Station Inn; Nashville Guru rooftop bars; The Infatuation.
Which One to Pick
- Pick Broadway if you want to hear several bands in one night without tickets or reservations.
- Pick the Gulch for a planned dinner, a rooftop cocktail, or a bluegrass show at the Station Inn.
- Do both by eating in the Gulch and walking or riding east to the honky-tonks afterward.
The neighborhood itself is described in what the Gulch is, restaurant picks are in the best restaurants in the Gulch, and the honky-tonk strip is in what Broadway is.