Is The Gulch Worth Visiting?
- 2 sections
- 1 table
- 5 sources cited
Yes, if you go for something specific: a show at the Station Inn, a dinner you have booked, the wings mural, or a rooftop drink. The Gulch is a compact, redeveloped neighborhood at Broadway’s west end, so it fits into half a day or an evening. If what you want is to wander from bar to bar with live music in every doorway, that is Lower Broadway’s job, not the Gulch’s. Of the four reasons to go, the Station Inn has its own long history: it says it has more than 45 years of history and presents bluegrass, classic country, Americana, and roots music seven nights a week (Station Inn).
Four Reasons to Go
| Reason | What to know | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The Station Inn, 402 12th Avenue South | a listening room with roots music seven nights a week | Station Inn |
| A booked dinner | The Catbird Seat, at 700 8th Ave. S., 5th floor, opens reservations a month ahead; Arnold's Country Kitchen is the guide's meat and three | The Infatuation; Michelin Guide |
| The wings mural, 302 11th Avenue South | free; the artist's studio describes a line most weekends | Kelsey Montague Art |
| A rooftop drink | L.A. Jackson on the Thompson Nashville, walk-ins welcome, 21 and up | L.A. Jackson |
Sources: the Station Inn, The Infatuation’s Gulch guide, the Michelin Guide’s Catbird Seat page, Kelsey Montague Art, and L.A. Jackson.
How Much Time to Give It
- A morning: the mural on a weekday, coffee, a browse at Carter Vintage Guitars at 606 8th Ave S.
- An evening: dinner, then a set at the Station Inn or Rudy’s Jazz Room, then the rooftop.
- Skip it if your trip is short and you only want honky-tonks; Broadway is a mile east.
What the neighborhood is and how it came to be is in what the Gulch is, and how an evening there differs from one on Broadway is in how the Gulch is different from Broadway.