What Is the Most Unique Coffee Shop in Nashville?
- 2 sections
- 1 table
- 4 sources cited
“Unique” is a judgment call, so the answer is a short list of shops built around a concept rather than a single winner. Game Point at Bongo East in Five Points is a board game cafe; WPLN described it in January 2024 with more than 400 games (WPLN), and NewsChannel 5 reported that “game coaches” teach the rules (NewsChannel 5). The Infatuation’s coffee guide describes two shops that pour cocktails: Americano Coffee Lounge in Wedgewood-Houston, where a cappuccino and a Negroni share the table among velvet booths and chess tables, and Cafe Babu in Chestnut Hill, coffee by day and cocktails by night. Now And Then, a 12-seat listening bar downtown that Sprudge profiled and named a Sprudgie Finalist for Best New Cafe (Sprudge), has closed; a Coffee Show podcast episode introduces co-founder Davy Ball as “formerly of Now and Then Coffee” and calls it “a now closed coffee bar”.
Shops with an Unusual Concept
| Shop | Where | What sets it apart | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Point at Bongo East | Five Points, East Nashville | a board game cafe with more than 400 games and game coaches | WPLN; NewsChannel 5 |
| Americano Coffee Lounge | 434 Houston St, Wedgewood-Houston | cappuccino and a Negroni at the same table; velvet booths and chess tables | The Infatuation |
| Cafe Babu | 1044 Third Ave S, Chestnut Hill | coffee by day, cocktails by night | The Infatuation |
Game Point is described by WPLN, and the two cocktail-and-coffee lounges come from The Infatuation’s coffee guide.
Visiting
- Game Point: bring a group; details are in the most unusual coffee shop in East Nashville.
- Americano or Cafe Babu: plan for the evening; hours are in the best coffee shops open late in Nashville.