Springwater Supper Club

Nashville, Tennessee

Field Note

In a city filled with magical music venues, somehow Springwater Supper Club still manages to stand out, a hybrid dive bar and live music hub hidden along the edge of Nashville’s Centennial Park. Steps away from Vanderbilt University, the Nashville dive bar’s location a half block off of busy West End Avenue adds just enough separation to add to the feeling of finding something unexpected and unique.

The short stature of the building and snug confines inside more than pay off on the promise of the bar’s exterior. Though Springwater Supper Club has operated under its current name since 1978, some kind of alcohol-selling establishment has operated on site since 1896, making it the oldest continuously operating bar in the state of Tennessee. Pre-1900 history can sometimes be a bit of a grab bag, but there is suggestion that the bar was open for operation during the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition in 1897.

Should the longevity of the space not sufficiently entice a visit, Springwater Supper Club boasts one of the more colorful collections of ex-dive bar visitors, ranging from Jimmy Hoffa to Al Capone. Rock band The Black Keys filmed the music video to their single Little Black Submarine on-site, playing a pop up show shortly after in Springwater Supper Club’s cramped quarters. Black Keys or not, Springwater hosts live music five nights a week, pulling bands from across the musical landscape as a nice change of pace to the pervasive blanket of country music the covers Nashville.

On a personal note, this reviewer happened to visit Springwater Supper Club on an evening where a weather-related band cancellation led to an early closing time. Walking in precisely at that moment, a quick discussion somehow led to me being welcomed in for a few post-closing beers. No doubt stories like that one happen almost every day here, where 100 years of successful operation no doubts comes with a history of personal, welcoming service.

Outside, the Nashville dive bar features one of the great murals in the city, a swooping blue depiction of the bar’s name with a rolling wave underneath that graces the building’s front wall. Not far away, three keys to life are painted in large block letters next to the bar’s front door in the form of “Live Music. Cold Beer. Good Food.” Despite the presence of live music that can sometimes signal that under agers are sometimes welcome, Springwater Supper Club is 21 and up at all times…and cash only, of course.

Despite the romanticism of a small, shack of a dive bar nestled in one of the country’s great cities with a wave-themed mural in landlocked Nashville, the interior of Springwater Supper Club blows its exterior away. Wood paneling encases one of the great dive bar layouts certainly in Nashville and perhaps the United States, two snug rooms split by an intervening wall, pool table on one side, postage stamp-sized stage on the other. The wall in between the two spaces is covered in stickers in manner that exceeds even dive bar standards of sticker density.

The area behind the bar is punctuated by a vintage painting of a man hoisting a naked woman up toward the sky and a mysterious block letter sign that reads “Innovative Answers.” A handful of stools here provide some refuge from the often packed stage room next door, a deep array of profoundly affordable alcohol dispensed from this single point of access. On evenings without live music, the bar feels small but not cramped. When a band packs the house, the vibe (and temperature) elevates quickly, creating an entirely unique experience.

Of course, classic dive bar decorations like sports trophies and vintage beer signs dot the space, the wear and tear of more than 100 years of operation thankfully still seen on the walls and surfaces throughout Springwater Supper Club. One decoration that will not be seen is a decorative hula hoop thanks to the fact that all hula hoops are banned from the premises, not there sufficient room typically exists to give one a spin.