A Western-style saloon you’d expect to find along Nashville’s Honky Tonk Highway, Shotgun Willie’s is the place to come for live country music, hot wings, cold beers and slugs of bourbon.
Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. No, it’s not an impossible music line-up, but the only three Instagram accounts followed by Shotgun Willie’s, which goes some way to explaining the vibe at this rollicking Western-themed saloon. The bar, named after the Nelson track (there’s even a poster of him behind the bar), is like somewhere you’d expect to find along Nashville’s Honky Tonk Highway – replete with live country music, late-night chicken wings, darts, whiskey and American craft tinnies.
Owner Jon Di Pinto also owns neon-lit rock’n’roll joint Cry Baby a few streets away, but where that bar takes some cues from American dive bars, Shotgun Willie’s goes full-tilt at the Americana experience. The Western influence fills every corner of the room – think timber and taxidermy, an antler chandelier, a stars-and-stripes flag hanging from the ceiling, and various Stateside paraphernalia you might see at a truckstop. There’s even a high chance of eyeing a cowboy hat on a patron. All that’s missing are those batwing saloon doors.
Slide into a booth or perch at the bar for a slug of bourbon (Buffalo Trace, perhaps, or Wild Turkey) or an American brew such as Pabst Blue Ribbon, Brooklyn Brewery, Coors, Budweiser or Miller – either on tap or in a tinnie. As for the cocktails, the on-theme list features a Kentucky Mule, a Bourbon Smash and an Old Fashioned. In cooler weather, try a cup of hot buttered bourbon (a crowd favourite) or mulled wine. There’s also bottomless filter coffee (plus a “bootleg” version with whiskey and optional maple syrup).
Soak it all up with food from the suitably Southern menu – available daily from 4:00pm until midnight – such as smoked hot wings, chicken tenders, loaded fries, Southern fried mushrooms with white barbecue sauce, onion rings and jalapeño poppers with hot sauce. Larger options include the Philly cheesesteak and a hot chicken burger, as well as a vegan cheeseburger. All served up in diner-style baskets with fries.
A small raised stage is the setting for local country and folk musicians every Friday, Saturday and Sunday to keep the honky-tonk vibes going well into the night.
