The Oak Bar

Found the Oak Bar here on Unilocal,despite having stayed in Nashville nearby a number of times and not finding it previously — thank Unilocalers!
First, it’s a beautiful room, although a touch hidden (turn right in entrance, then left down the stairs, and right at reception for restaurant), the wood is gorgeous.
Secondly, DO make sure you get there for happy hour, prices are much more affordable, but it ends at 6:30 p.m.
Service? GREAT — and I hope Deb is on duty when you go, warm, friendly and a really, really good example of what makes a server great. She introduced herself, asked my name, remembered it and addressed me by it. Attentive without being overbearing, and right there when you wanted her. So good I tipped her near 30%.
Food — although I missed happy hour (but Deb did say she’d ask the manager if she could «bend» the time rule!), the food was as other Unilocalers said — just scrumptious. I had the «Granny’s» deviled eggs (and ate all five… omg.) and the Roast Beef sandwich. The horseradish sauce on it was a bit heavy for my taste, but it was quite nice.
Drinks — I tried the proprietary house Jack Daniels — made specifically for the Oak Bar. Normally I drink a bit more high end bourbon, but had to try it. If you like Jack, you’d love this.
The house cabernet was also quite tasty, and their drink/​wine menu very extensive.
Do go, well worth it

This is a really nice bar, for old people dressed to the nines. Walked in and walked my jeans and sneakers right back out. Maybe i’ll revisit in 20 years.

Food is good, but not spectacular.

I’m in Nashville for the first time and I ask for recommendations. A few people mentioned The Oak Room. So I go, because I’m a good listener. I ordered the deviled eggs… soooo tasty. I also ordered the Brunswick Stew. I was really impressed. I washed that down with a couple glasses of the local IPA, which was just the right compliment to my meal. And of course, if you haven’t picked up in the other reviews, check out the Art Deco bathroom. It was pretty cool :)

Not many places are mostly hyped because of their bathroom. However most places are Oak Bar.
Located in the nicest hotel in Nashville, Oak Bar is much more than just a fancy bathroom.
Their staff is very warm and accommodating. The bartender was super knowledgable and made a great Manhattan. My friend and I discussed their selection or whiskey, we were quite impressed.
The bathroom is just a novelty. People come by to check it out, including women. It’s a Art Deco bathroom, and is the nicest bathroom I’ve been in. However it’s like saying the nicest sewer, it’s still a bathroom.
I’m the end it’s a nice place to grab a cocktail or two.

Are the drinks expensive? Yes. But at the Oak Bar you feel like you are somebody. It’s old-​school, and charming, and big-​money all rolled into one. It’s definitely worth checking out. It’s a neat Nashville landmark, it’s worth the splurge.

Highly recommended – especially if you can get there before 7pm when the happy hour dining specials end. The deviled eggs and bologna sandwich were excellent.
Just sit at the bar, that’s what I did. Very friendly and knowledgable staff.
They have an incredible Jefferson Reserve bourbon there that is fantastic.

Came here on a Monday at around 5pm for drinks having checked out bars local to my hotel on Unilocal.Thanks guys — what a find. Happening place in the bowels of the Heritage Hotel, with a cool vibe and enthusiastic staff. Thank you so much Deb who is the absolute star bartender! You must try ‘Farmer’s Daughter’ which is a great cocktail. As it’s Nashville, they had a whole page of the drinks menu is devoted to Whisky-​type cocktails. Love it love it love it!

Great happy hour with good service. The lighting and aesthetic are nice, but also feel like you’re in a law or accounting firm in the 80s, certainly serving to its boisterous clientele.
If you’re a guest in town like me, definitely check out the hotel while you’re there, which is beautiful.

The décor and ambiance are quite nice and the service was fine but for the prices, the food should have been better. We had the fried green tomatoes, I had the roast beef sandwich, and my boyfriend had the burger. I’m giving it 3 stars because the drinks were good and the happy hour deal was good, but the tomatoes were soggy and the roast beef had no flavor. The beef was chewy and bread wasn’t anything to write home about. Plus they were stingy with the horse radish. For $ 15 I expected more from my sandwich.
With that said, my boyfriend LOVED his burger. I had a bite and it was amazing. So if I were ever to come back here I’d just skip the other stuff and go straight for the burger.

The Oak Bar is amazing. It’s a tiny restaurant at the end of the hallway of the Hermitage Hotel. I scoured the city looking for a place open for lunch during the snowstorm and Oak Bar was one of the only places open. I literally took a Lyft to three different restaurants before finding Oak Bar. Everything after that was just gravy.
The doorman opened my car door for me, and walked me to the door under an umbrella.
The doors to Oak Bar were wide open like you were walking into a movie.
I took a seat at the bar and was immediately impressed by all of their whiskey. They had a few Japanese whiskeys on their menu but they weren’t in stock. The bartender did his damndest to find them for me, which I greatly appreciated. He also let me charge my phone behind the bar, which was nice.
Instead, I went with the Jack Daniels Single Barrel (which is exclusive to Oak Bar). It was a fine choice. Very smooth and wonderful over ice.
For my meal, I had the Wedge Oak Farm pork loin with blood orange, hedgehog mushroom and watercress. I love blood orange and I love cooking, but I’ve never considered cooking with it. Let me just say that blood orange and pork is an amazing combination. That alone was worth the price of admission. The pork was tender and flavored just right (though I added a shot of black pepper). Probably one of the best meals I had in Nashville.
Also, as other people have mentioned, the bathroom is a surreal experience. There’s a plaque on the wall that says that they restored the bathroom due to popular demand. There are green and black striped walls, a shoe shine station, a rotary telephone, cloth hand towels, and gigantic old fashioned urinals. It’s just… wonderful. By far the classiest bathroom I ever did do my business in.

Hard to say what hasn’t already been said. Amazing place. Great bartenders. Excellent spirit selection. They KNOW how to make a drink.
I had a series of Old Fashioned’s with different bourbons or Rye’s. All were so great. Just perfect in every way.
Oh yeah… MENS ROOM. Go in there. Even if you’re not a man… Just gotta see it!

I’ve been here multiple times… what can you say negative about this Nashville institution?
The service is top notch. I was amused with the breakdown of scotch differences & whiskey differences to a group of fellas. Deb, the lead bartender was incredible as she calmly and effortlessly mixed with different people and personalities at the bar. We had 2 drinks each and shared a dessert. I couldn’t have been more happy with everything.
I’m looking forward to coming back.

The Oak Bar has excellent drinks, and a very cool vibe. Took the wife here and we had some great libations, her’s made with absinthe, and the rest of the night was interesting! Very cool ambiance, and «prohibition» feel of the 20s-​30s. Neat Men’s restroom also.
The service… could have been better. I felt like my wife and I were just in the way the whole time. We were definitely served, but I almost wondered if the bartender wasn’t excited to have the bar space back after we left. Overall, decent experience. We would go back for the drinks/​food/​atmosphere.

I had heard such good things about the Oak Bar, but I am sad to report that it’s not worth your time, and at their prices, certainly not worth your money. So many other restaurants in Nashville offer what they’re doing here (and more) at a much better quality and lower price.
The highly touted double patty burger was confusingly disappointing. How is it possible to make two local beef patties, Benton’s bacon, white cheddar, and mustard so flavorless? Hello, salt and pepper. The worst part of it was the soggy melt away bun. After about a minute, I was basically holding two beef patties between my fingers. You need a more substantial foundation to handle a burger of that size.
The service also was pathetic. Our server demonstrated a lack of basic attention to detail (e.g. pre-​bussing, refills) and limited knowledge of the limited menu, confidently making things up when she didn’t know the answer. For example, we asked what the sweet sauce was on the plate of fried green tomatoes. She said it was grease that ran off of the tomatoes, and that sometimes they don’t drain them out of the fryer well enough. After another look at the menu, we realized it was pepper jelly, not a sloppily executed oil slick. But thanks for throwing your chef under the bus.
If you’re staying at the Hermitage Hotel and it’s raining outside, I’d recommend grabbing a cab and going somewhere else.

Definitely come here for a bit of history and to check out the amazing Art Deco men’s room (even if you’re a lady). The deviled eggs and fried bologna were amazing… as were the shoestring fries that came with my burger. Service was decent. They also have a great selection of liquors and drinks.

This Is a stodgy yet, welcoming atmosphere that embodies the concept of the Southern hospitality, and sets the stage for a delicious get very filling evening. Our server basically pushed me into ordering their prized onion soup that was creamy and so filling that it ruined the rest of the meal. I had the simply prepared scallops that were delicious but, so rich after the soup. The sides were not memorable just the regular above average steakhouse side. I think next time I’m going to order the burger. I saw it passed me by and it looked amazing. (It is advertised as grass fed beef with grass from their farm, apparently super special)

How have I not rated this place. It is my favorite place to grab a drink for the past couple of years and excels in every category.
The atmosphere is perfect for a nice relaxing drink and you never have to worry about the likes of «vandy kids», «hipsters» and «try to hards» that burden the majority of other nice places in Nashville.
The food and drinks are amazing! I have had every craft drink on their menu over the years and their food as well (note this is for the oak bar menu, not the capitol grille menu) and it is always unique and perfect.
The staff truly are top notch both in their service, personality, and overall quality. Very few places give the vibe of the entire staff actually caring about you and enjoying their work, everyone here does.
I can’t say enough good things about it and recommend it to everyone.
My only complaint is that there isn’t very accessible parking and trying to get to it between 3:30pm-6:30pm is very difficult with all of the traffic if your office isn’t downtown/​in walking distance; and unfortunately, they only offer Valet if you are staying at the hotel.

What do you do when you your car is valeted for the evening and you just want to relax? Go to the bar in the basement, and drink! The gentleman who checked me in told me about the bar in the basement, and I told him after I got situated in the behemoth of a suite I was in, it was time to go exploring around.
After going to the basement and realized THAT was the wrong floor (sorry room service!), I pushed the next button, and it looked like I had arrived. Now, I had kept hearing about the famous men’s restroom (
), and I think I had finally found them. So before I even sat in the bar, I went creeping around. I wonder if the women’s is just as cool? I didn’t check out, so I guess I will never know…
After play time in the bathroom (more like picture taking and shoe polishing), it was time to check out the bar. There was a restaurant right next door, but I wanted simple eats and drinks. I walked right in, and looked for a seat facing the TV. The décor was dimly lit, with candles on each table– and a room/​cave covered in oak. The seats were all dark leather, including a few love seats as well. Very intimate– and great for a 1man drinking/​eating excursion.
When one of the servers came up to me (who was dressed in a plaid shirt and colored jeans), I told her I was ready to eat and drink. So I browsed through the menu. While I was looking, I noticed two things– they had 4 house made sodas (why cannot I NOT remember what they were? ugggh), and a happy hour every day. Also, they had a decent bourbon selection. Another special note is that they have their own barrel (s) of Jack Single– the cream of the crop in the JD family. I thought that was cool!
I started off with Makers/​coke, then worked my way down the list. I also got a pimento cheese and fried green tomato sandwich, with fries. When that came out, my mouth was watering. The bread was thick, the tomato fried perfectly, and the cheese gooey. Even the skinny fries were good.
I kept throwing back the most random drinks possible, and then it was last call. I got some kind of drink with blood orange syrup and vodka– it was a great way to end the night. Thankfully all I had to do was take an elevator up to the 8^th floor because I was almost stumbling!
I thoroughly enjoyed this place, from the relaxed atmosphere, to the old guy with the escort in the corner, I had a wonderful time and will surely check out this place again when I am in town! Cheers!

The Oak Bar is a fantastic experience!
It’s tucked away beside the Capitol Grille within the Hermitage Hotel, and has an old school vibe where I feel like I’ve been transported back to a different era. I love the décor and the staff is extremely friendly. This is a staple spot pre and post any TPAC performance, and is often crowded with ballet or opera goers. I really like the unique cocktails, and they are very stiff as well!
They have a menu with small bites that you can order at the bar, and they smell fantastic though I can’t speak from experience. Next time I’ll have to give them a whirl!
I’ll be back here for a night out but wouldn’t be a regular since it’s somewhat touristy and a bit expensive on the cocktail price. Plus its a place where you would feel more comfortable dressed up.
But I’ll be back when I’m gussied up for a night on the town or after a visit to the Nashville Ballet!