Cross-Eyed Critters Watering Hole

What to Expect

Cross-Eyed Critters sits just off the lobby of the Graduate Nashville hotel, with its own separate entrance on West End Avenue. It opened in January 2020, billed as the first animatronic karaoke bar on earth. The trio, a bear, fox, and pig, is dressed to represent three eras of country music: the bear's musical-note suit nods to Hank Williams, the fox's pink sequin dress to Dolly Parton, and the pig's hat and necklace to Eric Church. They can play seven songs entirely on their own, including "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Islands in the Stream," and back up whatever a karaoke singer picks the rest of the night. Karaoke runs Thursday through Saturday, 8pm to 2am. Black velvet paintings of country-western stars line the walls above aged wooden floors, and an acronym etched over the bar reads I.I.T.Y.W.I.M.W.Y.B.M.A.D. ("If I tell you what it means will you buy me a drink"). The drink menu carries the same personality. A Fridge Door Martini mixes vodka with olive brine and celery bitters for a play on a dirty martini, and Whiskey Glasses pairs bourbon with banana and black walnut. The kitchen runs Tex-Mex: quesabirria, street tacos, a Sonoran-style corn dog, and a caramel apple chimichanga for dessert.