Doc Holliday's Saloon

What to Expect

Doc Holliday's sits just steps off Broadway, but plays like an old-school honky-tonk rather than the celebrity-backed bars nearby. It's named for the real Doc Holliday, the Old West gunfighter who rode with Wyatt Earp and stood in the O.K. Corral shootout. Open since 2000, it's strictly 21 and up. The room is small, maybe 15 stools at the main bar, with a spiral staircase leading up to a second level. Spinning the drink wheel by the bar is a rite of passage, and depending on where it lands, you might owe a shot, get a shot, have to buy the band a round, or, if you're feeling bold, flash them. Live music runs every night, leaning more on covers and requests than original sets, though plenty of the performers are songwriters who mix their own material in. The Bloody Mary has its own reputation, a big pour topped with cheese skewers, sausage, shrimp, onions, olives, carrots, and bacon, regularly named among the best in Nashville. Like a lot of old-school Nashville dives, the walls are covered in patron-signed dollar bills. Here, they come down every year and the money goes to charity.