Review: The Twelve Thirty Club

What were your first impressions when you arrived? 

Nashville is a nightlife town, so it can be difficult for a bar to stand out from the crowd. So when prolific southern restaurateur Sam Fox, Justin Timberlake, and a few other investors decided to open the mammoth Twelve Thirty Club, they really wanted to make a splash. This three-level behemoth does exactly that: standing a block north of the main drag of Broadway, it feels like it's in a class all its own, with a few different settongs to choose from. The main floor's Honky Tonk is an elevated take on quintessential Nashville, with a thriving bar scene, live music seven nights a week, and a Southern-inflected menu. This is where you'll meet friends for casual dinners; think steaming piles of salt-crusted pretzels and dry-rubbed wings over Broadway's Finest Espressotini. Upstairs you'll find the Supper Club, a fine dining concept with luxurious cuts of beef, fresh seafood that's flown in daily, and a whiskey cart for table-side pours—it all makes for a sexy atmosphere that lends itself to date nights and special occasions. Between the more casual main floor, the high-end upstairs Supper Club, as well as a second-floor, members-only cocktail lounge, there is truly something for everyone here. The spaces throughout the building start out on the lounge-y side, and get progressively more lively as the night goes on.

What’s the crowd like? 

Yes, you'll find bachelorette parties—but think brides-to-be that are a bit more mature, with a taste for well-made martinis, and with a little more budget to spend than the sequin-clad throngs you'll find at the (beloved) dive bars of Broadway. Visitors intermingle with locals, and date nighters are seated next to large parties; everyone is here to sample the best that Nashville has to offer.

What should we be drinking?

As the Swiss did with the cheese trolley, Twelve Thirty has done with its whiskey trolley. Order a splash of the brown stuff upstairs in the Supper Club and you'll be treated to a table-side pour that feels like a performance. The smoked Old Fashioned is excellent Instagram fodder (and also delicious). There's a robust cocktail list with everything from Mai Tais to a killer Passionfruit Habanero Margarita. Oenophiles will be glad to know that the Supper Club is the only restaurant in Nashville with a master sommelier on the team, so you can rest assured that the perfect pairing will be found for whatever you're ordering. The wine list favors classics like jammy domestic Cabernets, but there are also surprising treats like a refreshing Tempranillo-Grenache blend from Navarre, Spain.

Main event: the food. Give us the lowdown—especially what not to miss. 

Come hungry. Downstairs at the Honky Tonk, the menu is far from standard—expect international dishes with a seasonally fresh bent, and highlights including crispy umami Brussels sprouts, pork-belly dumplings, and—this being the south—chips and guacamole that come with a generous serving of pimento cheese. 

Upstairs at the Supper Club, things get more refined (and expensive); decadent cuts of beef, a truly out-of-this-world lobster spaghetti al limone, and vegetarian options that don't feel like an afterthought, like the charred-corn and tomato ravioli. This being a show biz town, everything feels like an event here: The portions are generous, the platings are dramatic, and even the iceberg wedge salad gets a degree of showmanship with table-side preparation.

And how did the front-of-house folks treat you? 

They're knowledgable, efficient, incredibly warm—and might just be some of the best servers in town. Twelve Thirty Club works hard to recruit the best of the best, and incentivizes their staff to grow and remain in the profession; for instance, any server who takes and passes their level-one sommelier certification is reimbursed.

What’s the real-real on why we’re coming here? 

The genius thing about housing a more casual restaurant, a more formal restaurant, a cocktail lounge, private event space, and a rooftop bar all in one building is that there are infinite ways to experience Twelve Thirty Club. You can come five times and have five different experiences, from intimate date nights, to impromptu drinks at the bar, to large-scale celebrations. Despite having just two years of being open under its belt, this spot already feels iconic.