Nashville's neighborhood bars are being hurt by rules city won't enforce on Broadway, owners say

Neighborhood bar owners have accused downtown Nashville businesses of  taking advantage of "loopholes" to serve maskless hordes while neighborhood bars stay shuttered to comply with health orders.

The owners gathered Monday afternoon in Madison to demand action from Nashville's leaders after partying throughout Nashville raised concern over the weekend. Officials responded to an East Nashville party for "influencers," packed crowds on Broadway and "transpotainment" vehicles chauffeuring tourists about town. 

“It’s become known throughout the region and country that enforcement will not occur and that Nashville is open for business," said Council member Emily Benedict, who represents District 7, which includes parts of East Nashville and Madison along Gallatin Pike.

The group of bar owners and Benedict met at Dee's Country Cocktail Lounge, which has been shuttered since the end of March, reopening only for a week before they were forced to close again to comply with the city's health orders to fight the spread of COVID-19.

Since the bar doesn't serve food, it doesn't have a restaurant license and must stay closed until at least Aug. 16 to comply with Mayor John Cooper's modified Phase Two reopening plan. 

While several bars on Broadway fall under the same restriction, some have a restaurant license and are allowed to stay open and operate at half capacity.

Some bars have sought a restaurant license and have been denied, said Andrew Cook, co-owner of The Fox Bar & Cocktail Club. He said the order mandating the closure of bars is "unfairly skewed" against small business owners. Big bars that serve food and are staying open are "exploiting a loophole," he said. 

“It makes no sense to shut us down but let the money machine of downtown and Midtown keep rolling and pumping out more cases," said Amy Dee Richardson, owner of Dee's. “That crazy fashion party with thousands of people and there’s no masks and no care, but we’re the problem?”

Richardson said she understood the importance of safety precautions and slowing the spread of the virus. 

But Dee's is barely scraping by. With practically no cash flow since the end of March, Richardson said between asking for financial help from family and relying on loans, she hopes to hang on until January, but the future is bleak — especially if something doesn't change for small businesses, she said. 

Health compliance shouldn't be optional 

Richardson isn't alone in her frustration. 

The Fox Bar & Cocktail Club owners Kevin Sanders and Cook said popular bars and honky-tonks are being negligent.

Although Metro Nashville police have been lining Lower Broadway sidewalks for weeks to educate people about the mask mandate, no citations have been handed out for non-compliance. 

“I don’t think any of us ever thought health compliance was ever optional," Sanders said. “Now on just a whim everyone is making them negotiable.”

Some downtown bars in June did receive citations and have their beer permits suspended for violating COVID-19 restrictions.

The neighborhood bar owners said it would be easier for their joints to operate at half capacity. They're already cozy establishments, so they'd serve 30 people at once, likely less. 

Benedict suggests 14-day quarantine for Nashville visitors 

To combat tourists flocking to Nashville to party, Benedict suggested a 14-day quarantine for the city's visitors. 

“You cannot come to this city and spread this virus," Benedict said. "If you want to come to Nashville it’s not for a party. … We live here and deal with the aftermath.”

She called on health officials to back the measure. 

“It’s a last resort but we must stop the infiltration of this virus," she said. 

Reach Brinley Hineman at bhineman@tennessean.com and on Twitter @brinleyhineman.