Editorial
Nashville's bar scene splits down the middle. Broadway is the country-music tourist strip; East Nashville and Germantown are where locals drink. The Patterson House opened in 2009 and gave the city a serious cocktail bar; everyone else followed. The 10 below cover both sides — you should visit one Broadway honky-tonk and several non-Broadway rooms in the same trip.
Do one Broadway bar (Robert's Western World, Tootsie's) for the country-music context, then leave. The serious drinking is across the river in East Nashville (Pinewood Social, The 5 Spot, The Crying Wolf) or in Germantown (The Patterson House nearby). Skull's Rainbow Room in Printer's Alley is a separate evening of its own.
Senior US Editor — drinks his way through New York and writes about which bars actually deserve their reputations.