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How Tennessee's boozy history inspired speakeasy culture in Nashville neighborhoods
DAVIDSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Speakeasy-style bars may be a hot trend in Music City, but their roots trace decades back into Tennessee's past of Prohibition.
The Fox Bar & Cocktail Club on Gallatin Pike in East Nashville is one of dozens of speakeasies nestled in neighborhoods across Nashville.
'I think the first thing you're going to notice is, we're tricky to find,' explained Brandon Archilla, beverage director at The Fox. 'We're in a basement, essentially. Very similar to speakeasies of old that would've been in places that are most clandestine, out of the prying eye.'
Archilla said the hideaway is one of the neighborhood's original cocktail bars. The intimate space has a tight-knit staff and seats just 40 people for drinking and dining by candlelight, about the smallest footprint you can have legally.
'We leaned on local companies to do the Art Deco styling you see in the metal work and the woodwork beneath the bar. The tables were handmade,' Archilla said.
With hundreds of bottles of liquor from all over the world, and an exotic cocktail menu embracing a wide variety of flavor profiles, word of The Fox travels fast — although this talk of the town is more like a whisper.
'A lot of our regulars will tell me they do still 'speak easy' of us, and only tell certain people about this bar,' said Caleb Young, the speakeasy's head bartender.
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Speakeasies like The Fox are an ode to the Prohibition-era history of Tennessee.
'Tennessee was the first state to pass state-wide Prohibition in 1909. So, 11 years before the federal government did away with the sale and manufacturing of alcohol, Tennessee did. And that caused a controversy at first,' explained David Ewing, historian and ninth-generation Nashvillian.
Ewing said in Nashville, the crackdown really came in 1915 when the mayor who didn't believe in enforcing Prohibition was thrown out of office. That was the start of what Ewing described as a 'cat-and-mouse game' between police, bar owners and whiskey makers.
'While you could not technically sell alcohol, they created locker clubs, where you could kind of bring your own and have your bottle stored in a locker,' Ewing said.
Then, when Prohibition was repealed in 1934, Congress gave the power to write alcohol laws back to the states — so Tennessee put wine and beer back up for sale, but not liquor.
'Legally, you could not have a mixed drink in Nashville at a bar or restaurant until 1967,' Ewing said.
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Ewing explained Nashville's growth stalled with few developers wanting to invest in hotels and restaurants that couldn't sell mixed drinks. But, letting liquor flow in the 1970s and '80s led Nashville's nightlife to becoming what it is today.
'I guess it's kind of one of those things where it's like 'don't touch the cookie jar' — you want to touch the cookie jar!' Young said with a laugh.
It's a time bartenders at The Fox can hardly imagine, but they keep that speakeasy spirit alive in every sip.
'The way that I embrace that Prohibition-style history, and that legacy, is making people feel special when they're here. That's the most important part of service for me,' Archilla said.
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