26-03-2025
Sambuca, an original restaurant in The Gulch, closes after 20 years
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A foundational restaurant in one of Nashville's most popular neighborhoods has closed.
Sambuca Nashville opened 20 years ago in The Gulch, before the area became what it is now.
The restaurant announced their immediate closure on Monday, March 24. In fact, Sunday was their last day open at their spot along 12th Avenue South.
'Safe Bar' program expands in Nashville and new app makes participating bars easy to find
'A place like Sambuca that's been around since before the Gulch as we know today was created is kind of a difficult day,' said Malick Gaye with Nashville's Chamber of Commerce.
Sambuca opened in 2005, when most of the surrounding businesses and apartment complexes were just being built, and the area was still largely a railroad yard.
Over that time, the restaurant helped form the identity of The Gulch. In a Facebook post announcing their closure, the restaurant blamed a 'perfect storm' of COVID and rising costs for the decision.
News 2 reached out for comment from Sambuca on Tuesday but did not hear back.
| READ MORE |
'One of the benefits of growth is you have all these new places and restaurants and things to check out, but sometimes that creates a strain on the demand for the folks that have been here for sometime,' said Metro Councilman Jacob Kupin. 'It's just really important to hopefully get ahead of that.'
'We know the incoming migration into the Gulch is what's causing a couple of demographic shifts,' explained Gaye. 'We're not necessarily seeing oversaturation in Nashville; what we are seeing is new ideas, new companies, new concepts.'
The Gulch is now a 'young professionals' hub, according to the Nashville Chamber, and it's only becoming more dense.
Councilman Kupin said he's currently working with other businesses in the Gulch that are struggling to stay alive. He added that impending transit and housing improvements in the area should hopefully help businesses stay open long-term.
⏩
'I think it's essential, as we see growth, to also focus on how do we protect the businesses that got us here,' said Kupin. 'There's a couple of businesses, right now, at risk of closure that I've been personally working with to try and figure out how can they stay in their building, how can they stay in their space. So, of course, it's a challenge.'
It's important to note that Sambuca had a Houston-based location that opened prior to Nashville's, over 20 years ago; that restaurant also closed this past December.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
