Douglas Corner Cafe

Great place for bands.
It was understaffed when I got there to run the cover table for a friend’s funk band. Bartender and Owner, however nice, was definitely upset since her help didn’t show up that night (the waiter/​other bartender). I felt so bad I almost hopped behind the bar!
Regardless, the stage is well-​fitted for up to a 6 – 8 piece act and something of a wonder. The tables, however, are set up like a café and people end up moving them during the show which does not allow for prime seating. People end up in the back talking near the bar where more seating is available which can take away from the integrity of the show.
Bathroom is clean and majority of the place looks well kept and cared for.
Overall it’s got a great bit of character. Good drink prices for well drinks and beer as well as decent food! Go for it! :)

In a city where people are genuinely nice I was unpleasantly surprised by the unprofessional general attitude in this establishment. Rude is an understatement. There are certainly better places to go see musical acts and definitely better food. The menu is tiny and the bartenders make the food??? Okay so maybe you aren’t going for food just to see some good music. Technically they are completely disorganized and the place is dark and smells musty. When I say dark I mean like you can’t see dark and the place is a mess. There are certainly better places to go see musical acts. I would skip this place and try somewhere else.

I went here the next night after visiting the much more famous and hyped Blue Bird Café and have to tell you, this place was better by far in many regards. The quality of the musicians was superior here and the acoustics/​sound quality were just as good and I’m very discerning about my live music. There was only a five dollar cover to see four musicians play in the round, this was singer-​songwriter fare. There was a small crowd, shame since this was some of the best music I’ve listened to anywhere, anytime. This place is pretty intimate, drinks were around 5 bucks for a decent beer you can sneak out on the upstairs patio for a smoke if you need to. I was able to get real close to the stage, the musicians hung around after the show and it just had a real comfortable, welcoming vibe to it. The Blue Bird is good, even great at times, but they seem take themselves a bit too seriously there you might be forced to sit at a table with strangers and it’s really crowded and cramped with pretty poor food, the Douglas Corner Café has what you need friends at lower cost with less hassle. One of the musicians was a guy named Paul Johnson of the Nashville based indie-​Folk group Silver Trees, beautiful voice and music!

We had a great time and saw some wonderful music, but based on our experience this evening, it is clearly not a «listening room» as we had anticipated. There was much talking and laughter by those in the audience, including other performers, during people’s sets, especially during solo acoustic guitar playing.

Ooooh, another great, cozy venue to sit and chill and listen to some great music in this city…
People don’t stand up in front of you.
Most seats have excellent viewing and listening.
Drinks weren’t terribly expensive.
Bathroom was clean.
Acoustics were very good.
This is one of those places you like to bring out of town friends to.
This one and the Bluebird.

I was in Nashville for the Final Four and found one of my favorite bands (Antigone Rising) was also going to be in Nashville performing at the Douglas Corner Café the first night I was in town — win win for me!
The venue is small and the menu is limited, but the prices are decent. I really like that they tell you to be quiet during the performances, but wish everyone coming in would actually read that. I am a musician, I love music, I love live music, I love being able to actually hear performers without having to filter out drunk conversations. The large table of ladies next to us celebrating a birthday made some of that difficult, but never the less, the band pumped up their volume and overpowered their drunken birthday cheers.
Regarding the food, it is kind of funny — both ha ha and not ha ha funny — in that when you order at the bar, the lady walks around with the food and tries to find the person who ordered it. It’s funny because watching her walk around trying to locate the person who ordered the food is a little like ‘Where’s Waldo,’ and not funny because I saw her stop to scratch her head a few times (while holding the basket of food) and that seemed kind of like a health code violation. At any rate, I got the pretzel, which was piping hot and a few beers, which were ice cold, so I was happy. Cover was minimal for a live band — like $ 5. Sound was great, view was great, the whole experience was a really good intro to the rest of my weekend in Nashville.

Growing up in the Tri state I would take the PATH train to NYC to hit the Jazz clubs as a teen. This place brings me back to those blue-​note days. Beautiful group, North Fourty was there when I arrived. Great group, and I don’t subscribe to country, per se…

Went to Douglas Corner Café on 11÷2÷13 with group of 14, ranging in ages from 21 — 75. Saw Rich Fagan, Bobby E. Boyd and Pamela McNeill. We loved every minute! The music was fantastic and the DCC staff was great. The place may be no frills and the menu limited but don’t let that stop you. Douglas Corner Café is a real gem.

James G pretty much sums it up for me. A charming little place, no frills, $ 8 cover tonight and then a min of $ 4 per person for food/​drink to sit at a table, no problem, though the wine was vile, food comprises pasta with red or white sauce or nachos. The music was nice, the service efficient and one more time for the record no frills.

I’ve always had trouble figuring out when/​if this place is open. I’ve gotten invitations for friends’ shows there, but never been able to attend until recently. It’s pretty dark and maybe slightly musty inside, but that’s kind of the deal with older, smaller venues (see: The End, Nashville). That does nothing to take away from the listening experience. They have a pretty big stage and plenty of room to sit or stand. Drink prices aren’t so bad. Just make sure not to park at Subway. There’s street parking nearby that should do the trick.

The daughter of the owner was there last night, and she made it obvious to everyone there that she did not want to be there. My fiancé went to pay our tab, and this «daughter» of the owner snapped at her and said, «I didn’t wait on you» and walked away. WTF? If you’re going to act like that stay the #$@# home, or better yet mr. owner… hire some help that wants to be there. Other than that, great place for music, although $ 14.00 for a double Jack is a bit steep.

It is exactly what it tries to be: a charming, low-​key music venue for singers and songwriters to perform in front of music-​savvy crowds. Tuesdays are open-​mic writers nights, which are especially small and relaxed, but it’s a great atmosphere for Americana on other nights.
They have food to hold you over if you’re starving, but otherwise eat before you come. It’s a small menu, nothing I’ve found is particularly good, and the bartenders have to fix it so I usually try to spare them the time so they can circulate and serve drinks. Beverages are cheap, and the small do-​it-​all staff will treat you like they’ve known you forever. I would give it 5 stars if the food were better.

I have only visited here once so my experience with Douglas Corner is limited. That being said there wasn’t really anything there that made we want to try it out again.
I came to Douglas Corner to see a musician I knew nothing about, but of which I had heard good things. The exterior is uninviting and for some reason made me feel depressed. Maybe it’s the sad boring brick, or the bars on the tiny windows or maybe its just because it looks so out of place with everything else around it. Douglas Corner is located amidst a slew of antique stores on 8^th Avenue almost directly across the street from Zanies.
The depressing vibe only thickens upon entering. The place is lit more like a movie theater than a bar, the house lights are turned down so low its almost hard to navigate. The tables are dingy and crowded together a bit too closely. The stage was actually bigger than I expected, but it was still hard to see the performer unless you were seated near the front.
I’m not sure if the crowd’s mood was being affected by the surroundings as much as I was, or if it was the cards on the tables requesting silence, but it was like watching a show in a library. Instead of being an intimate performance, the silence was just uncomfortable.
They have a good sized bar that seems pretty stocked, but there was no draft beer, at least when I visited, and your options for bottled/​canned brews were very limited. The staff were friendly but seemed tired, maybe the atmosphere wore off on them as well. They have a small parking lot, but with Zanies across the street it gets full quickly and parking can be quite a pain.

I only went to Douglas Corner one time and I guess it just wasn’t the right show for the venue. Usually when we go to Cory Branan shows people sing along and interact. My friend and I came a little late and were confused by the awkward silence. Cory took an intermission/​smoke break during which we went out to the great back patio (though the step comes as a bit of a surprise the first time). When we came back in we found an empty table and an explanation for the quiet. The cards on the table actually ask people to stay quiet. I understand their motivation, but it makes the atmosphere stuffy. If a show deserves silence and attention, people will give it that. We pointed the sign out to Cory. He told everyone to ignore it when he continued his act. The show got much better after that.

They say everyone plays Douglas Corner. I think they are right even though you might not think it looking at this modest little bar from the outside. It’s on 8^th Ave. right across from Zanie’s. I guess it’s been there for a while.
It seems like an insidery-​type bar, but it brings out all kinds of people. One night my friend and I were counting how many girls had on their Ugg boots (well, it was mostly me). We saw an amazing set of singer-​songwriters including the guys from Halfway to Hazard and Jon Nicholson of the Muzik Mafia. Douglas Corner is a fairly small, straight-​ahead bar so every show there is intimate.
We sat at the bar and watched the bartender make tons of strong drinks. My only beef with that is they are served in plastic cups.
You can see incredible performances here from all kinds of musicians. The cover charge is usually very reasonable for the entertainment you get. In a lot of other respects, Douglas Corner is like a lot of other smoky bars in town, but you should really check out at least one show here.

Douglas Corner Café is the king of «In the Round» style songwriter’s nights. The room is perfect for this. They have some sofas for people to sit, in addition to table seating and the bar. When they do the ‘In the Round’ they have the musicians in a circle in the middle of the room. All the artists face each other in a circle and everyone has a microphone. There is a simple light above the circle. It is incredibly intimate and inviting. The really soft light, and the darkness of the rest of the room seem to weave a spell on everyone in the room. As the night progresses the songwriter’s get more and more comfortable with the setting and really come alive.
I have seen great band performances at Douglas Corner Café as well. Maureen Murphy and Jason Eskridge did a double set here. Both of them are powerhouse singers and really filled the room with their voices. I think that kind of show is the perfect type of show for Douglas Corner Café. One where the songwriter or singer is at the center of the evening.
The have a full service bar but really people always come to Douglas Corner for the music, everything else is an afterthought. This isn’t because the bar isn’t good it’s just that the best thing about the room is how it caters to the music.

Live music is why I’m laughing my way across 8^th Ave., S. from Zanie’s. Not as well known as the Bluebird or the Station Inn, Douglas Corner is nonetheless up there with the other songwriters and musicians venues. It’s intimate and conveniently located near Melrose and 12South Nashville