Kid Rock’s Nashville Bar Loses Beer Permit Over COVID Violations

Authored by rollingstone.com and submitted by PhotoClock

Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk and Rock & Roll Steakhouse will have its permit to sell beer suspended for five days after the Nashville venue served patrons at its bar — a violation of the city’s active public-health emergency order. Currently, watering holes in Tennessee’s Davidson County are prohibited from seating and serving customers at their bars.

A photo taken last weekend inside the subtly named entertainment venue, which is co-owned by Nashville businessman Steve Smith, showed a packed bar and no masks from most customers or servers. The latter is an infraction and led to its own separate citation. The temporary suspension of the beer permit was a result of a later inspection.

“They were in violation of two points of the order that states bar areas must remain closed to the public,” inspector Melvin Brown told The Tennessean. “No interaction with the public is allowed, and alcohol can only be served at tables and booths.”

Nashville is currently in Phase 2 of its reopening plan. The third phase, which does allow bar seating at half capacity, is expected to begin next week.

Three other venues also received a five-day beer-permit suspension: the Moxy Nashville Downtown hotel; Nudie’s Honky Tonk, named after Western tailor Nudie Cohn; and the beerhall Broadway Brewhouse. The suspensions, which only affect beer sales (liquor can still be served) won’t happen any time soon, however. The cited businesses have 14 days to appeal.

ThickBeardSanchez on June 19th, 2020 at 14:23 UTC »

I worked security there for a year. This doesn’t surprise me at all. They also made us keep all the windows open when it was snowing (to bring in more customers). OSHA fined them for playing music too loud, they didn’t change volume, just paid a fine and kept at it. Bars here have to close at 3am, they stay open past it anytime they’re packed.

The biggest issue for me was capacity. Capacity there is about 1,600. Every holiday or game day we were over capacity. Literally can’t walk through the crowd. If I was at the back of the bar on the first floor it was faster for me to go outside and run to the front than it was for me to walk through the crowd.

The NFL draft last year was a nightmare. 18 fights in 3 days. Shit was just wild. The owner is greedy AF (KR is not the main owner)and doesn’t care about anything but money. If you wanna spend $8 on a bud light, this is the bar for you.

OhShitItsSeth on June 19th, 2020 at 13:49 UTC »

Just to clarify, the bar is owned by Steve Smith, who owns several more bars in downtown Nashville as well. I believe KR just licenses his name.

Tenoshin on June 19th, 2020 at 12:57 UTC »

"They took my permit away Sat down and cried todayayayayay"