A new 24-hour diner is set to open in mid-October near Lower Broadway on 3rd Avenue called Sun Diner, bringing the atmosphere of the legendary Sun Records to downtown Nashville at all hours of the day.
"Diners were popular in the fifties, and that's when Sun started," John Singleton, president of Sun Entertainment Corporation, said. "It's a natural fit."
Sun Diner is located next to the Johnny Cash Museum, which wasn't planned, but worked out perfectly.
"It makes a lot of sense," Kevin Keller, vice president of operations at TC Restaurant Group, said.
While the focus of Sun Diner is on the food, music, and feel of the diner, one of the biggest draws is the fact that Sun Diner is the first established 24-hour food venue in the Lower Broadway area, catering to people no matter the time of day.
"It's almost an all-hours town now," Keller said of Nashville. "There's always something going on, there's always an event, a great concert."
The groups behind Sun Diner hope their new diner can fill the gap between shows, between meetings, or between the hours when the honky-tonks close and open back up again, all while delivering an experience that only Music City can.
"You're not just at a table," Keller said of Sun Diner. "You're sitting next to a musician or a bartender down the street, or a local business person. The whole idea was to be social and have fun while you're enjoying the music and the food."
Singleton agreed, chiming in, "It's not reserved for tourists or anything like that. We welcome everybody here."
The grand opening for Sun Diner is set for mid-October, and the diner is currently hiring staff to work at Nashville's newest food establishment.
