Johnny Cash’s Kitchen and Saloon opens in Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A new restaurant dedicated to the Man in Black has opened in downtown Nashville.

Johnny Cash’s Kitchen and Saloon opened Wednesday, right next to the Johnny Cash Museum on 3^rd Avenue off of Broadway.

“We now have about 60-thousand square feet of Johnny Cash on this block," Bill Miller, owner of both the Johnny Cash Museum and the new Johnny Cash's Kitchen and Saloon, said. "When you walk in here, it's ike walking into Johnny and June's home."

The two-floor venue features a restaurant, located on the first floor, as well as three bars and two stages throughout the building.

The menu for the kitchen features traditional Southern food and is made in partnership with Swett’s, a restaurant that Cash visited back in the day with his family.

“The nucleus of Johnny and June’s home was a good meal," MIller, who was a friend of Cash's, said. "If you came to visit them, you were not going to leave that house, even if you’d eaten before, without June insisting that you sit down at that table and eat some of that southern food.”

John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny and June, emphasized the importance of eating meals together for his parents.

“Time spent around a table to them was so important," Cash explained. "In the heart of this is fellowship and gathering, and it was there that relationships lasted.”

The upstairs Saloon is decorated with stained glass that displays important moments in Cash's life, like meeting June at the Ryman, playing Folsom Prison, and much more.

There are also chandeliers on the ceiling, a recreation of Johnny Cash’s Hendersonville cabin with rocking chairs on the front porch, as well as a fireplace and leather couches, allowing people to lounge while listening to live music and enjoying a drink.

“All of it fits Johnny’s profile of where he’d love to come, and when we designed it, that was the one and only thing on our minds," Miller explained. "How would Johnny like to hang out here? I can tell ya, he’d love to hang out here.”

While there will no doubt be plenty of Johnny Cash played on the stages of Johnny Cash's Kitchen and Saloon, Miller explained that Cash influenced so many people, that almost any song from any genre has a little bit of Cash in it, and could be played on the stages.

“This place is a celebration of all music, and I know Johnny would enjoy that," Miller said.

The hope for Miller is that both lovers of Johnny Cash and Country Music, as well as people who aren't familiar with the Man in Black, will enjoy this place from when they walk in the front door.

“It all begins with the food, when you’re done with the food it’s time to listen to the music. Come upstairs, have a drink, sit on the couch, get on the rocker on the front porch of the cabin, and enjoy all of this. Take it in and know that the spirit of Johnny is all around us."

Johnny Cash's Kitchen and Saloon is open 7 days a week from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m., with food being served from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.