Bar in Nashville, United States
No 308
100Pearl PointsEast Nashville's cocktail room, no reservation needed.
About No 308
No 308 is East Nashville's cocktail-serious neighborhood bar on Gallatin Ave — the kind of room locals know and tourists rarely find. Walk-ins only, no dress code, and the cocktail program is the main event. Arrive early for a quieter experience; later in the evening the room fills and conversation gets harder. A reliable go-to for a second visit.
The Verdict
No 308 on Gallatin Avenue is one of East Nashville's harder-to-replicate bar experiences: a cocktail-forward neighborhood room with enough ambition behind the bar to pull in drinkers from across the city. If you've been once and left without working through the full cocktail list, that's the reason to go back. The seat count is limited and the room fills up, so if you're planning an evening around it, arrive with intent.
What to Expect
No 308 sits on Gallatin Ave in the 37206 zip code, the East Nashville corridor that has become the city's most concentrated run of independently operated bars and restaurants. The room leans local and unpretentious, which is precisely its advantage over the more produced cocktail venues Downtown. This is not a bar designed to impress visiting bachelorette parties — it runs for regulars and for drinkers who take their orders seriously.
The cocktail program is where No 308 earns its reputation. East Nashville bars in this tier tend to split between beer-and-shot simplicity and genuine craft ambition; No 308 sits firmly in the latter camp. If you've visited before and defaulted to whatever was on tap, go back and spend time with the cocktail menu. The program signals range — the kind of bar that keeps rotating options rather than locking in a static list. For a deeper read on what serious cocktail bars are doing at a national level, it's worth comparing notes against Bar Leather Apron in Honolulu or Jewel of the South in New Orleans, both of which set a useful benchmark for program depth. Closer to home, Julep in Houston offers a similar neighborhood-serious cocktail sensibility.
The room itself rewards an early arrival. Later in the evening the noise level rises and the bar fills, which makes conversation harder and ordering slower. If you're coming for the drinks rather than the atmosphere, the earlier window is the one to use. East Nashville's density of good options , including 12 South Taproom and Grill, 417 Union, and 5th & Taylor , means you can build a full evening around the neighborhood without needing to cross the bridge.
Food is available, though No 308 is primarily a bar. If food is a priority, anchor your evening elsewhere , 8th & Roast is worth knowing for daytime, and 5th & Taylor for a more substantial dinner before or after.
Practical Details
Reservations: Walk-ins are the norm here; no reservation required for most visits. Booking difficulty: Easy. Dress: No code , come as you are. Budget: Cocktail bar pricing in this East Nashville tier typically runs $12–$16 per drink; no verified price data on file. Getting there: 407 Gallatin Ave, Nashville, TN 37206 , street parking available in the neighborhood. For a broader view of what's worth your time in the city, see our full Nashville bars guide, our full Nashville restaurants guide, our full Nashville hotels guide, our full Nashville wineries guide, and our full Nashville experiences guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a reservation at No 308?
No reservation needed. Walk-ins are the standard at No 308 on Gallatin Ave, and the bar operates without a booking system for most visits. Show up, find a seat, and order. Booking difficulty is as low as it gets in East Nashville's bar scene.
What's the signature drink at No 308?
Specific menu items aren't documented in available data, but No 308 is known as a cocktail-forward room, meaning the bar program is the main event rather than a secondary offering. If you're coming for shots and domestics, there are easier stops on Gallatin Ave — this one rewards people who want something more considered in the glass.
Is No 308 good for groups?
Small groups of two to four fit the format well. No 308 is a neighborhood bar room, not a large-format venue, so larger parties may find space tight depending on the night. For groups of six or more wanting a dedicated setup, somewhere like Skull's Rainbow Room offers more infrastructure for group visits.
Is No 308 good for a date?
Yes, it works well for a date. The cocktail-forward approach and East Nashville neighborhood setting give it a more considered feel than a standard dive, without requiring a reservation or a dress code. It's a lower-pressure call than booking a formal dinner, and the 407 Gallatin Ave location puts you close to other East Nashville spots if you want to move on afterward.
Is the food good at No 308?
Food isn't a documented focus at No 308 — this is a bar first. Come with the expectation that drinks are the draw. If food is a priority for your night, plan to eat before or after elsewhere on the East Nashville corridor.
What's the crowd like at No 308?
No 308 pulls from the East Nashville 37206 neighborhood: a mix of locals, regulars, and people who found their way off the Broadway tourist strip. The atmosphere skews independent and unpretentious. If you're looking for the bachelorette-party energy of Lower Broadway, this isn't it — which is exactly the point for most people who end up here.
Location
407 Gallatin Ave, Nashville, TN 37206
Nashville, United States
Compare No 308
| Venue |
|---|
| No 308 |
| Attaboy Nashville |
| Green Hour Cocktail & Absinthe Lounge |
| Robert's Western World |
| Skull's Rainbow Room |
| The Fox Bar & Cocktail Club |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Also Consider
- Attaboy Nashville, Notable alternative
- Green Hour Cocktail & Absinthe Lounge, Notable alternative
- Robert's Western World, Notable alternative
- Skull's Rainbow Room, Notable alternative
- The Fox Bar & Cocktail Club, Notable alternative
How No 308 Compares
If your priority is craft cocktail depth, No 308 and The Fox Bar & Cocktail Club are the two East Nashville options worth comparing directly. The Fox tends to run a more tightly curated program with a slightly more produced interior; No 308 leans more neighborhood-casual with similar cocktail ambition. For most regulars, the choice comes down to which room you prefer, both are easy to book and neither requires much planning. If you want the most technically ambitious cocktail program in Nashville's independent bar scene, Attaboy Nashville is the benchmark: bartender-driven, no menu, and the format rewards drinkers who can articulate what they like. It takes more effort to get a seat, but the output is more consistent at the top end.
Green Hour Cocktail & Absinthe Lounge occupies a different niche, if you want a theme-driven room with an absinthe-forward program, it's the only option in the city that does it seriously. It's not a direct competitor to No 308 but worth knowing if you're building a multi-stop evening with range. Skull's Rainbow Room and Robert's Western World are better classified as Nashville institutions than cocktail bars, Robert's in particular runs on cheap beer and live country, which is a different proposition entirely. If your evening calls for that kind of energy, go there first and end at No 308 for something slower and better made.
For value, No 308 sits in the mid-tier of Nashville cocktail pricing, comparable to The Fox and meaningfully more accessible than a hotel bar like those around Broadway. It's the easiest bar on this list to walk into without a plan, which makes it a reliable fallback when other options are full.
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