Kung Fu Saloon headed for Nashville Midtown

Bar and arcade Kung Fu Saloon is headed for Nashville’s Midtown this summer in the company’s first expansion outside of Texas.

The bar plans to open at 1921 Division St. in a building purchased for $3.5 million last year by Michael Lohmann, one of the directors of ABC’s “Nashville” TV series. The 5,800-square-foot building sits on roughly a third of an acre and is steps away from popular Midtown bars Rebar, Winners and Losers.

Kung Fu Saloon was founded in 2009 in downtown Austin and the company has since expanded to Dallas and Houston. A second Austin location is slated to open at the end of February, said Kung Fu Saloon co-owner Chris Horne.

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“(We opened) the kind of place we thought we could enjoy hanging out at and it was much more successful than we ever could have imagined,” Horne said.

Horne said the ownership group was drawn to Nashville for its music scene, nightlife, colleges and young professional population. The group looked at real estate for about a year, working with broker John Maxwell of Baker Storey McDonald Properties. Horne said they also considered a location in the Lower Broadway area.

“One of the things we always look for is cohesive bar districts, which is exactly what Midtown/Division Street is. … We will be close to other good, popular operators and we really believe in the synergy that is created in that environment,” Horne said.

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The Nashville bar will have a large outdoor patio, skee-ball lanes, semi-private karaoke rooms and about 20 vintage arcade games, from NBA Jam to Ms. Pac-Man and Centipede.

Horne said the bar will serve Asian fusion pub food, including its signature cheeseburger egg rolls with spicy Sriracha ranch.

There will be 24 beers on draft with a mix of local, regional and national brews. A full sake bomb menu will pair different beers with sake.

Horne said the Nashville location will have similarities to the Texas Kung Fu Saloons but the design has been “completely rethought.”

“It’s important to us to keep it fresh so every time we design a new location we really go back to the drawing board and start over. We’re very excited about the design theme of this location,” Horne said.

The Nashville bar will employ about 40 to 50 people.

Kung Fu Saloon’s expansion has not come without growing pains. In June 2015, the company reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice following allegations of racial discrimination against patrons. The legal flap centered around the bar’s enforcement of dress code policies in Texas.

The settlement required Kung Fu Saloon to implement changes to policies and practices, including posting and enforcing a non-discriminatory dress code policy and monitoring bar employees for signs of discriminatory behavior.

Kung Fu Saloon’s arrival in Nashville comes while several other out-of-town bars are preparing to open in Music City, including Chicago-based Headquarters Beercade and San Diego-based Moonshine Flats.

Reach Lizzy Alfs at 615-726-5948 and on Twitter @lizzyalfs.