GermantownCafeFull

More and more businesses in Nashville are coming to understand that art sells, and thus we have at least three professional mural “companies” in Nashville (two seem to be just one artist, one is a team of two). Germantown Pub at the corner of Monroe and Rosa Parks is a prominent adopter of this trend. A huge, long mural speaks loudly of neighborhood pride, forming an informal gateway into Germantown. Of course, the pub itself is a symbol of the transformation of this area. I forget the name of the restaurant, but I remember years ago going to this building and eating in the kind of place you got fried fish on a piece of white bread for just a few bucks, and most of the crew and clientele were African-American. You can still get a catfish sandwich here, but it’s a decidedly more expensive place, and like the neighborhood, the demographics have changed. The mural is signed “Billups & Tomasek,” as in Anthony Billups and Dean Tomasek of Music City Murals, also responsible for the mural in Have a beer! A really big beer! (As noted in that post, at least two people/teams in town use the Music City Murals moniker – I don’t know if there is a connection.) The mural references many facets of Germantown and the Bicentennial Mall. In some cases, the letters make sense. The “A” is the Church of the Assumption, the “M” is Monell’s, and the “G” is Gerst Beer, while the second “N” is the “N” of the Nashville Sounds. But what the “E” has to do with Werthan Mills Lofts, or the “R” with the Farmer’s Market (or maybe Smiley’s Produce?), or the “T” has to do with construction or the first “N” with the World War II memorial in Bicentennial Mall, I don’t know. The “W” with the First Tennesee ballpark scoreboard at least flows into the second “N” of the Nashville Sounds. The “O” is Bearded Iris Brewing. Oh, what a good beer?

The address of Germantown Pub is 708 Monroe Street, but both the pub and the mural face the 1300 block of Rosa Parks Blvd. The pub has plenty of parking, and street parking is available nearby. Grab a brew and enjoy the art!

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