- Not a huge fan of catfish, but this is pretty good.
I think it's mostly from seeing
people wrestle catfish.
- What, do you like put your fist in there
and you pull it over?
- Have you done this before?
- Yes.
It's terrifying though,
'cause they're like, just stick your hand
in that hole and hope for the best.
And you're like...
- So, let me break it down for you.
The past 10 years, I've been traveling the world,
tour managing artists, and showing them the best spots.
I know, that anywhere you go,
you need that solid connect.
We've taken submissions from people
claiming to have the keys to their city.
Now we're traveling the country
to take them up on their word.
I'm Justin Lizama, and this is "GateKeepers."
So, I'm here in Nashville,
one of my favorite cities, especially for music.
Starting with a travel hack.
It's best to travel on off hours to avoid busy airports.
It's a ghost town.
So I'm meeting Paxton Elrod.
She's gonna be our gatekeeper
and apparently, she has the key to the city.
I've been here a lot,
so I'm hoping that she can show me some new things.
- I have lived in Nashville my entire life.
I love this place.
It is a city.
- Justin. - Paxton.
- How ya doing? - Nice to meet you.
- You too.
- But, it's also a small town
and it's in the South.
And, everyone in the South
is apparently nicer than anywhere else.
So, before I take you downtown and show you
what Nashville's made about,
I had to show you this spot.
- Amazing.
- You ready?
- I'm ready.
- Broadway is so touristy.
- This where we find all the bachelorette parties?
- Yes!
- So, for me, coming to Nashville,
we always ended up here.
Going to bars in between doing concerts and shows
in and outside the city.
So, this one I'm pretty familiar with.
But, I can't say I recognize it during the day.
- No, during the day, it's a completely different place.
It seems a lot nicer, and more forgiving during the day
than at night.
- That's when it turns into Nash Vegas?
Today's Monday, right?
- Yeah, I think we get out of here right now,
go eat some hot chicken,
and then come back whenever it's alive
and well. - Down.
- Everyone knows Nashville's all about hot chicken.
We got Prince's, which is the original.
We have Hattie B's that everyone talks about
and this is Bolton, which is my favorite
because not a lot of people know about it.
- I'm down.
- Yeah, you say that now.
- Hello!
- Hey. - Hi.
- What's up, my first time.
What should we order? - You like spicy food?
- I love spicy.
- Seafood or chicken?
- I like both.
- And are you wanting all this hot,
or medium?
- I think we'll start with medium
and if you make a couple that are extra spicy.
- So, you want a mix?
- Yeah, a mix.
- Ooh, it'll be like hot chicken roulette.
We don't know what's gonna happen.
I like this.
- All right. - Wings.
- Got some catfish, wings.
- Tenders.
- Oh, yes.
- Thank you.
Where should I start?
Should I go wings, tender, fish?
What do you think?
- I always go for the pickles first.
- There's a pickle.
I don't really trust people
that don't like pickles and mustard.
Just saying that.
- Do you put mustard on everything?
- No, but it always enhances.
All right.
- Why are you using a fork?
- I don't know, should I not?
Is that a thing?
- No.
- Just go savage on it?
- Oh, yeah.
- Pretty good.
- You have to taste your finger.
I got just enough spicy.
- See, the thing with the spicy chicken,
is that, it comes after you eat it.
- This is legit, this is Nashville hot chicken?
- I'm pretty sure mine's hotter than yours.
- You think?
- Yeah, no, I know.
- Yours looks a little more red.
- Yep, that's it.
That's the spice.
- Hi guys.
- Hey.
- Hi.
- How's everything? - It's good.
- I'm glad you're enjoying it.
- So, I met your husband earlier.
He told me how important it is
to make everything with love.
- That's our recipe.
- I see you haven't made it over to your hot spot over there.
- Oh these the hot, hot? - These wings are even hotter?
- Yes.
- These are, okay.
- All right.
- So, we're going to build up.
- I'm going to go in for that now.
- Well, I'll come back and check on you in a few.
- Thank you so much, Dollye. - Great, thank you.
- OK.
- Well, I mean,
I saw the first bead of sweat drip right here.
I would say he wasn't prepared.
- It's hot.
- Such a bitter-sweet thing, because it's so good
and yet it's just so painful.
I'm going to start crying.
- I'm a try them.
- I can't touch, OK.
- Feel it on my lips.
- Your sweat, just, yeah.
It's real.
- Ooo, wee.
- I think the seasoning's in the beans.
- For sure, I could,
I mean, I had definitely had room
to go up on the heat.
- We didn't even get the spiciest.
- Not a huge of catfish, but this is pretty good.
- I grew up eating catfish so it's like...
- I think it's mostly from seeing people wrestle catfish.
- Noodling?
- Huh?
- Noodling?
- That's what it's called?
- Where you, like, put your fist in there and you pull it over.
- You just reach down and take hold.
If it isn't your neighbor's foot,
you've probably got 10 pounds of good eating fish.
- It's terrifying though, because they're like,
just stick your hand in that hole and hope for the best!
And you're like...
I know where that was going.
- I mean it is in the beans too.
- Yeah that's for sure.
- All right, so, this is the Goo Goo shop.
Now, I grew up on this candy,
but I've never actually made some.
- Sounds like a Tennessee tourist trap to me.
But, I guess if we get to try making it,
I'll give Goo Goo a go.
- Hey guys.
Welcome to the Goo Goo shop.
- Goo Goo was America's first
combination candy bar.
- I grew up with these in my stocking every year.
- Now, you get to make your own four-ounce,
premium Goo Goo cluster with whatever you want
to put inside of it.
- OK, what makes that premium?
- Just the size.
- Do you have a lot of bridal showers
that come in here, or, the bachelorette parties?
- Yes, the bachelorettes, oh yes.
And they're always screaming like, "Whoo!"
- Perfect!
- This is really good.
A little Oreo, marshmallow.
- Ooh!
- Can't go wrong with that.
- I 100% made a better one.
- If you're looking for a real sweet time,
and want to get out of the cluster (beep)
of tourists outside, Goo Goo's pretty awesome.
- All right, so I wanted to bring you
to my neck of the woods for a casual dinner.
Now this place is actually pretty nice,
but we don't have to get dressed up for it.
I don't know much,
but I do know these Brussels sprouts are bomb!
We have to get them.
- Well, I'm a Brussels sprout connoisseur, so,
I'll be the judge of that. - I don't know if I've
ever heard anyone say that before.
- I've had many a Brussel sprout.
- Weird flex, but, OK.
- World famous Brussels sprouts, right here.
Mmm.
Yeah.
- Props to the chef on that one.
- They literally just kept bringing out
plate, after plate, after plate, after plate.
Pretzel bread with their housemade brown butter mustard.
- Mustard, the most underrated condiment.
- Really been craving a pretzel.
Just all so good, so you wanted to keep eating it,
but it just kept coming,
so you never thought it was going to end.
Celery root schnitzel here, over pickled...
Something pickled.
- Pickled everything.
- The duck fat hash browns.
- That's really nice.
- Very happy about this one.
- So we've done some damage here.
I'm impressed.
- This is just the appetizers.
- Eat that food!
- Swordfish that we grill over hickory wood.
- Oh, this is so good!
- Mushroom pot pie in a sage cream.
You're going to love that.
I couldn't let you leave without trying that.
- That might be the best thing on the table.
- The chef would love to go ahead and break this down.
- Can I do it?
- Probably don't want to do that.
- Whoa.
- It's pretty good.
Going from hot chicken to this chicken.
It's in preference.
- Well, you're not crying right now.
- Yeah.
Growing up, was coming downtown something you guys
would always do?
- That's the thing that people don't realize
about Nashville.
10 years ago, you didn't come downtown.
Broadway wasn't a safe area.
Now, there's these spots that are the basic Instagram spots.
- Right.
- Ten years ago, it was just not a thing.
There were definitely not a lot
of bachelorette parties here.
- To all those bachelorette parties,
maybe you should go to Vegas.
- Yes.
Go to Vegas.
- Maybe you guys call it Nash Vegas,
so people get confused.
- We don't call it Nash Vegas.
- I've heard it multiple times since I've been here.
- You've said it multiple times.
- Do you want to turn it into Nash Vegas?
Onto to Nash Vegas!
Nash Vegas, let's go!
I just like saying Nash Vegas.
Nash Vegas.
- Never going to let that go.
- The chef did an amazing job on the preparation
and the attention to detail's gorgeous.
The meal itself was beautiful.
So, for me personally, very happy with this spot.
The wine was nice.
- Next on the agenda is Broadway.
- I need to burn off some of this anyway.
- Good point, I don't know if they're going to be
doing a lot of burning, seeing as,
probably just going to be drinking?
- I love this bar.
It's at the top of Broadway
and you can see all of downtown.
You'll get a great view of the stadium,
the river, the bridge, the Batman building,
and have a good time.
- Hey guys!
Do you want any drinks today?
- Yes, we have to get Bushwackers.
We're in Nashville, you got to do it.
- This is really a thing?
- So Bushwackers are like an adult frosty here.
It tastes like a frosty with a little bit of alcohol in it.
A lot of alcohol.
- [Bartender] Cheers guys.
- Bottoms up, right?
- Bushwack in Nashville.
That's actually really good.
- Until the sugar catches up with you,
then it's just, it's all downhill from there.
- I mean, sweet drinks (beep) me up.
Just be honest.
Oooh yeah!
Picklebacks?
I'll do a Pickleback.
- Really?
- You don't call it Nash Vegas for nothing!
- If he says Nash Vegas one more time.
- So if you're from Nashville,
do they call you Nashvillan?
Dope that Nashville dedicated a building to Batman.
- I always had the biggest crush on Batman.
Is that weird?
- New York's the capital of the world.
That make sense?
- No shots for me.
No shots.
That's why.
- Great night last night.
I could use a coffee.
Last night, Paxton mentioned some basic Instagram spots.
Let's go have some fun.
Since we're in Nashville, and it's a music city,
definitely need to do something music related.
- Well, we could walk down Music Row.
We've been on Broadway, where you've heard the live music.
- Been to all those places.
- Ooh!
I can take you to this place called The Groove.
It's in this old house and it's a record store.
It's really cool.
- Like proper records?
Like vinyl?
- Yup, yeah. - Oh sweet, let's do that.
- Yeah, OK.
- The Groove has been around for 10 years.
Since 2008.
- Nice.
What makes this uniquely Nashville?
- It's in an old house and we're the only record store
that's in an old house in East Nashville.
- I think I'm going to listen to some music.
I could spend all day here, to be honest.
Just going through music, listening to stuff.
You know, finding stuff.
- Great Songs of America.
He can't hear me.
Talking to myself.
- What is it?
- Nothing.
- Justin's probably bought at least half
of the store by now.
- Billy Ocean, the R Kelly before R Kelly.
If it wasn't for Genesis, there would be no Phil Collins.
Peter Cetera.
You got your Bogeys and Yacht Rock.
Christoper Cross, J Dilla, G N' R Lies.
Roy Orbison.
You Know, You Know.
- Yeah, I got eight cassettes right here.
Ready to go.
- No but, here we go, I got Kid Rock over here,
so I don't know how you're going to top that.
- You can have that.
When you're in Nashville, come check out The Groove.
There's some wonderful stuff here.
- Ooh, an old Space Jam cassette.
All right, so The Groove has been great
to appreciate music.
To continue the night, I want to take him
to a place where he might be able to sing a little bit.
So the next spot I'm taking Justin,
is one of my favorite spots.
It's a dive bar, right down the street from my place.
Yes.
- Where are we?
- Santa's!
It's like Christmas, but like, not.
You'll love it, come on.
- No douchebags.
That's a good start.
So Santa's Pub is definitely a local spot.
I don't know how people don't like bars like this.
- Drink a beer.
Decent karaoke.
- Laugh at your friends.
- Great spot.
Coming here to Santa's was perfect.
Traveling and striking up conversation
with somebody at the bar.
These are the things I love to do.
- I'm really hoping that we get the chance to meet Santa
because I feel like Justin will love him.
He is truly a Nashville local.
It would just make this so much better.
- So how long have you guys been here?
- It'll be eight years, April.
- Eight years?
- I retired, bought it.
- Retired, bought it.
So this is your retirement? - Yup.
- Amazing.
- Hey, if you have a minute,
you want to come outside and have a beer with us?
- Sure. How are ya'll doing?
- Hi! - How's it going?
- How'd you get the name Santa, might I ask?
- I got 16 grandkids.
- OK.
- They think I am Santa.
They think it's my workshop.
I'm making toys in here.
And I keep a box of toys.
Here, I made that last night for you.
This is old Nashville.
Broadway's got too commercial.
There's never been a fight here.
- No bouncers, all right, let's see what's up.
- I'm the bouncer.
I do get mad at them for breaking up Christmas.
- Yeah.
- OK, Santa.
- I noticed coming in here, it's beer only.
Any reason for that?
- Beer make you bloated.
You go to the bathroom a lot.
You go Waffle House, you go home.
Whiskey, they get 10 foot tall, bulletproof, trouble.
- Can't get mad at Waffle House, so.
- No, never.
- Good food.
- Chicken biscuit.
Yeah I get the chicken biscuit at Waffle House,
is that weird?
- Yeah. - Why?
- You don't get the All Star special?
- That's what I get.
- See?
- I feel like this was probably one of Justin's
favorite places that I took him.
- Santa Pub...
Santa's Pub is OG.
She took me to a hot chicken place.
- Took him to Bolton's.
I didn't take him to Hattie's. - Bolton's is hot.
- See?
- I couldn't eat it.
- I got right here,
I started crying.
- I mean it's painful.
- It takes more to go to the bathroom than Ice Cube.
- Hot chicken tips.
Out of all the things that we've done in Nashville,
this was probably one of the most fun moments that I've had.
Well, thank you for having us here.
- Yeah.
- Appreciate your company here.
- It's a special place, I can tell.
- Well it's built on love, you know?
- What I've come to figure out
and come to understand is that Nashville is built on love.
It permeates everybody that enters their establishment.
And they love what they do.
- So, Justin actually sang karaoke and...
Surprise!
He's actually pretty decent
and he's finally stopped saying Nash Vegas when we're here.
And it's great!
- But it is Nash Vegas.
- This is Nashville.
Make sure you come see Santa next time you're in Nashville.
Y'all.
- Did you just say "y'all?" 513 00:15:25,540 --> 00:15:27,500 - This visit to Nashville was amazing.
It's a big city with a small town vibe.
Can't wait to come back.
Paxton impressed me with her choices of restaurants
and things to do.
And guess what?
We finally ran into a bachelorette party.
Heading to the next city.
See you on the other side!