The Mainstay Restaurant

The wings and the spicy pepperoni pizza were AMAZING. This would be a great place to eat good food and maybe watch a sports game. Can't believe how many times I've passed by this place without ever going. The view of the nashville skyline from the patio (and some indoor seats) is amazing. Will definitely be coming back maybe on trivia nights or something. New nashville favorite.

This restaurant deserves 5 stars! Food was incredible! Service was amazing! Nothing about this place disappoints!!! I wanna move to Nashville just to eat this food every day of my life!!!!!! This chef is cookin like a 5 Star Michelin!!!!!

well hot dang. this one's gonna stick. awesome beer selection, sick cocktails, and a menu that will keep you coming back. this isn't the same type of fare at the places in this space before - this is a chill vibe with sports on the tv's all around you and a great place to unwind after a long day. try the "crack jack", which is bacon-infused caramel corn with sriracha dusting on top. i could bathe in this stuff. this is definitely what this area of town needs. love it.

Great happy hour drinks. Cheese curds are delicious. Everyone in Nashville needs to know about thier Mac and cheese. It is Divine. Staff is friendly. The atmosphere is chill. Overall would recommend.

Liked this place. We are outdoors for Sunday brunch. Brandon was really nice and food was awesome.

Love this place for their food and margaritas! I got the mainstay melt. Amazing!

Friendly, casual spot with good food and lots of TV's for watching sporting events. Nice view of the Nashville skyline as a bonus.

I loved this place. The food was good, atmosphere was nice, staff was friendly, and the view was great. Boyfriend got the beer battered shrimp and chips, which he enjoyed. My boyfriend's mother and I both got sandwiches, which were pretty large. She got the Mainstay Club and I got the melted ham and cheese. Both were very good. Fries were great too! This restaurant is located on the corner of a lively street that looks toward downtown Nashville and Nissan Stadium. We parked in the community parking garage, which is shared between the restaurant and the apartment complex. It was easy to find our was on the elevator to the proper floor for the restaurant. There are quite a few TVs, which makes it a great place to watch the games. Our waitress was very friendly and helped us with ideas on how to spend our Saturday, she was pretty funny too. We will be visiting this restaurant again in the future!

Mainstay has been our go-to sports bar since they opened, and I honestly can't believe I haven't reviewed it 'til now. It's a sports bar, so don't come in here expecting a top notch foodie-worthy meal. With that said, though, the food IS good - better than any other sports bar I've been to in the area. The fish and chips honestly used to knock it outta the proverbial park, but it seems like they've changed the fish and/or breading because it was just mediocre last time we went. However, I had the chicken tenders tossed in their buffalo sauce, and it was great. Anytime I'm having a craving for tendies, I know where I'm ordering from. Bottom line: Drinks are good, good selection of beer, food is definitely better than you'd expect from a sports bar, and service is always good.

Not a fan. First off they have beer signs in the restaurant and only had 1 IPA. The ipa was good I'll give them that. The menu is limited it's very sport bar kind of food. I ordered the wrap, all the ingredients tasted fresh but the wrap tasted very much like a gas station wrap. The turkey in it was not good and tasted cheap and old. The fries on the other hand were pretty good. The Mac and cheese was also very creamy and good. Service was absolutely terrible. When I ordered an IPA I just asked her to get me whatever she recommended. Her response was "I don't know I hate IPAs" okay, can't you ask a bartender for dealers choice. Ridiculous. We didn't great our drink order until sitting for 30 mins. We didn't get our food order for almost an hour after sitting and instead of asking us what we wanted to order they just came by to take the menus. I had to say "can't we order food" which made them stop and take our order. Terrible, terrible service. I've had better food, I'd go elsewhere.

Went for lunch. Just me and the kids. Surprised this place was dead! The service was great and the food was absolutely amazing!!! I got the Buffalo chicken sandwich with onion rings...so delicious and portion size was huge. I was full for hours. And both my kids got the cheeseburgers and had nothing but raves about those! My youngest is super picky with French fries and he said these are his second favorite so that's always a plus. And I couldn't wait to eat and almost forgot to get a pic.

Not completely sure why there's such low reviews for Mainstay. I personally thought the food and service was fantastic! I recommend trying the cauliflower bites. I've heard of this thing where you can make vegan buffalo wings with cauliflower, and I imagine this is what it tastes like and I support it 100%. You can also choose any of the wing sauces they offer to get them tossed in. Perfect appetizer For my meal, I went with the signature Mainstay Melt and it was delicious!! It was your typical patty melt with steak, American cheese, an onions all melted down into a beautiful gift of heaven. Can't wait to come back!!

Good food in an ideal location for pregame festivities. Stopped here to have an early dinner before Titans game. My friends and I sat outside and although it took awhile for our waitress to find us & get our food & drink orders I wouldn't fault them as it was packed prior to the game. I had the cheese curds as an app (large portions & very good) & the honey barbecue chicken tenders with fries. I wasn't a huge fan of the fries as they are thick and square cut which isn't my favorite style, but the chicken tenders were some of the best I have had. No stringy bits you often get at restaurants, just good fresh tasting chicken. Sauce was good as well. Would come back, the buffalo chicken chimichanga sounded really enticing

Closed for repairs. Would have been nice if the posted on yelp or outgoing phone message.

Definitely recommend. The nachos were cool ranch doritos and everything we ordered was great. It's a bar atmosphere so it is pretty loud but it wasn't crowded and the servers were attentive.

My bestie and I stopped by this place on the last day of our trip. It was a Sunday so we enjoyed all of the NLF games on the multiple TVs. To start my meal I had a Bloody Mary without the bacon to make it vegetarian friendly. It needed a touch of hot sauce, but after that it was perfect. For an appetizer we shared the fried green tomatoes. They were cooked just right and the sauce on top was delicious. For a main entree I had the Grilled Cheese with a side salad. The grilled cheese was tasty, but nothing to out of the ordinary. The salad was very fresh and a huge portion size which was nice. A great place to watch football and hang out. Lots of local beers on tap too.

To start off, the bartenders were great - very nice and attentive. We went on trivia night and the company that was contracted did a great job of entertaining the group. Would definitely recommend for the vibe and beers. However, the food was quite basic and not great. I regret paying money for it, wasn't terrible but would not get again.

Great food and excellent service!!! My boys and I wanted to escape the craziness of downtown so we went there for dinner and loved it.

I love trying new restaurants, but I'm always hesitant to visit them in their first few weeks of operation -- I've had some bad experiences. But we were looking for a place with a lot of TVs for the Preds game, so we decided to try out the new Mainstay. The interior is dark with trendy decor but casual -- dotted with plenty of TVs and a full bar. We began with the fried cheese for an appetizer, a mix of fried muenster, smoked gouda and pepper jack cheeses. I'm not sure if each stick had a different cheese (I only had one) or if they were mixed together. Regardless, it was delicious. And the earthy, herb-infused marinara complemented the saltiness of the cheese beautifully. For the main course, I ordered the "Beefcake" burger, made with in-house-ground beef. I didn't realize that the burger came without cheese ($1 extra), but our wonderful waitress, Mel, brought me a slice within seconds of asking. The meat was juicy and flavorful. The brioche bun was a little dense and thick for my liking, but it didn't slow me down. Even the tomatoes, lettuce, pickles and onions were memorable -- usually I just throw them to the side. The side of thick-cut fries were incredible...fresh, hot...not too salty...crispy around the edges. Delicious. For only being open a few weeks, I was blown away by the service. Our waitress was incredibly attentive and friendly, making the overall experience that much more enjoyable. Mainstay is a great place to grab a bite, throw one back and catch the game -- I can't wait to go back and explore more of the menu.

On this venture we enjoyed the wings and drinks as they are open for brunch at 1000am. We had have been here numerous times with the pups sitting outside as well just ourselves (pups are more fun)....the Mainstay will be a new favorite as the food is most improved so compliments to the chef. I live the view of the skyline and the service is always great! Candice is awesome and very attentive during our latest visit. As always video games and a great amount of TV for your sports viewing pleasure. I would highly recommend making this place a part of your weekly rotation if it is not at this time.

I am new to town and Mainstay is right down the street from me. Decided to give it a shot. Just met Jess the bartender and she is one of the best bartenders in town. It's a Friday night with a full bar and she has not forgot about anyone. My beer is is never empty and it's the coldest I've had in a while. You have to come by here and give it a shot. Although, I only get fried food it was great. About 21 beers on tap, worth it.

This is the kind of restaurant I would describe as "fine." We came for the trivia, and it was fine. The food was edible but nothing special. I will say that the service was pretty good--someone who seemed to be the owner or manager came over to our table and asked how we were doing and was very friendly. We ordered beers and the spinach artichoke dip and the fried pickle spears. The beers were good but the food was disappointing. The pickle spears were barely breaded--the breadcrumbs were only one one side of the pickle spear--and tasted more like microwaved pickle spears than fried. They were hot and soft and not crispy at all. Also, they were 7$ for one small pickle's worth of pickle spears, which seemed a little absurd especially considering the mediocre quality. The chips that came with the dip were good, but the dip, also fairly pricey, tasted like it was from 7-11 or something. It was certainly frozen and reheated and had little flavor. So the food here was not great. The trivia was slightly better than the food, but could have been better yet with some simple changes. The emcee seemed like he had absolutely no interest in running the trivia--he spoke very quietly into the mic with very little enthusiasm. Also, each round has three questions, and he would read all three in rapid succession so you have to memorize the three questions in order to answer them. It would make way more sense to read one at a time. Also, in my experience the best trivia nights are those where everyone is excited to be there and the emcee is getting the crowd hyped, which was not the case with this one. On the bright side, the restaurant is huge and the service was fairly speedy. If you're super hungry and in a rush, and aren't looking for a spectacular meal, this place probably has something for you. I think it has a lot of potential! But I'd strongly suggest putting a little more effort into the food if they want to improve their restaurant.

This place used to be super cool and family friendly. Staff and management change has been rude to us the last two times we tried to come here. We left both times as bartender told us to go and wait for a server because we had a child and wanted to sit outside. Didn't offer to take our order and send a server with it. Basically told us go wait outside I'm not going to talk to you at the bar because you have a kid. To be clear - we did not want to sit at the bar, only get our drinks aNd take them outside . Bartender was super rude. Before March and the tornado, we would come to the Mainstay multiple times a week and spend a good amount of money. I guess they dont need our money anymore. We will not be back. The second star is for the old staff and management.

Happy hour anyone? My friends had been raving about this place and it did not disappoint. I walked in With friends and it felt like I was on cheers. They all knew her name. The food was great they have vegan and vegetarian options. Cauliflower bites were amazing. The $5 margaritas were perfect. Not too strong. Not watered down.

Avoid. This place used to be great. Had strong high quality margaritas and great happy hour. No more happy hour, margs are watered down from what they used to be. Bartender didn't even notice I was at the bar for a solid 10 minutes or more bc she was buried in her phone. I hate this place has gone down hill. In the past I would've told anyone to come here for a margarita and their happy hour specials were great but this was very disappointing. Will not be back.

Luckily I live next door and can walk in easily, and after a few of their drinks can easily walk (crawl) home. Their happy hour(s) are quite nice, and the drinks are strong. The Margarita is surprisingly tasty and a few of these will cause anyone to make this their favorite bar stop. The bloody mary is loaded with fixins and very good. Their weekend brunch has several amazing choices including the best french toast I have tasted in Nashville. Taco Tuesdays combined with lots of boardgames and cool movies on the various tv's makes this one of your best Tuesday stops after work! Service is always fantastic and the staff is fun to chat with, unlike several of the East Nashville "Hip" spots. Do yourself a favor and stop in, you will thank me later!

Super long hair in my burger. Otherwise, the parking is fine and the atmosphere is good. The prices are reasonable and the staff are friendly.

What in the entire HELL of Hells!? Whyyyyy whyyyy change the nachos and go cheap AF! The owner post a photo of the Nachos on the menu but changes it two years later to this cheap downgrade version of nachos at the bar. No Guacamole, No Salsa, No Poblano Cheese, Cheap Frozen Mass Production "steak" pieces, pickled jalapeños instead of fresh ones, nasty shredded cheese melted under some convection oven which burns some of the chips to a black crisp. Compare the photo. Take the old photo down and stop serving these crappy nachos! Just bc ppl come to get drunk at happy hour don't mean that quality can't be realized PLUS the wait staff sucked.

We stopped here because Yelp said they were pet friendly. They were. The first thing our waiter did was to bring our dog a water dish with ice cold water! Waiter was great! Excellent service for sure. We ordered an appetizer, sandwich, and a salad. All were excellent. I wish we lived closer, I would eat here often!

I have driven past this place so many times and wondered what it was like. I met a friend for dinner here. There is a lot of free parking which is really nice. I got a little confused about how to get to the restaurant from the parking garage but found it. We were at the restaurant for happy hour but that only included one white and one red for wine options. I was stoked to see that there were four rosé options on the menu. Unfortunately, only one was available. The fried cauliflower bites were a yummy appetizer. My friend got the fish and chips with veggies substituted for the fries. I was super pumped about the prime rib nachos. They were decent but not my favorite nachos. This place would be great for watching sports games because there are televisions all over the restaurant. The vibe is cool that you could sit for a few hours and grab drinks. The service was good and our server was very friendly.

Not sure how I haven't written a review for this place yet! Mainstay has grown to be one of my favorite bars in Nashville. #1 The drinks. #2 The food #3. The people. Come here for a Cheersesc experience that will put you on your ass. Drinks: Really there's two drinks that you need to try, the margarita and the bloody mary. I'm from Texas so just trust me on this one. The margaritas will definitely destroy the following morning because they boast a strong poor of tequila topped with triple sec and lime. That's all you need folks. No strawberries, syrups, or any other hoopla. The Bloody Mary is a completely different story. These things are breakfast in a cup; bacon(crispy), cocktail onions, pickles, olives, boiled eggs. Yeah, basically the kitchen sink. The best part? you can snag both of these for $5 if you play your cards right. Food: Soooolid brunch options including Nashville hot chicken/waffles. The give you cinnamon butter so how could I complain? $2 Taco Tuesday? Do it. Fried cauliflower dipped in any wing sauce? Veggies with guilt! Oh and for any fried pickle lovers: THEY DO SPEARS! Mainstay has a basic menu with pretty much any bar food you'd care for plus a little more. Service: This is also a huge plus. A lot of places around here are filled with staff that is too cool to serve. The folks at Mainstay all greet pleasantly and are just generally laid back people. Go here, eat well, drink too much, and tip!

Just don't.... Been here 4 times. Example after finishing 1 beer and waiting 42 mins for cauliflower bites paid for it and left without them ever arriving or being offered another beer. Amazing example of the worst of east Nashville. 2 stars because quality is actually good but the service could be the worst in the city.

Just spent an awesome evening at the Mainstay. Went in for the food as they have good options for our vegetarian daughter as well as amazing other food. Wound up spending the evening there to watch the fireworks. A terrific spot to see right through to the stadium. The bar staff were awesome. Highly recommend

This place is the worst. I patronize even during the pandemic and not once have they honored "Happy Hour", which it clearly advertises as 4-7 on their receipt.

Oh you know why I'm here. If I'm posting a message, it must be good. First things first. Margaritas...Happy Hour...$5. I have never left their sad!!! Their staff is very friendly and the atmosphere is very relaxing. Now when you go to Mainstay. Sit on the opposite side of the bar where all of the tables located. They have a Nintendo pre-loaded console on that side. I sat there playing Knock-Out for a minute. People have called up there just to see if the Nintendo was available. The food at the Mainstay is good. I don't have much to say about it because I'm only there for the M&N; Margaritas and Nintendo lol. Go and enjoy The Mainstay. You won't be disappointed. PS There is parking behind the building. You will have to turn in between the apartment complex and drive around to the back.

First time visit! Live right down the street. Maha and Jared's energy was awesome! Service too! Will definitely be back to this neighborhood gem!

Really awesome view and ambiance!! Pretty decent food! I got a cheesy flatbread and it is pretty good, well worth the cost! My friend had wings and said theyre eh.

This place has awesome happy hour drinks. I ordered the fresh Margarita. It was the best. The atmosphere was good too. They have two arcade games and darts. Plenty of seating inside and outside. They service was awesome. Now the food on the other hand was not worth the money. I ordered the beer batted fish and chips. The chips were over cooked. I had better fries from mc dicks. The fish was okay. (I would suggest making the fries steak fries. Just mywill go back just for the drinks. Update have giving this place good review on the drinks. I'm sad to report check your bank statements. We spend fifty plus dollars at this place including a tip. The waitress decided to take extra money. Speaking with the owner he stated how they take this kind of issue seriously. He wanted to speak with the waitress. After speaking with waitress he stated she could make out the tip amount. Said the 7 looked like a 9. Okay but if you subtract the amount due from the total this would be the tip amount. Elementary, my dear Watson (smh). I don't plan on going back.

A friend and I stopped in with our two dogs for dinner. The waitress was so kind to the dogs! She also provided great service. The sour beer on tap was delicious. The pretzel appetizer we order was quite delicious! We both ate the black bean burger. It was good, nothing spectacular. The prices were very fair. The outside patio also provided an awesome view of downtown!

In town and hungry. Food was pretty decent, bar was well stocked. What more can you ask?

Sunday 5/27: Wings were good but overpriced at $22 for 16! Service was terrible considering our waitress only had one other 4 person table besides my girlfriend and myself. She talked to a lot of other customers and disappeared several times when we needed assistance. I requested 3 times to have one of the 8 tv's we could see changed to the NASCAR race but they were never successful at finding it. We spent two hours here and $55 for 2 orders of 16 wings, one beer, and a glass of water!

Been here a few times now with friends for trivia night (Nerdy Talk). It's usually pretty busy when we are there and a little slow for food to come out, but the staff is friendly and it has a fun atmosphere. Gave it 4 stars because the prime rib nachos were awful, but the burger and the chicken quesadilla were good. Might be the best quesadilla I've had actually. You pick the type of tortilla - the jalapeño cheddar is where it's at. This place is worth a try with the right order.

This has become our Titans away game location even though it takes us about 25 minutes to get there...we really like it! The burger will have you dancing on the table....it is seasoned just enough, they butter and flat-grill their buns which I find unusual these days and really makes the burger. The burger is also big! They have delicious fries, too! We have had the wings....great chicken and good cook on them but all of the sauces are super thin and fall right off. We have stopped ordering them. Fried pickles....yes. Yes. YES!!! Fried Cauliflower....see above regarding pickles. Bloody Mary....don't not get it if you like Bloody Mary's! So, the reasonI just can't do the 5 stars is because service is pretty slow and the food.takes.for.everrrrrrrrrrr.........always worth it, but it takes some time. The entire restaurant is really clean and everyone is super friendly....we will keep going!!!

Hey heres the deal; I've been waiting for a nice non-smoking sports bar in East Nashville like everybody. Been here about 5 time now and continue to go back. The vibe for the games has been great and those who have made themselves regulars are welcoming to everybody. The bartenders are attentive and I rarely have an empty drink. Have a Margarita! As far as the food, they have done a great job taking traditional bar food and adding their special flair to it. This is bar food, but its not....if you get my drift. The ingredients are high quality and I'm pretty sure they have a different blend of beef for their burgers every now and then. Its been a great place for my wife and I to catch some games, have an appetizer and a full on meal when desired. Bacon wrapped dates are great, avocado fries are excellent and the margaritas are on point (as expected). The chef has done a great job. Cant wait to walk home form the Titans games and make this my midway pitstop. Should be a good year. Only drawback is sitting at the bar facing west is killer on the eyes from the sunset. Bring your shades. One suggestion is to develop their outside seating a little bit. maybe an outside TV or something. Cheers. Otherwise..well done and I expect this to be around for a hot minute.

Was in Nashville for the first time Oct 9-12; stopped by on my way back from downtown to my hotel room. Bartender ignored me, then when I finally got my beer, he didn't bring my change back. Not a good first impression. Left after I finished the beer.

As someone who was looking forward to a sports bar in East Nashville, I am disappointed to say that this isn't a true sports bar. You can install as many TVs as you want but to not play the sound for the Final Four automatically disqualifies you as a sports bar. The food was good. The sandwiches uses WAY too large of rolls. I looked around and saw several tables, including our own, cutting off the excess bread from their burgers. My wife had a McFly in which the chicken was completely devoured bt the bread. The craft beer selection was on point, which was the only major positive from our experience. Hopefully all this was due to their opening day.

Their prices are good and the atmosphere is fun. However, the food has never been great. I ordered nachos and they were not that appetizing. I think they were working on their food so hopefully it improves

They upcharge for everything, provide some service and serve cold food. I ordered a burger that have been piping hot. The "brioche" bun was cold. There was a $3 up charge for a little cup of soup from the fries and the soup was cold. I wouldn't eat here again. It's overpriced and the service is less than expedient. They think a whole lot of themselves but I'm certain they're the only ones. I wouldn't waste my money nor eat here again.

Had the best wrap here in a long time and the bartender Jenny was a great help and they have a nice happy hour The club level wrap is a must try

To start, we ordered a chicken sandwich and a burger. It took 30 minutes and when it came out the burger was a verger... I didn't say "the beefcake" I said "the burger" so the server heard verger which is a vegan burger on their menu. My husband got a chicken sandwich on a pretzel bun. The bun was hard as a rock and the chicken was over cooked and discolored on the inside. We hesitated just leaving and getting fast food and now I wish we did. The real burger came about 15 min later and the meat was falling apart like it wasn't binded well. The tomato was yellow, and there was so much spicy mustard I could hardly eat it. Will never return, but the server was very nice about the whole situation.

I just called at 1:40pm on a Friday & they said they were not opened. When I asked what time they will be open they hung up. I called 6 times just to get someone to answer. If you're not open change the hours on your website. This place is ridiculous! SO hard to place a take-out order

Four stars, really?!? I must assume that only friends and family of the owner of this restaurant inflated the yelp rating of this dive. The food, drinks, and service are terrible. The restaurant was grossly understaffed. Profits over patrons equates to a poor dining experience and this place is the poster child for that construct. Good TV setup, but that's the only positive element of this place. Stay away.

No ribeye, no burgers and the margaritas are not the same. I understand COVID but that should not have anything to do with the quality of product. Then they don't want to give a discount. Well this is the last visit to a place I once loved.

Very helpful staff and great food. I really like the wings and there margaritas are really good as well.

We had a really good experience here last night. We went on a Tuesday and it was quiet. We sat on the patio. Its a GREAT place for doggie lovers. Dog are welcome on the patio and they even have dog treats on the menu. Ha! The food and service was GREAT. The view of Nashville was awesome too. Parking was free and close! LOVED it.

Mainstay is one of our favorite happy hours and Wing Nights! Josiah, the owner, is wonderful & attentive. Decca, our usual waitress, remembers our order every time we come in. Even what our kids order (we feel very comfortable bringing them in for lunch or dinner)! Lawton makes some mean drinks (his margarita is as good as Rose Peppers, my standard in Nashville, - and at a happy hour price, YES! ) and is always really cool to us. It's awesome walking into a cool restaurant, know you'll be treated well, and get to enjoy really great food and drinks. The vibe of the restaurant is sporty but inviting. Catch any game you want on one of the many tv's. Sit at the bar and chat it up with Lawton or sit at a table and let Decca take excellent care of you. We've had most of the appetizers - our fave is the cauliflower bites. The wings are delicious! (And we love the after 7pm $5 wing baskets on Sunday/Monday/Thursdays!). We've had most of the sandwiches - all great. And the large Just Salad ... so fresh. So good. And large enough for my family of 4 to split as an appetizer. We love Mainstay! So glad such a good restaurant has found a home on that corner of Main and 5th. So happy we live near here! It's our Monday night go-to!

The service was poor. Mind you, it was understaffed, but our server was rude. The food was cold and mediocre. With all of the amazing options for food in Nashville, don't bother.

My expectations for this place were pretty reasonable - I thought this was just gonna be a normal sportsbar with normal mediocre bar food. Nope. It was horrible food with crap service. I realize that it was a game night and they were apparently understaffed, but I've waitressed at busy places and you can still give good service even when you're busy AF. On top of that, our food ranged from room temp to cold, was super greasy and flavorless, and I got sick when I got home. It was also overpriced. There are so many other options around, skip this place.