Rudy's Jazz Room

An intimate atmosphere, incredibly talented performers, and some delicious drinks that'll put some hair on your chest. A gem I'm so happy to have stumbled upon on my first day in Nashville.To drink, I had the Call Me Maybe off their summer menu (blackberry old fashioned) which was a perfectly mixed cocktail and packed a great punch. I kept it light for dinner (shocker!) and went with their vegan red beans and rice. My other Nashville reviews will prove easily that I am far from vegan, but as someone who grew up on the Latino version of rice and beans, I was pleasantly surprised by how good the Creole version was. Admission is relatively cheap - paid a fraction of the price of a table at Blue Note in downtown Manhattan - and the vibes are there for an unorthodox but infallible way to wind down a busy day in the Music City. Will be back on my next visit to Nashville - & I'll be bringing a bigger group with me!

Rudy's is the kind of place that makes me feel like an adult. It's all dim lighting and shadows, cocktails and jazz, spicy food and leather seats. It's classy but unpretentious. Also, my server looked exactly like Matty Matheson, so that was obviously a bonus (see my photo for evidence).Speaking of photos: My photos of this joint suck because the lighting is red. Red lights are amazing in person and set the mood perfectly, but they make everything in a photo look like a bloody vampire movie. I couldn't exactly parse out the exact colors in my food (it all looked red), but all of my food tasted delicious. Rudy's specializes in New Orleans Creole food. I visited with a group, so I got to taste a few things, and I started with the Creole Red Beans & Rice, which comes with andouille sausage. It's spicy! I was warned, but I thought, I'm Mexican, I can take it. I could barely take it. Luckily, it's served with perfectly cooked white rice to temper the heat. I also tried a bit of the Chicken, Andouille Sausage & Shrimp Gumbo, which was just a touch spicy but so satisfying and warm. Our table also got an order of the Rudy's Popcorn Shrimp (served with cocktail sauce) and the fried pickles (served with spicy ranch). Both of these were delicious and definitely enough to share.The menu at Rudy's is concise -- which I love -- and includes many spicy options, so if you love heat, you will love this place. They also have a dessert menu that includes beignets, which I didn't get to try but I heard are great.My server, Matty Matheson's doppelganger, created one of the special cocktails on the menu: a cocktail made with fernet, Italicus liqueur, lemon and simple syrup. So, I had to get it. It was amazing -- refreshing with just a hint of licorice, poured over one of those big, square ice cubes. If it's on the menu when you visit, get this cocktail.Food and drink is just half of the experience of Rudy's. This is a jazz club, so expect to hear local jazz, especially jazz that honors New Orleans swing and French roots. When I visited, the band that was on stage was channeling Django Reinhardt hard. It was a nice because I love that old timey, jangly type of jazz. It was a lovely evening of music and food and drink.

I have been coming to Rudy's for years. I sent them hundreds of go fund me dollars to keep them open in the pandemic. They have changed personnel at the front door recently and their astonishing rudeness and ugliness have completely run me out the door. Run, don't walk, away from Rudy's Jazz Room. What a shame.

What the actual fuck did I just see on a Sunday night in Nashville? Only about two dozen of the most talented musicians rotate on stage to play some classics and jams. Piano, stand up bass, drums, vocals, trumpet, trombone - all ridiculously good. Local music college students + cagey vets, all looking to jam together. Combine this weekly 9pm Sunday jam with the 7pm Station Inn bluegrass jam and thank me later.

We stumbled upon Rudy's as we were trying to find a dinner place that closed. I'm so glad we did! The food was absolutely amazing as well as the signature drinks. I recommend the seafood pies and old fashions. Our server, Keri, who was new, was amazing. What a great intimate atmosphere with wonderful musicians. I highly recommend the only jazz club in Nashville!

The music, atmosphere, and food are top notch. If you love jazz and gumbo this is the place.

Amazing Jazz club with good dark mood lighting and wonderful live Jazz performances by talented professional musicians. Wine and drinks were great, but the food menu could use an upgrade. Overall though a great experience.

Randomly found tickets to go see Gabrielle Cavassa and her band perform. It was a great time. Things are pretty tight here so be prepared!We got here right when they opened for the evening. It was assigned seating it seemed and myself and our group were seated up at the front. Like I said earlier, things were tight so I felt a little claustrophobic but after the concert got started it wasn't too bad. Getting up to sneak through and not knock over any of the small tables to use the restroom was a challenge though. Pretty sure I heard others shatter glassware on the ground throughout the concert.Overall though, the concert was amazing. Everything sounded great throughout and because we were so close to the band, it seemed like the concert was especially for us! It seemed like a pretty long concert too, so we definitely got our money's worth.

Well, I haven't reviewed this place since it opened six years ago, so I think it's time to rereview it. Rereview--is that even a word? Well, you know what I mean.Things have changed since then. Not physically--the building and atmosphere are still exactly the same. That's a good thing IMO. Food and drinks are pretty much the same too. I really like their red beans and rice. Really nice and meaty with a tinge of spice. Cocktails are all top notch too.The music has gotten better! When they started out, it was mostly vintage swing. Now it's a bit of everything. Both vintage and modern jazz, and everything in between. Seems like about at least once a week, they have a band tribute a late musician like Miles Davis or Thelonius Monk. Now for the negative, and why I'm knocking off one star. The service. So the service from the bartenders and servers is fine. The problem is with the service beforehand. Before you even step foot in the place, you have to buy tickets. Yeah, walk-ins are sometimes possible, but rarely. They fill up fast. So go to their Web site, choose your show...and then it takes you to a separate app called Eventbrite to choose your seats and buy your ticket. Therein lies the problem. They basically pass off all the responsibility to Eventbrite.Eventbrite has a no refund policy. So if you accidentally buy an extra ticket, choose the wrong seat, the wrong show, etc., you're screwed. And if you try to call Rudy's, it takes you to a recording, which says, "Please don't leave a voice mail, go to our Web site." As in, the same Web site that refers you back to Eventbrite to buy tickets. ‍ There is no way to get a hold of Rudy's other than just physically going there.Other than this horrible customer service conundrum, I love Rudy's. The place is fantastic. Fix this customer service problem, answer the dang phone, and sell your own tickets with a reasonable refund/return policy, and I'll give you five stars again. Until that happens, it'll be four from me.

One of the best espresso martinis! Also love Gypsy jazz which they have on Thursday evenings. Intimate and cozy atmosphere.