Garth Brooks Restaurant, Friends in Low Places, Has Fans in High Spirits

Of all the things country singers do in their spare time, opening restaurants is surprisingly common. Celebrities in all fields often become restaurateurs, from Donnie and Mark Wahlberg’s Wahlburgers to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. Now, country singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are joining their peers with their new Nashville restaurant, Friends in Low Places, named after Garth’s popular underdog anthem.

The restaurant’s grand opening has generated a ton of hype as fans from all over the world flock to welcome the Honky Tonk & Bar to the “neon neighborhood.” It joins the ranks of several restaurants and bars owned by country artists, such as Dolly Parton’s Stampede Dinner Attraction in Tennesee, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill in Oklahoma, Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink in Nashville, and more.

Despite its namesake, Friends in Low Places is very much a collaboration. It’s owned equally by Garth and Trisha, who worked with Max and Benjamin Goldberg’s Strategic Hospitality, which operates several of Nashville’s most popular restaurants, including Locust, Bastion, and The Patterson House. “I trust them,” Trisha told Axios, “They're so well-respected in this town. Because they do it right.”

While Trisha is known first as a country singer, she’s also a chef with a Daytime Emmy-winning Food Network cooking program, Trisha’s Southern Kitchen. In fact, her set for the show was the inspiration for the new restaurant’s third floor, which also includes a members-only Sevens Club and a private seating area.

“I feel like Frank Sinatra could walk up to that bar and order a Jack and Smoke [a specialty drink offered in the venue] and feel very comfortable,” Trisha told Billboard of the Sevens Club. “It feels right. There’s these two floors of honky-tonks and when you step off that elevator on that floor, it’s like you’re in a residence.

“There’s crown molding, it’s rich, luxe furnishings and you go into that Sevens Club and it’s like, ‘Wow, are we on Lower Broadway?’ And even in the kitchen, there are wood ceilings, and that checkerboard floor. I fought for that checkerboard floor. Garth was like, ‘That seems like a lot,’ and I was like, ‘No, it’s a statement.’ And it’s beautiful.”

It’s a huge deal that Garth is opening a restaurant as one of the biggest names in country music. So, he and Trisha partnered with Amazon Prime to document the opening of their new spot. Garth and Trisha were deeply involved with the building, design, and concept of the restaurant. In fact, Trisha even taught the staff how to make her delicious apple pie recipe.

"It's a lot of money in, and a lot of hours in," Garth told reporters of the process of opening the spot. However, Garth and Trisha didn’t celebrate opening day with their fans. They told various outlets that the two years of planning, building, and promoting left them exhausted.

Luckily, we’ll get to see it all in the Prime Video series. “My favorite moments [in the documentary] is when you see the character of these people under fire –you’re against timelines, you’re up against budgets.”

Despite the stress, Garth and Trisha still aim to create a community. "Build a place where people love one another. That’s what we wanna do here. Be the ripple," Garth said to Axios. “If this place is what I want it to be, this place will be love.”