Bar Owner Profile - Med Abrous and Marc Rose

MED ABROUS and MARC ROSE cross-eyed critters

watering hole By Megan Rider

eelings of nostalgia and a longing for youth and

Fsimpler times come over guests when visiting the first-ever animatronic karaoke bar, Cross-Eyed Critters Watering Hole, in the heart of Nashville. Call Mom, the independent hospitality group created by long-time friends and NYC natives Med Abrous and Marc Rose, is behind the ingenious bar, found off the lobby of the Graduate Nashville.

The pair first teamed up in 2011 with their opening of The Spare Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, an award-winning gaming parlor and cocktail lounge. The team began their partnership with Graduate Hotels to open a rooftop bar, Mountaineering Club, at the Graduate Seattle in March 2019, and now the duo is the exclusive food and beverage operator at the Graduate Nashville where they have spearheaded Cross-Eyed Critters Watering Hole, along with Poindexter Coffee, and a vibrant rooftop bar, pool, and restaurant, White Limozeen, which recently “broke the internet” and was named one of the Best Bars in America by Esquire.

If you’re wondering how Call Mom thought up the name “Cross-Eyed Critters,” it’s indeed a nod to dive bars of the south and inspired by Eric Church’s Merle Haggard tribute song, Pledge Allegiance to the Hag. A trio of robotic (and human) talent lines the stage, performing their best renditions, in unison with a thoughtful ensemble of cocktails and shots to make for a good time.

“Call Mom combines our experience and passion for balanced, classic cocktails with fresh ingredients and applies it to the nostalgic, not so chic cocktails of the past,” says Med and Marc. “Classics have been reinvented with fresh ingredients and house made syrups. The drinks we enjoyed at bars during our early twenties have been taken and re-invented. The result is a beverage program that celebrates nostalgia along with liquid confidence, playfulness, and fun. The quintessential ingredients of a karaoke bar.”

The design of Cross-Eyed-Critters complements the yearning for the past, with rustic walls, wooden floors and discordant, antique furniture. “A night at CrossEyed Critters Watering Hole is nothing short of a good time,” continues Med and Marc. “Everything from the décor to the beverage program and taco truck have been designed to cultivate a sense of nostalgia. Guests can expect to have fun—and we’re not talking about a reserved fun that often is associated with adulthood. Cross-Eyed Critters Watering Hole is the place to tap into the nostalgic freedom that is found in the days of our youth.”