Out of the Ordinary Restaurant & Hickory Sports Bar

photo by Tom Preston.

~by Jeff Tryon

Located in the heart of Nashville, the Out of the Ordinary Restaurant and Hickory Sports Bar provides a perfect spot to relax, eat, and enjoy the company of visitors and locals alike.

And with the impact of pandemic restrictions, it has also become one of Nashville’s most soughtout grab-and-go dining experiences.

Of course, as with most things Brown County, it also has a long and colorful history.

“It’s definitely a good place for locals, but also out-of-town people that I’ve been waiting on for years, that I’ve known forever,” said Kevin Gore, who started out as a bartender there 17 years ago.

“They always come back, stop in and say ‘Hi’.”

Gore and his wife, Lisa, are now the sole owners of the historic eatery, which was long ago known as “The Old Hickory” and rebranded “The Ordinary” by legendary Nashville businessman Andy Rogers.

It is “Out of the Ordinary,” not in the sense that one is like to encounter some kind of unusual cuisine there; rather, it is the restaurant which has come out of “The Ordinary,” the previous restaurant at the same location. And it is the Hickory Sports Bar because once upon a time, it was The Old Hickory.

“We’ve made a few changes,” Gore said. “It’s definitely changed since it was the Ordinary.”

Out of the Ordinary combines a casual and family friendly dining room with a cozy bar in a separate room in back.

Owners Lisa and Kevin Gore. photo by Jeff Tryon

The charming, rustic dining area is comfortable and the well-rounded bill of fare suits nearly every taste. The menu is nicely divided between classic bar food and tasty restaurant dinners, salads, and desserts.

Entrees include chicken piccata, fettuccine Alfredo, grilled salmon, shrimp scampi, and a twelveounce house-cut rib eye steak.

Add a nice house salad with any of a number of homemade dressings, or go all in for a Cobb salad, crispy chicken salad, or a chef’s special with artisan greens, ham, bacon, tomatoes, boiled egg, and bleu cheese crumbles.

You do not have to wander back to the Hickory Sports Bar to enjoy any of the wonderful sandwiches on offer, including a Cuban sandwich with pulled pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard on a pressed Hoagy roll. Other sandwich classics include grilled ham and cheese, barbeque pulled pork, Hoosier tenderloin, Reuben, and a BLT.

The menu also presents the opportunity to build your own burger, starting with a half-pound Angus beef patty, or grilled chicken, or a chipotle black bean patty.

Appetizers include shrimp cocktail, meatballs, onion rings, hot wings, potato skins, nachos, and “duck wings with sweet chili Thai sauce.”

For dessert try a piece of triple layer chocolate cake, white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, or Indiana’s state pie, sugar cream.

Small, family-owned places and their staffs know and truly care about their customers.

“We made some changes for COVID, to streamline things,” Gore said. “It was carry-out only for a long time.”

He said it has been a struggle, with all the changes and added safety protocols they’ve made to insure everyone’s safety.

In spite of the difficult year caused by the pandemic, Gore said the customer base, both local and visitor, has been loyal.

“I was very pleased by the community support,” he said. “They just kept coming. They said, ‘We’re going to keep coming and support you guys.’ That’s very nice. Very nice.”

“As far as October, business was definitely down, but I was kind of surprised at how many people were still coming to town or coming out. Fall is always good here.”

As for the Ordinary/Hickory history, it is murky at best.

Andy Rogers bought the Old Hickory Restaurant and bar from the Wilson family. It was started in the late 1930s or early 1940s by the legendary Carl Wilson, better known by his pen name, Tramp Starr.

One tall tale says that Wilson won the restaurant in a poker game. Another says Wilson, having been banned from the Nashville House, created a restaurant and bar of his own from which he could not be thus expelled.

They added on to an existing house as the enterprise grew. Rogers acquired it in a deal in which he purchased the entire block down to and including the Franklin House. He tore off the old kitchen, built a new kitchen and restrooms, and remodeled the bar.

“It was before my time,” said Gore. “I’ve heard lots of stories, especially bartending for so long. Who knows how much of it is true?”

“Some, you try to forget,” he laughed.

Out of the Ordinary is located at 61 South Van Buren Street in Nashville. Take out is available at 812-200-1999.