Tacos and Tequila: New LGBTQ+ Bar Brings New Flavor to Nashville Nightlife

By Lloyd McDonald • Photos Frankie J’s Facebook

On any random Wednesday evening, or almost any other time for that matter, you’ll find Jay Kill and his husband Francisco “Frankie” Bermudez at their new bar, Frankie J’s, doing whatever needs to be done to ensure that everyone who walks through their door feels welcome, gets treated with respect, and receives the best service they can be given. “We want this space to be a place where locals and tourists alike can come, have a drink, have a conversation, and feel comfortable, regardless of how they identify—whether it is coming in for a quick drink with lunch, a happy hour, meeting friends for an evening out, or just killing a little time ‘til it’s time to head to the airport to catch a flight. This is our [Kill and Frankie’s] last venture into hospitality, and it is time to go big or go home,” said Kill Well, going big they did!

Kill and Bermudez have been in the hospitality business for most of their adult lives. Having taught hospitality management classes, managed restaurants and bars, and owned them as well, they have a thorough understanding of what it takes to be successful in one of the hardest businesses there is — and this shows. In case you haven’t put it together already, Jay and Frankie combined their names to come up with the name for their bar.

The space they chose for this venture is in the historic and hip Germantown area just north of Downtown Nashville, and the restaurant fits the community perfectly. After facing and overcoming challenges, they opened the bar a couple of months ago. These challenges ranged from the typical red tape of opening a new business to ensuring that they maintained the historical character of their space. Their building is on the National Register of Historic Places, which brings its own set of unique challenges, and everything in between. While working behind the scenes on what they were doing to bring their brainchild to fruition, the duo did a lot to spread the word and build excitement through social media, networking, and word of mouth with their many connections in the community. As a result of all this effort, the restaurant was an instant hit.

Kill said, “My idea is to offer a space where people can have a conversation without having to shout over live entertainment to be heard, and maintaining the property’s historical character has played right into that.” Entering the space is just like walking into the vestibule in someone’s home. The space is welcoming with a hydration station offering self-service water to all. Looking to the left is the first bar in the space, while moving down the hall you’ll find the second bar on the left, two sitting areas on the right, and the restroom and the kitchen at the back of the house (no restaurant pun intended here).

In keeping with the efforts to make this space welcoming to all, there are some amazing details that haven’t been overlooked. The bar has a section that is lower than the rest allowing wheelchair-bound patrons to still sit at the bar with friends and have a conversation. Outside of the house is a lovely veranda with tables and chairs allowing guests to enjoy the mild weather Nashville experiences this time of year. The backyard is still a work in progress. For this space, Kill envisions small, themed “campsites” like what one would find camping out in their backyard as a kid. As far as themes go, they will likely be themed with décor that will remind you of your favorite country music artists with each tent being themed after a different one.

While there is no dispute this place is a bar, the food cannot be overlooked — it is delicious! To that, Kill said, “In Tennessee, bars are legally required to have a menu and serve some kind of food. We could have easily punted here—serving frozen, fried or prepackaged food that our guests could get anywhere. Instead, we decided to pay homage to Frankie’s Mexican heritage and gave our menu a Mexican theme. Every effort has been made to ensure that the food is as flavorfully authentic as possible and something our guests wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else. Our menu also focuses on speed of service to ensure that our guests get to enjoy these tasty options and do it quickly.” While we were discussing the subject of food, Kill was very quick to mention that their weekend brunch is fun and relaxed, and always pajama/loungewear themed, saying “I don’t want to get up and get dressed on the weekend, and most of our staff and guests don’t want to, either. So, we don’t have to do that here!”

As Kill wrapped up the interview he said, “We are definitely an LGBTQ+ owned establishment, and we aren’t making any effort to hide that; however, this is a place where all are truly welcome regardless of race, gender, gender expression, nationality or any other defining characteristic, and we invite everyone to come by for a visit to grab a drink and bite to eat.”