Readers of a certain age may remember, to the disbelief of the young'uns among you, that MetroCenter was the happening spot to be in Nashville during the mid-’80s. We would hop on I-265 (when the northern loop around the city was called that) to discover some of the most entertaining dining and happy hour deals outside of Rio Bravo. The development was called Fountain Square, named after the artificial geyser that sprung up out of the artificial lake in the middle of the concept, offering a view from restaurants like a frozen daiquiri stand, The Hungry Fisherman and the second Hooters location in town.
Those were heady days for young professionals seeking free taco bars and happy hour drinks, as well as one another. Alas, the bloom popped off the rose, and Fountain Square closed in the early 1990s, with most of the commercial space turning into offices and the former movie theater morphing into Watkins College of Art. The former “breastaurant” space at 2292 Rosa L.
Parks Blvd. did become an outpost of the Neely family’s Memphis-based barbecue empire, offering the only spot to enjoy a Bluff City specialty, barbecue spaghetti. Alas, the porky pasta was not long for Nashville, and the restaurant became a dialysis clinic.
But recently the space has seen a rebirth as the second outpost of East Nashville’s popular beer hall Noble’s , a project of Just One More Hospitality Group , which also owns and manages Alley Pub, Plantation Pub, Dalton’s Grill, Crow’s Nest and .