Six months after its January 14 opening, Love's Alibi has settled into 901 Gleaves Street as something The Gulch hasn't had much of: a genuine neighborhood bar. The stylish cocktail-forward spot, tucked into a district best known for tourist-facing venues and high-rise apartment towers, was built by New Orleans hospitality group LeBlanc + Smith to give locals a stylish but low-key spot for everyday visits rather than just special occasions.
The bar is led by Jason Sorbet alongside LeBlanc + Smith partners Robert LeBlanc and Liam Deegan, according to WhatNow. Sorbet met his current business partners nearly a decade ago, and his path into hospitality started small: he began his career washing dishes at an Italian restaurant before working his way up to barback, and he says he kept pushing to grow in the industry until he found a place where he could thrive, per the same account. Looking back a year later, Sorbet said watching new friendships and connections form inside the space has been one of the most rewarding parts of the job.
The space itself sits inside a building with its own local history. Love's Alibi took over the address previously occupied by Stock & Barrel, a Knoxville-founded burger and bourbon restaurant that operated there from 2018 until its closure in 2024, according to Nashville Guru. The new build-out seats up to 60 guests with room for larger reception crowds, and it sits directly across Gleaves Street from neighborhood barbecue anchor Peg Leg Porker, as reported by BizBash.
Cocktails Built for Speed, Not Just Style
Where sister concept Barrel Proof carries a backbar of more than 300 whiskies, Love's Alibi takes a leaner approach, focusing its shelf on Tennessee heritage whiskeys and leaning on pre-batched cocktail preparation to keep guest wait times under 15 minutes, per the Nashville Scene. The drink list mixes familiar staples like an espresso martini, a White Russian, and a plum negroni with house specialties including a Meyer lemon cosmo, a lemongrass margarita, milk punch, and a blackberry cobbler, according to WhatNow. Beer, wine, shots, and zero-proof options round things out for guests who want quality without the ceremony of a special-occasion cocktail bar.
Food follows a similarly approachable, New Orleans-inflected script. The menu was created by LeBlanc + Smith Culinary Director Chef Todd Pulsinelli and Chef de Cuisine Jonathan Burkett, and it includes crispy NOLA hot chicken over popcorn grits and pickled trinity alongside sweet potato gnocchi and shrimp toast sticks, Nashville Noise reported. WhatNow notes the kitchen also turns out fries, Caesar salad, zucchini frites, pigs in a blanket, wings, and popcorn chicken, plus larger plates like a fried chicken sandwich and the Alibi smashburger, with a rotating homemade ice cream sandwich for dessert.
Designed With Rock 'n' Roll in Mind
The interior, designed by local firm Frank Atelier under designer Frank Favia, leans into soft neon pastels, backlit glass blocks, polished wood finishes, and greenery, with a look inspired by empowered women icons of the rock 'n' roll era, according to Nashville Interiors. That chic-but-casual design was meant to match the bar's mission: a place stylish enough to impress but relaxed enough for a Tuesday night.
Love's Alibi is open seven days a week starting at 3 p.m., with a daily happy hour drawing in the after-work crowd, per WhatNow. Its business website lists hours running Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Friday through Sunday from noon to 1 a.m., with happy hour running 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily. In June, the bar also hosted What Now Media Group's Accelerate event, which brought together restaurant owners and hospitality industry professionals, WhatNow reported.
Part of a Bigger Bet on The Gulch
Love's Alibi is one piece of LeBlanc + Smith's expanding Middle Tennessee footprint, which also includes Barrel Proof in Germantown and The Chloe in Hillsboro Village. The group's broader portfolio spans New Orleans properties including Sylvain, The Celestine, Anna's, The Will and The Way, and Mahony's, according to BeBee. Founder Robert LeBlanc has built the company around a distinctive labor model, restructuring staffing years ago using Toyota's lean manufacturing principles, with set $30,000 annual salaries, equal tip-pooling, and cross-training across front- and back-of-house roles, as reported by Nation's Restaurant News.
Sorbet said the team's goal has never been just to open another cocktail bar, but to build real connections with the people who live in the neighborhood, and that Love's Alibi will keep working to become a true neighborhood watering hole for The Gulch, WhatNow reported. That mission carries extra weight given who actually lives there: Census data compiled by Niche shows The Gulch is home to roughly 4,250 residents with a median age of 29, where 78 percent rent their homes and median rent runs $2,259 a month — a dense, transient population that a neighborhood bar has to win over one regular at a time. Six months in, WhatNow reports the bar is already forming a roster of regular customers and menu favorites, with the focus now shifting toward building its name recognition across Nashville.
Love's Alibi joins a wave of new bar concepts reshaping The Gulch's nightlife scene, following the Tulum-style COA rooftop and the arrival of a self-pour UK wine bar concept earlier this year. LeBlanc and Deegan's track record with neighborhood-style concepts also extends beyond Nashville, going back to Longway Tavern's 2018 debut in New Orleans' French Quarter.
