East Nashville ramen shop goes late-night with new izakaya menu, music

Otaku Ramen East is getting a new name and louder, later, more music-focused evenings with a new menu of casual Japanese snacks and small plates to match.

One of the first tenants to join the roster at Highland Yards on Douglas Avenue, the ramen shop has been rechristened Otaku Ramen Izakaya.

Ramen lovers: No need to worry. The restaurant still serves the regular ramen menu daily for lunch and dinner.

In Japan, izakayas are social spots for drinking and sharing food. Otaku chef/owner Sarah Gavigan has long admired the culture surrounding the alleyway bars in Shinjuku's Golden Gai, which in part inspired Bar Otaku. That Gulch bar operated from 2019-2021 in the former Little Octopus space, though it shuttered when Gavigan's focus shifted toward expanding ramen restaurants.

But she said she never stopped thinking about the downtown izakayas she used to frequent in her 20s while living in Los Angeles and working in the music industry, and now she's bringing that spirit to East Nashville.

"The DJs would take it over on Friday nights, and I have fond memories of dancing and eating yakitori and drinking beer, and that's what this place feels like it wants," she told The Tennessean.

Though the Gulch bar is gone, Gavigan salvaged the Japanese grill that was part of the heart of that kitchen and will soon press it back into use turning out accessible, affordable everyday bar dishes.

The Izakaya menu will feature classic Bar Otaku favorites: okonomiyaki and simple grilled skewers from $3-8, including tare-glazed chicken thighs. There will be sesame green beans, blue crab hand rolls, grilled Szechuan salt-dusted wings and koji-aged flap steak. Small plates are priced at $5-$12. The Izakaya menu will be served from 4-10 p.m., with happy hour specials from 4-6 p.m.

The menu will also add taco rice, an Okinawan rice dish topped with Tex-Mex taco fixings. Here, Gavigan serves it with ground Angus beef, pimento cheese and shredded iceberg lettuce.

To go with the affordable snacks, the east side Otaku will include an expanded drink menu with more beer, whiskey highballs, sake bombs, batch cocktails and frozen drinks. That includes a Kirin frozen beer machine, which crowns crisp, cold beer with frozen foam.

Though food will be counter service, servers will roam the floor and take drink orders.

As the evening wears on, the music will get louder. DJ and Karaoke nights will debut in the summer. An all-weather patio invites outdoor hangs. Gavigan hopes to create a little musical corner of nightlife with Golden Pony bar already in operation nearby.

"Music has always had a huge role in what we do," Gavigan said. "As a music supervisor in a former life, building soundtracks for moments, places and spaces is what I used to do for a living. That's why for me it's really important for the restaurant to have a musical identity."

She described the musical landscape she hopes to create as loud, fun and driving.

"It's going to be high-energy," she said.

As the electronic music and dance scene grows locally, she said creating spaces for music that moves beyond country makes sense. It's a galvanizer.

"Dance music brings people together who would never otherwise be here together," she said.

Otaku Ramen Izakaya is at 747 Douglas Ave. #103.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: East Nashville's Otaku Ramen Izakaya adds nightlife, new menu