Tennessee to Welcome Buds & Brews, Cannabis Bar and Restaurant

A cannabis bar and restaurant is coming to Nashville, Tenn. 

Expected to open this spring, Buds & Brews  will serve edible hemp-derived food products to adults 21 years and older (individuals must be over 21 to enter).

The restaurant was founded by Michael Solomon, owner of Craft Cannabis, a seed-to-shelf hemp cultivation and manufacturing facility in Tennessee, and owner of The Holistic Connection, a hemp dispensary and dab bar with nine retail locations throughout the state. Craft Cannabis is the parent company that owns Buds & Brews and The Holistic Connection.

Solomon says through selling craft cannabis products at The Holistic Connection retail locations, he noticed a high interest in edible-infused products—ultimately leading him to the idea of Buds & Brews.

“We started thinking, being from the south, ‘What do people like to do?’” he says. “They like to go to their neighborhood sports bar, and they like to eat bar food, drink beer, and watch the games. And I said, ‘Well, nobody’s ever really done a cannabis-themed one.’”

With hemp being federally legal, Solomon says it helped open that window of opportunity and made Buds & Brews possible.

The restaurant’s menu will consist of typical upscale bar fare, along with a variety of condiments, desserts, and mocktails infused with less than 0.3% of locally grown and extracted hemp-derived delta-9 THC and 50 milligrams of CBD.

“So, you can order chicken tenders and French fries, and we’re gonna bring it. And if you said, ‘I want ranch dressing and ketchup,’ we bring out regular ranch dressing and ketchup,” he says. “And then if you said, ‘Hey, I want the hemp-infused ketchup,’ that is pre-sealed at the manufacturer—pre-made [and] pre-sealed—then, we can give that to you.”

The hemp-infused condiments come with serving spoons with exact milliliters on them, so consumers can portion control and serve themselves, Solomon says.

The restaurant will also offer desserts with hemp-infused topping options like chocolate or caramel drizzle and a full bar that will feature hemp-infused mocktails, he says. The company will also be looking into delivery options in the future.

Looking ahead, Solomon the company is franchising out Buds & Brews, and it will be coming online in other states.

“I think with it being hemp-derived products, it really gives you the capability to get creative,” he says. “Because hemp-derived means federally legal, and marijuana not being federally legal has always been what’s held it back. Whether it’s been baking or having an idea that’s bigger than just a dispensary, you know? So, the fact that hemp-derived products are federally legal is what’s making this possible.”